180 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



COST OF TREATMENT. 



The cost of the combined treatment for the control of brown-rot, scab, 

 and curculio is insignificant when compared with the resulting benefits, 

 The trees at Baldwin, Ga., were sprayed with a good hand outfit, and 

 3 men were able to spray 1,000 trees a day. With labor at 75 cents a 

 day (the wages paid in that section), arsenate of lead at 10 cents a 

 pound, sulphur at 2% cents a pound, and lime at |1.10 a barrel, the 

 cost for three treatments was |27.60 a thousand, or a little less than 

 3 cents a tree. At Fort Valley, Ga., a gasoline-power sprayer was used 

 The trees there were larger and the water was not so convenient, mak- 

 ing the cost somewhat higher than at Baldwin. In this case the cost 

 of three treatments was |32 a thousand, or a little more (than 3 cents a 

 tree. Where wages are higher the cost will be somewhat greater. For 

 three treatments, the first with arsenate of lead alone, the second with 

 self-boiled lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead, and the third with self- 

 boiled lime-sulphur alone, the cost will range from 3 to 5 cents per tree, 

 depending upon the labor conditions, the size of the trees, the convenience 

 of the water supply, and the equipment used. For average-sized 7-year- 

 old trees, as a rule 1 gallon of spray per tree will be required for each 

 application. In the first application not quite so much will be required, 

 owing to scant foliage at that time, while a little more will be required 

 for the second treatment. The third application should be lighter than 

 the second, using finer nozzles so as to avoid staining the fruit with 

 blotches of lime. 



From the experience of the writers it seems safe to conclude that in 

 most of the peach orchards of the eastern United States an increase per 

 tree of at le<^st one-half bushel of good merchantable fruit, worth about 

 50 cents, may be obtained from spraying at a cost of 3 to 5 cents. Spray- 

 ing, therefore, is the most profitable of all the orchard operations. 



SCHEDULE OF APPLICATIONS. 



Most of the peach orchards in the easteim half of the United States 

 should be given the combined treatment for broAvn-rot, scab, and curculio. 

 This is particularly true of the southern orchards, where all these 

 troubles are prevalent. In some of the more northern orchards the 

 curculio is not very troublesome, but as a rule it will probably pay to 

 add the arsenate of lead in at least the first lime-sulphur application. 



The self-boiled lime sulphur mixture referred to in the following out- 

 lines of treatment should be made of a strength of 8 pounds of lime and 

 8 pounds of sulphur to each 50 gallons of water, and the arsenate of lead 

 should be used at the rate of 2 pounds to each 50 gallons of the mixture 

 or of water. When the poison is used in water there should be added 

 the milk of lime made from slaking 2 to 3 pounds of good stone lime. 

 When used in the lime-sulphur mixture additional lime will not be 

 necessary. 



Midseason varieties. — The midseason varieties of peaches, such as 

 Reeves, Belle, Early Crawford, Elberta, Late Crawford, Chairs, Fox, and 

 Beere Smock, should be sprayed as follows: 



(1) With arsenate of lead alone, about 10 days after the petals fall, 

 or at the time the calyxes are shedding. (Fig. 14.) 



(2) With self-boiled lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead, two weeks 

 later, or four to five weeks after the petals have been shed. 



