BETTER FRUIT 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTEREST OF MODERN, PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



Some Horticultural Field Notes for the Season of 1915 



By T. O. Morrison, Assistant State Com 



CODLING MOTH SURVEY. — On 

 September 2(lth, I began a codling 

 moth survey of the districts of 

 Wenatchee, Yakima, Kenne\vicl<, Walla 

 Walla, Kettle Falls, Spokane, Clarkston 

 and White Salmon to get in writing, as 

 near as possible, the detailed opera- 

 tions of a large number of farmers as 

 to their methods for codling moth con- 

 trol. It has taken a great deal of work 

 and diplomacy on the part of the field 

 inspectors to get these records, and a 

 good many days and evenings, too, 

 have been spent in the office studying 

 and compiling this information. This 

 season has been an almost unprece- 

 dented one for codling-moth injury. 

 A great many farmers insist that the 

 poor results in their arsenate spray- 

 ings this season are due to inferior 

 lead arsenates. Personally 1 am of the 

 opinion that the methods of api)lication 

 and the time of doing it have been 

 more important factors than the chance 

 of poor leads. 



In making these suimnaries figures 

 have been taken from surveys from all 

 parts of the districts and it seems 

 should represent fair averages. Not 

 all of the orchards surveyed have been 

 used in the general compilation, some 

 being discarded on account of their 

 location being between uncared-for or- 

 chards, or in isolated districts where 

 infestation is not iiad when no sprays 

 are ajsplied, or the orchard is young. 

 The object was to get a fair summary 

 whicli would show the average condi- 

 tions where codling moth exists. The 

 compilation of these surveys has been 

 made usually by localities as the blanks 

 were received, and in the case of the 

 Yakima Valley three summaries have 

 been made, one for the valley in gen- 

 eral, one for the lower valley and one 

 for the upper valley. In most locali- 

 ties our inspectors have placed codling 

 moth breeding cages in order to ob- 

 serve the condition of the moths and 

 determine spray dates. In this survey 

 these spray dates are accepted as 

 correct. 



Fourteen orchards in the Grandview 

 and Zillah districts having 4.5,5 acres of 

 apples in bearing were tabulated. Of 

 this number eleven were sprayed with, 

 power outfits and pressure ranging 

 from 180 to 2,50 pounds before tlie cnh x 

 closed. Three were late in applying 

 the calyx spray. Thirteen used the 

 Bordeaux type of nozzle for the calvx 

 spray. One used the Vermorel llirougli- 

 out the season. That the calyx si)ray was 

 quite effective is shown iiy tlie calyx 

 infestation at picking time, wliich aver- 

 aged less than 1.34 per cent. There 



missioner of Agricullure, in charge of Division 



were but three growers who repeated 

 the calyx spray within ten days. 



In spraying for the first brood of 

 worms, seven were late in making the 

 application, four were right, one 

 early and two did not spray. For the 

 second brood, eight were wrong, four 

 were right and two did not spray. 

 Three sprayed in August. The amount 

 of lead averaged about two pounds jjer 

 fifty gallons of water, anil ranged from 

 one to three pounds. At picking time 



of Horticulture. Olynipia, Wasliington. 



the average per cent for these four- 

 teen orchards was 1.34% calyx wormy, 

 and 27.6% side worms. Of these four- 

 teen orchards five were clean culti- 

 vated, nine had cover crops of either 

 alfalfa or clover. In eight of these 

 orchards the spray for the first brood 

 of worms was delayed until the crop 

 of alfalfa could be cut and taken out 

 of the way. One of the nine farmers 

 did not allow the cover crop to delay 

 spraying for the first brood. This 



\xl,| /j 



FlHlHi; 11 — A five-vear-old Yellow Newtown Irce. It was pruned rather 

 heavily each year unlil a vear ago. w lien no winter pruning was alTorded. 

 When eonipared with I'igurc .!.■!, a tree of the same variety and same age, it 

 shows how light as opposed to heavy pruning tends to throw a tree into 

 bearing. Note the many fruit-s|ims on llie two-year-old wooil. During the 

 preceding season a large pari of llie energies of the tree were devoted to 

 fruit-sinir formation 



