Pa PC 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



April 



ones were subject merely to check 

 inspection. 



A corps of men should be plnced in 

 the field by March first and maintained 

 throughout the growing season in order 

 to help in preventing the production of 

 inferior fruit rather than merely to 

 prevent the sale after it is once pro- 

 duced. It is believed that an cflicient 

 corps of men will be placed in the field 



at that time. Central packing sheds 

 are being advocated and several give 

 promise of starting operations next 

 year. The development of the central 

 packing-shed idea will mean the sim- 

 plifying of inspection, economy to the 

 grower and a gilt-edged product. Two 

 such have been operated successfully 

 this year and will expand quite ex- 

 tensivelv next vear. 



the parts firmly together. The wounds 

 incident to joining the tops of the small 

 trees to the trunk of the large one 

 should be well covered with wax, to 

 prevent drying out. .Sometimes cord 

 is tied around the trunk to aid in hold- 

 ing the tops of the young trees in 

 proper ])osition. 



Bridge Grafting Fruit Trees 



[Office of Information, U. S. Department of Agriculture] 



BRIDGE grafting, the use of scions 

 or small limbs to connect the cam- 

 bium above and below a large wound 

 or girdled strip, may be practiced suc- 

 cessfully on almost any kind of fruit 

 tree that can be propagated readily by 

 grafting. It is used more often with 

 the apple than any other fruit, but 

 pear trees often are treated in this 

 way, especially in certain sections. 

 There seems to be no reason why the 

 method should not also be successful 

 on plums and cherries, according to 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 710, Bridge 

 Grafting, just issued by the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture. Peaches, 

 however, graft less readily and there 

 may be some question as to the use- 

 fulness of the method in the case of 

 this fruit. While seldom used on shade 

 or other ornamental trees, the author, 

 W. F. Fletcher, wiites that this method 

 of grafting probably would prove suc- 

 cessful in overcoming certain types of 

 injuries to them. 



Mechanical injuries which may be 

 remedied are usually infiictcd by ani- 

 mals, by bun-owing insects or by im- 

 plements carelessly used. Various 

 diseases, such as ])ear blight, also cause 

 local injuries which may call for 

 bridge grafting. The trunks of pear 

 trees are not infre(|uently completely 

 girdled and killed by pear blight. 

 Bridge grafting, if done in time, how- 

 ever, may save the tree. The method 

 also is useful when large areas of bark 

 have been killed by sunscald or other 

 troubles. The author of the bulletin 

 points out, however, that protection of 

 trees against rabbits and mice and 

 disease is, of course, better than having 

 to bridge graft to overcome damage. 



To be effective, bridge grafting 

 should be done in the spring before 

 growtli starts, though sometimes it can 

 be done after growth starts if dormant 

 scions for the purpose can be secured. 

 Prepare the wound in the tree by cut- 

 ting away all dead tissue and thor- 

 oughly cleansing the injured parts. If 

 possible, sterilize by washing with a 

 solution of bichloride of mercury, coi)- 

 per sulphate or some other antiseptic. 

 The irregular edges of the bark above 

 the girdled tract or wound should be 

 cut back into an even edge, far enough 

 from the wound to make certain that 

 healthy cambium is under the bark. 

 For the grafting, select scions from 

 ■wood of the previous season's growth, 

 either branches which grew the pre- 

 ceding season or watersprouts that are 

 only a year old. The scions should be 



a little longer than the space which is 

 to be bridged, so they will arch slightly 

 over the central part of the wound. 

 Bevel the scions at each end on the 

 same side of the scion with a long 

 sloping cut so that the wedge-shaped 

 ends thus formed will be relatively 

 Ihin and permit their being thrust well 

 under the bark without danger of 

 se])arating it unduly from the cambium 

 at the points of insertion. The placing 

 of the scions will be facilitated if the 

 bark at the margins of the wound is 

 slit for short distance at the points 

 where the ends are to be inserted. 



In ijlacing the scions it is of the 

 greatest importance that the cambium 

 of the scions which is exposed in the 

 sloping cuts at the ends be brought 

 into intimate contact with the cam- 

 bium that lies under the bark at the 

 margins of the wounded area. The 

 union of scion and tree can occur only 

 where the cambium layers of the two 

 come together. The scions may be 

 secured in their proper positions, if 

 need be, by driving a small nail 

 through each end into the trunk. This 

 will aid in drawing the cambium of 

 scion and trunk closely together. The 

 operation is completed by thoroughly 

 covering the area occupied by the ends 

 of the scions and the margins of the 

 wound with grafting wax, strips of 

 waxed cloth, or by some other means 

 that adequately will prevent these 

 parts from drying out. Some operators 

 cover the entire wound, scions and all, 

 with melted wax. ^Miere the bridged 

 portion is below or near the ground, 

 many operators conserve moisture by 

 covering the grafts with earth. 



Where the wound is so large as to 

 make ordinary bridge grafting impos- 

 sible, another method of bridging may 

 be used. Two-year-old trees are 

 planted about the base of the injured 

 tree and their tops grafted into its 

 trunk above the girdled space, which 

 has first been cleaned as in the other 

 method. .\s the tops of the small trees 

 are too large to manipulate readily in 

 the manner described for scions, V- 

 shaped vertical grooves extending 

 through the cambium are cut just 

 above the wounded area in the bark of 

 the tree to be treated. The tops of the 

 small trees arc shajjcd to correspond 

 with these grooves. The two are then 

 accurately fitted together in such a 

 manner as to bring the cambium of 

 one into contact witli thai of the other. 

 Small nails max be driven through the 

 tops of the trees into the trunk. In licdd 



Contact Poisons and Green 

 Apple Aphis 



[Office of Information, U. S. Dept.of Agriculture] 



THE effectiveness of different con- 

 tact poisons both alone and in com- 

 bination with other substances in kill- 

 ing the green apple aphis has been 

 made the subject of extensive field and 

 laboratory tests by the entomologists 

 of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture as reported in Department 

 Bulletin 278. Extensive experiments 

 were made with 40 per cent nicotine 

 sulphate, kerosene emulsion, anthra- 

 cene emulsion, naphtha soap, laundry 

 soap and fish-oil soap, both alone and 

 in combinations. In certain cases in 

 order to provide a stomach poison in 

 combination with an aphidicide, arse- 

 nate of lead was used in connection 

 with the nicotine sulphate, and both 

 arsenate of lead and arsenate of cal- 

 cium were used with kerosene emul- 

 sion without lessening the killing 

 action of the nicotine sulphate on 

 aphids. It was found, however, that 

 where arsenates are combined with 

 kerosene emulsion they should not be 

 mixed and allowed to stand for over 

 a day or so, since there is a slight 

 breaking down of the soap. As the 

 specialists point out, insecticides in 

 general should not be combined until 

 they are to be used. 



According to the results of these ex- 

 pciiments a Itl-per-cent kerosene ennil- 

 sion shoidd prove elTective against the 

 green apple aphis. The kerosene emul- 

 sion made either with ()6-per-cent 

 stock, 10 per cent, or with naphtha 

 soap and cold water, seemed to kill all 

 the green apple aphids. The -10-per- 

 cent nicotine solution, with a dilution 

 up to 1 to 2,000 combined with soap, 

 were likewise efi'ective aphidicides. 

 Anthracene emulsion, 3 per cent, gave 

 satisfactory control, and at this 

 strength caused no foliage injury. 

 Anthracetie emulsion, 5 per cent, 

 burned the foliage badly. The kero- 

 sene emulsions under 10 per cent were 

 not satisfactory, neither were the soaps 

 at the strengths tested, except that fish- 

 oil soap, a to 50, killed flO per cent of 

 the aphids. Laundry soap, ,3 to ,iO, 

 was effective against the young aphids 

 only. Arsenate of lead alone, as was 

 to be expected, had little or no effect 

 upon the aphids. The combination of 

 arsenate of calcium with kerosene 

 enuilsion is not a desirable one, since 

 an insoluble calcium soap is formed, 

 thcrehv releasing some free kerosene. 



Str;n\ hni y grnwers of Kcnnew ick ami Uicli- 

 I;nni Imvr atO'ced to a consolidation and will 

 niai-kct all of their berries tln-ouph one selling 

 concern, thus cutting out self-competition, — 

 a step in the riKllt direction. More of this 

 work is in <»r(ler, anil when more of it is done 

 friiitgrnwers will i-eali/e lietter prices. 



