Page 12 



BETTER FRUIT 



January 



BEFORE using Cement Coated Nails 



Western Cement Coated Nails 

 for Western Growers 



Our Cement Coated Nails are always of 

 uniform length, gauge, head and count. 

 Especially adapted to the manufacture of 

 fruit boxes and crates. In brief, they are 

 the Best on the Market. 



Write for Growers' testimonials. 



Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. 



DENVER, COLORADO 



Pacific Coast Sales Offices 



Portland, Spokane, San Francisco 



Los Angeles 



AFTER use of C. F. & I. Co.' 

 Cement Coated Nails 



Spraying Problems and the Outlook for 1918 



By Leroy Childs, Entomologist and Plant Pathologist, Hood River Branch Experiment Station, Hood River, Oregon 



THOUGH it is several weeks before 

 spring spraying activities will be 

 in order, growers should neverthe- 

 less be looking forward and making 

 their plans for the coming campaign, in 

 order to satisfactorily cope with the 

 many irregularities that will have to be 

 faced on account of the disturbed 

 economic conditions. 



Chief among these irregularities, and 

 which will probably prove most annoy- 

 ing to many of the orchardists, will be 

 that of available labor. Spraying, in 

 order to be effective, must be attended 

 to at very definite, well defined periods, 

 or results measured in degrees of con- 

 trol will be very poor, accompanied by 

 the wasting of much valuable time and 

 costly spray materials. In the face of 

 this labor scarcity, growers should take 

 every precaution in the arrangement of 

 a workable spraying scheme or outline 

 before the season arrives, in order that 

 no unnecessary delays occur when the 

 time arrives for operations to start. 

 The machines should all be overhauled 

 and tested, rotten hose replaced by new, 

 new discs for the nozzles obtained — in 

 fact, get all of the machinery connected 

 with the spraying work in readiness 

 while there is plenty of time to attend 

 to it. The apple growing sections have 

 all lost many men, men trained in the 

 art of spraying, the loss of which can 

 not help but influence the aggregate 

 results obtainable in pest control in the 

 different communities unless extra pre- 

 cautions are taken. An expert rod man 

 is not made through intuition, nor does 

 he become proficient from observations 

 or demonstrations. He only becomes 

 efficient and valuable through actual 

 experience and days of practice. The 

 novice must go through the spray-in- 

 the-eye period; he must learn how to 

 manipulate his rod against the wind, 

 and, above all, he must be taught to 

 leave nothing uncovered, for upon his 

 thoroughness, even in the form of over- 

 sight in a single spraying, hinges the 

 fruits of the season's tedious work. 



What, then, should the orchardist, 

 dependent upon green, untried help, 

 do? In the first place, before it is time 

 to actually begin the spraying, conduct 

 a little school; take a little time off, or 



discuss it with the help while attending 

 to other labors, but at any rate try to 

 get them interested in the why's and 

 wherefore's of spraying. Tell them of 

 the codling moth, its life history and 

 behavior, and why it is necessary to fill 

 the calyx cups with the poison in order 

 to obtain best results. In the control of 

 apple scab tell them how the fungus 

 lives over the winter on the fallen 

 leaves, from which spores are dis- 

 charged over a period of two or three 

 months after the foliage conies out in 

 the spring. How, in order to prevent 

 infection and keep all parts of the trees 

 coated, it is necessary to use lime-sul- 

 phur at intervals not to exceed fifteen 

 days from the time foliage appears, and 

 that it is necessary to continue this 

 practice until the spring rains, which 

 favor spore germination, cease. Im- 

 press upon these men the fact that 

 apple scab fungus grows upon both 

 upper and under surfaces of the foliage 

 as well as the fruit, and that after in- 

 fection once takes place it cannot be 

 destroyed. That it soon begins produc- 

 ing more spores and thus continuing 

 the spread of the disease. If the foliage 

 is kept clean early in the season little 

 trouble will be encountered later, if the 

 regular spraying practices are followed. 

 If, on the other hand, neglect or some 

 other factor has permitted the occur- 

 rence of infection on the foliage, even 

 if this is apparently only slight, control 

 operations for the remainder of the 

 season are severely handicapped. Such 

 a condition existing, extreme care in 

 the application of the remaining sprays 

 accompanied by some good fortune in 

 the way of weather conditions will only 

 make possible effective control. The 

 only way to fight apple scab is to get 

 the jump on it early in the season and 

 stay ahead of it with the spray wagon 

 until the spring rains are over. 



The grower must often remind his 

 new men of the need of giving particu- 

 lar attention to the spraying of the tops 

 of the trees. We have found in suppos- 

 edly well sprayed orchards that there 

 is a definite progression in the degree 

 of scab infection from the ground to 

 the tops of the larger trees. On the 

 trees studied there occurred seven to 



ten times as many scabby fruits be- 

 tween a height of fifteen and twenty- 

 eight feet as there was between the 

 ground and fifteen feet. The failure to 

 keep to tops protected with spray is 

 the only possible explanation for the 

 difference. Theoretically, there should 

 be much more scab nearer the ground, 

 owing to the proximity of the overwin- 

 tering spores being discharged from the 

 fallen foliage, and, later in the season, 

 the washing down of myriads of sum- 

 mer spores upon the lower foliage and 

 fruit. 



During the first few days at least, and 

 most of the time if possible, the orch- 

 ardist should watch and follow his 

 green crew. No new man can be ex- 

 pected to begin and spray his trees 

 thoroughly from the start. He will not 

 do it, regardless of the fact that he is 

 expected to. The chances are 100 to 1 

 that during his early endeavors the 

 work is extremely poor. You must re- 

 member that he must go through the 

 agonies resulting from the presence of 

 lime-sulphur in his eyes, not once, but 

 many times, before he learns how to 

 avoid it. Though he gamely stays with 

 the rod, he is unable to see just what he 

 is doing. The orchardist should be on 

 hand, pointing out overlooked limbs. 

 He should see to it that the rod men 

 turn over their nozzles in order to 

 cover the under surfaces of the leaves; 

 in fact, there are dozens of little points 

 that are entirely unknown to the new 

 man, who will not find them out for 

 days if left alone, and all at your ex- 

 pense. The early sprays are more 

 important than the later ones usually, 

 so make your crew a veteran one just 

 as soon as possible. 



The failure in the excessive develop- 

 ment of apple scab in the Northwest 

 during the past season should mate- 

 rially assist in its control during the 

 coming season. In Hood River this 

 natural factor, combined with very ef- 

 fective work on the part of many grow- 

 ers, reduced infection in numerous 

 orchards to 1 per cent or even less. 

 The foliage likewise was kept free from 

 infection. This latter condition, there- 

 fore, reduces materially the chances of 

 new infection in the spring, owing to 



