Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



May 



IMElhCmOfiS 



Jorall 



Pacific Coast 

 Product 



Sanfrancisco 

 lo3An^ele5 ffejnoPorfland Seattle Salt lake Cily nonolulu 



handles a spray pole properly. The 

 calyx spray means the implanting of a 

 drop, or two drops, of poison liquid in 

 the calyx cup of the blossom. To do 

 this necessitates more than a spraying 

 machine — more than 200 pounds pres- 

 sure — more than 15 per cent poison in 

 the arsenate of lead — it needs an artist 

 on the spray pole. Artists are not 

 easily found, therefore the only rem- 

 edy is for the owner or a reliable fore- 

 man to closely scrutinize the process 

 of spraying. To implant a drop of 

 liquid in the small aperture available 

 with your head looking over your 

 shoulder, so as to fluently and easily 

 converse with your neighbor, who in 

 turn is doing the same thing, is a very 

 difficult feat to perform. Yet I see 

 them attempt it in droves every spring. 

 Spraying for the calyx means keeping 

 your eye on the fruit. Keeping it any- 

 where else won't do. 



Take irrigating. When we first 

 bought or had wished on us our 

 orchard property, it was a task of joy, 

 a labor of love, to put our hoe or 

 shovel over our shoulder and set out 

 in the cool morning, turning on the 

 taps, or rather opening those dear old 

 wooden buttons and letting the water 

 trickle through the tree rows. It was 

 just one gigantic game of "mud pies," 

 like the children on the sea beach with 

 their little spades and buckets, build- 

 ing sand castles, you know. We went 

 at our work with vim and glee. When 

 we saw an elderly neighbor attempting 

 to make a stream of water run up hill, 

 we would join him and help, and enjoy 

 it. We were not satisfied to turn the 

 water on at the top of the row, we 

 would follow it down to the other end, 

 plugging up worm holes and gopher 

 holes and leading streams of water 

 here and there, seeing to it that every 

 tree got a drink when it needed it. 



Those were days of real sport. Do we 

 still do it? I fear not. Now, instead 

 of giving the trees a drink when they 

 need it, we give it to them when we 

 feel ready to do so. That's not good. 

 Trees arc not like some friends of 

 mine, who want a drink all the time. 

 Trees starve when they go dry and get 

 waterlogged when you over-soak them. 

 Again, I say, "Keep Your Eye on the 

 Fruit." 



Thinning. There never was a period 

 in this business when we thinned 

 enough, but I really believe we have 

 made more satisfactory progress in this 

 particular than in any other. Still it 

 is hard to make some of us believe that 

 a thorough thinning means more high- 

 grade apples, more regular crops, more 

 desirable sizes and practically the same 

 tonnage year after year. Don't over- 

 look the thinning, and when you keep 

 your eye on the fruit, in this instance, 

 keep it on the fruit on the tree. Don't 

 mind the fruit on the ground. I've 

 heard a good deal about worm stings 

 this year. Poor thinning is great for 

 worm stings. \Mien your tree is over- 

 loaded and two apples are hanging on 

 one spur and you come around with 

 your second and third spray, how do 

 you hope to thoroughly cover your 

 apples with poison? Believe me, if 

 we'll all prune, thin and prop more 

 carefully we'll find worm stings de- 

 crease rapidly. 



Do I hear anyone say stem punc- 

 tures? Maybe it was my imagination. 

 A few years ago, if a man picked 60 to 

 75 boxes a day, at harvest time, it was 

 considered a good day's work. Today 

 I hear growers tell about the man who 

 picks too to 150 boxes a day. NNTiat's 

 the result? A few years ago, when 

 picking was going on in an orchard and 

 you wanted to find whore the crew 

 were working, you put xour hands to 



your mouth and you holloed, "Hey, 

 there!" A voice would answer you out 

 of the stillness, and lo and behold, your 

 picking crew was discovered. Today 

 you can come out on your porch, just 

 place your hand behind your ear and 

 instantly point out the direction in 

 which your crew is. It may be a mile 

 or only one-half a mile, but anyone can 

 tell by the rattle and the banging of the 

 apples in the bucket or the box where 

 the industry is going on. It sounds like 

 a grouse drumming in the woods. The 

 grower sits back and says, "They can't 

 fool me. I know when they are loafing. 

 If I can't hear them I just go out and 

 jack them up." That's where you get 

 your stem punctures. I remember read- 

 ing in early days how they picked 

 apples in Hood River. They picked 

 them into buckets full of water. I won- 

 der if they do it now. 1 know they 

 don't up where 1 come from. 



Isn't it a fact that we are beginning 

 to realize that we must confine our- 

 selves to a few varieties that, first, are 

 suitable to the district and, second, are 

 in favor with the consuming public? 

 I think we arc. Are we taking suffi- 

 ciently rapid steps to bring this condi- 

 tion about? I will not attempt an an- 

 swer on this point. I realize fully the 

 dilTiculty experienced by individual 

 growers in making up their minds to 

 cut down full-grown trees that at one 

 time were a source of income but are 

 now, in too many instances, a source of 

 expense. However, until that is done we 



Continued on page 30 



Are You 

 Fortified? 



Aren't you gambling 

 with fate too much- 

 placing all your de- 

 pendence on one 

 thing? 



Get a few good cows 

 and an 



Set out a few acres in com 

 or some other silage crop. 

 Fill up your silo and you 

 have rich, succulent feed 

 all winter long. 



Free Silo Book on request. 

 Dept. L. 



TheChas.K.SpauldingLogglngCo. 



SALEM, OREGON 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISFRS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



I 



