Page 24. 



BETTER FRUIT 



December, 



ipip 



Near Porfersville there is a 4-acre Lisbon 

 lemon orcliaril, wliicli was sot out in l'.(07, 

 with trees all grown from buds from one 

 productive parent tree, according to the Week- 

 ly Bulletin, of the State Department of Agri- 

 culture. Mr. A. D. Shamel, who recently ex- 

 amined this orchard says that not one off- 

 strain tree was found, whereas in neighbor- 

 ing Lisbon lemon orchards, wliere no bud 

 selection based on performance records and 

 intimate tree knowledge had been practiced 

 in propagation, it was found that from 10 to 

 70 per cent of the trees were of variable or 

 off-type strains. 



Advocates a Natural Brace for Orchard Trees 



Written for Better Fruit by a Washington Orchardist 



D. B. Mackie, field entomologist, office of 

 pest control of the .State Department of Agri- 

 culture has successfully solved the problem of 

 destroying date storage pests which caused a 

 big loss to date growers. The treatment con- 

 sists in fumigating the dates urider vacuum 

 with carbon bisulphide. This is a new 

 method of fumigation which was originally 

 worketl out by liim for controlling tobacco 

 pests in the Philippine Islands. By this 

 mctliod all eggs, larvae, pupae and adults 

 are killed by one to two hours fumigation 

 utilizing a twenty-six inch vacuum. Two 

 fumigators, each with a daily capacity of over 

 two tons of dates, are already installed and 

 operating successfully in the Coachclla valley. 

 The California Date Association and Mr. A. 

 \V. Risher are the growers who will thus pro- 

 tect their pack. Not only are these two 

 machines tlie first ever used for fumigating 

 dates under this method, but this is perhaps 

 the first commercial use of carbon bisulphide 

 under vacuum in the United States. 



European buyers have contracted for practi- 

 cally the entire output of California fruit 

 canneries this year, say fruit dealers and can- 

 ners of this section. The canneries are having 

 a record year, giving higher prices, employ- 

 ing more help and paying better wages than 

 ever before. 



The California State Department of Agri- 

 culture gives this explanation of the motive 

 power of jumping oak galls: Many inquiries 

 have been received concerning tlie cause of 

 the "jumping gall" of the oak tree. By open- 

 ing the galls, they will be found to contain a 

 worm or larva of a fly (Cynips saltatrix), one 

 of the "gall flies." It is of interest that these 

 same "jumping galls" are humorously des- 

 cribed in "The Comic Almanack," illustrated 

 by the famous Cruikshank, and published in 

 London in 18.3.i. The "jumping gall" is an 

 illustration of the motive power that pro- 

 duces the "jump" in the "Mexican jumping 

 bean." 



(Editor's Note — The following article is 

 presented to the readers of Bettkr I'ruit on 

 account of the novelty of the idea, and also 

 because it presents an interesting phase of tree 

 grafting. The use of tiiis natural brace is 

 said to have been employed quite extensively 

 in the I'ajaro Valley, California, where it 

 worked out successfully. The writer of this 

 article, in a letter to the editor, says that he 

 has employed it on all trees in his own 

 orchard, and that his neiglibor has done like- 

 wise. The process nuiy not appeal very 

 strongly to the average practical orchardist, 

 but we believe that he will be interested in 

 knowing of the experiment.) 



THERE is scarcely any incident so 

 provoking to tlie owner of an 

 orcliard as tiie breaking or splitting 

 down of some favorite tree and yet 

 this is a fairly common occurrence in 

 a great many orchards. One reason 

 for it, is the abandonment of the cen- 

 tral leader tree in modern pruning, 

 and some fruitgrowers have, in disgust, 

 gone back to the central leader type to 

 insure themselves from loss of limbs, 

 crop and temper. However, the advan- 

 tages of the open center type of tree 

 are so evident that strenuous efforts 

 have been made by the large majority 

 to keep the open center tree and avoid 

 the loss from breakage by more care- 

 ful pruning, when the trees are young, 

 and in the formative stage, and by 

 judicious thinning of the crop after 

 they have begun to bear heavily. These 

 efforts have helped wonderfully, but, 

 in spite of all that can be done, we 

 find trees propped up with joi.st and 

 scantling to save them from the utter 

 ruin which even then occasionally 

 overtakes them. 



In the Pajaro Valley of California, 

 peopled largely by immigrants from 

 Southern Europe, a system of bracing 

 trees is used which is, at the same time, 

 simple, inexpensive and effective. 

 Occasionally it may be found in 



Illustrated With 



Color Photographs 



(iSGs 



Establiahed 1885 



ILLY^ 



Establishffd JB8i 



Our 1920 Seed Catalog 



Is the Finest Western American Seed Book 



— BECAUSE it tells of the seeds — specially selected 

 and grown — to suit the climatic and soil conditions 

 of the Northwest. 



— ITS PAGES are living tributes to the years of un- 

 ceasing labor spent in the selection of the "Best 

 Seeds for the West." 



— IT CONTAINS over 300 photo engravings (including four 

 beautiful color illustrations) showing actual results from 

 LILLY'S Seeds. 



orchai-ds in Oregon and Washington, 

 though seldom, if ever, on a large scale. 

 Why it is not used more extensively 

 is hard to understand. For want of a 

 better name this brace, or support, 

 might be called the natural brace. 



When the tree is young there are 

 many shoots and tender branches 

 growing from the scaffold limbs to- 



1. A brace just made on a young Jonathan tree. 



ward the center of the tree. Instead 

 of immediately pruning out all of these 

 shoots, they can be made the future 

 life preserver by thrusting tightly to- 

 gether two which grow parallel to 

 each other, from opposite main limbs, 

 repeating the process with other limbs, 

 where it may seem necessary or desir- 

 able. Two branches kept in close con- 

 tact, will after a time, grow together, 

 and when the union is finally secure, 

 the opposite scaffold limbs are held 

 together by a live wood coupling 

 which will last as long as the tree 

 lasts — providing no young George 

 Washington is allowed to try his new 

 hatchet on it — and cannot pull apart, 

 as the strain is not across the grain, 

 but wholly longitudinal. Each main 

 limb supports the weight of its oppo- 

 site fellow and splitting at the points 

 where each joins the trunk is impos- 

 sible. 



While the natural brace can be eas- 

 ily formed at almost any time from the 

 second to the fifth year, the sooner 

 it is done, the better, so that the young 

 branches may have plenty of time to 

 knit firmly together. Because of the 

 lack of material to work with, it can- 

 not be done before the end of the 

 second year's growth and sometimes 

 not until the end of the third summer. 

 If possible to avoid doing so, it should 

 not be left later than this. Tlie young 

 shoots should have time to knit and 

 grow strong before any considerable 

 strain is placed on them which would, 

 in most cases, be when they are five 

 years old. One year should be suf- 

 ficient to start the knitting, or grow- 

 ing together process, if the shoots are 

 twisted tightly, so that there are 

 several points of close contact, and 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



