Page Twenty 



BETTER FRUIT 



June, 1922 



Why 



Successful 



Orchardists 



Come Back 



to Us 



for Stock 



A fact — by far more fruit 

 trees now in Washington 

 orchards were purchased from 

 us than from any other nursery. 



During 19 years, as customers 

 have increased their orchard 

 acreage, steady repeat orders 

 have been proving that we en- 

 joy fublic confidence — the 

 only lasting basis for success in 

 the nursery business. 



Because we grow and sell 

 only hardy, matured nursery 

 stock, well-rooted and free 

 from diseas e — b e c a u s e we 

 won't sell you stock unless we 

 believe it will meet your re- 

 quirements — because we are 

 here to stay — our guarantee 

 means something. 



You can depend upon golden- 

 rule treatment in selecting 

 your stock here. Write and 

 let us help you. 



Washington Nursery 

 Company 



Vour Tree Men Since 1903 



Toppenish, Wash. 



In Defense of Scalecide 



By B. G. Pratt. 



President B. G. Pratt Comfany, New York 



For Control of Aphis — 



Spray 



with 



APHOIL 



Which is also an effi- 

 cient Spreader. 



Write for information 



Hood River Spray Co. 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



Manufacturers of DORMOIL 



;iiiiii>llinilltllllllllllltlliriiiliilllllllllllllllliliiiiiliirtiiiiTliniiltilHlliniiniiiiiinlliiiini>^ 



I It is a bit unusual to giz'e space to | 



I an article defending and fraising a | 



I specific spray materia/, but it was an | 



1 unusual thing for a publication such \ 



1 as Bettter Fruit to print a story of \ 



I spray results with brand names all | 



I given as we did in the March issue. \ 



i Discussion was urged and good has | 



I corne from the interest thus aroused. | 



I The picture to which Mr. Pratt | 



I refers was not furnished by Profes- | 



I sor Parker, but by C. C. Vincent, | 



I whose article appeared last month | 



I and, according to his report, dealt | 



I with tests almost exclusively with | 



I Mr. Pratt's miscible oil spray. With | 



I regard to the retardation of buds, | 



I Professor Vincent admits it may have | 



I been partly due to poor condition of | 



I the trees as they entered the 'winter | 



I period. I 



r ,„„ „„i iiiiiniiiiiiiitiiiMili HUM iiiiiiiii Hill i~ 



IN THE March issue of Better Fruit, 

 I see a full report of Professor J. R. 

 Parker on leaf roller work in Montana and, 

 as you request a discussion, I am availing 

 mvself of the opportunity, not as a criti- 

 cism, but in the hope that it may be of 

 help to someone. 



Naturally, this report is very disappoint- 

 ing to me in that Scalecide should have 

 made such a poor showing, but fortunately, 

 its reputation was not made in a day; 

 neither do I believe it will be lost by one 

 experiment. But the surprising thing to 

 me is that the field e.xperiments with all 

 the oils Xised, was so poor — the best not 

 killing 75 per cent leaf roller. This is 

 not effective spraying. 



The best field work with any oil in Mr. 

 Parker's report is poorer than the poorest 

 work ever reported with Scalecide hereto- 

 fore during the past ten years. Circular 

 No. 26, Colorado Experiment station, re- 

 ports 100 per cent leaf roller killed with 

 Scalecide, using 1 to 12, 1 to 1 5, I to 20, 

 and even 1 to 25 parts of water. Cornell 

 bulletin No. 367, reports 96.2 per cent 

 killed in field work where thorough work 

 was attempted, and from 79 to 82 per cent 

 where, admittedly light application was 

 made and under unfavorable weather con- 

 ditions, and adding "there was no appear- 

 ance of injury due to the oils." 



What was the matter with the Montana 

 tests? I must admit my inability to tell 

 with any degree of certainty, from the data 

 available. I do not believe that any one 

 else has had as long or as wide an experi- 

 ence as I have in handling miscible oils 

 and believe I know what can be expected 

 from them. Any good miscible oil should 

 have given better results. 



For seventeen years I ■ have fought 



against a coarse spray and for several years 

 past a coarse, driving spray, (the spray gun 

 at high pressure). I have 35,000 trees and 

 the spray gun would mean the saving of 

 much time in spraying, but 1 would lose 

 in efficiency, so I do not use them. 



The spray injury as reported to a greater 

 or less extent from all of the oils, I do not 

 attribute to the lateness of the spray, but 

 I believe is entirely due to the spray gun 

 (provided the oils all emulsified properly). 

 The difference in injury from the dif- 

 ferent oils and on different trees can be 

 accounted for by the different men hand- 

 ling the spray gun, or, the position the same 

 man held the gun on different trees. The 

 closer to the tree, or the wider the open- 

 ing used, the greater the injury. 



In my own orchards, where I use a 

 cluster of fine nozzles, I have on several 

 occasions finished my Scalecide spray only 

 two or three days before we started the 

 pink or cluster bud spray without the least 

 injury. I do know, however, of severe 

 injury to buds earlier than this with a 

 coarse, driving spray. You can drive an 

 oil spray into the folds of the expanding _ 

 buds where it would be impossible to drive 

 lime-sulfur. But why drive? You can- 

 not do effective spraying by splashing the 

 material on the trees, no matter how hard 

 vou splash it. A mist will cover completely, 

 give better results and no injury. 



The photograph on page six, showing 

 the retarding of the buds by the use of mis- 

 cible oils, is misleading and due, we believe, 

 to the driving spray. The June, 1918, issue 

 of the South African Fruit Grozver had a 

 picture showing the opposite condition on 

 trees sprayed for five years with Scalecide. 

 We agree with you fully that "experi- 

 ments with spray materials, when scientifi- 

 cally carried out by experts, are certain to 

 add something to the sum total of existing 

 knowledge about them." But they are 

 often too sporadic and not continued long 

 enough to eliminate the natural margin of 

 errors. 



I am glad to report that the experiment 

 In Montana is to be repeated this year, and 

 I sincerely hope that better results will be 

 obtained with all the oils used. 



I assure you that I will be pleased to 

 know that an oil or oils are made on the 

 Pacific Coast that will control leaf roller 

 as well as Scalecide has always done before 

 and will, in all probability do again, for it 

 hurts me to pay such a tremendous tax to 

 the railroad. When the time comes that 

 Scalecide will be indispensable to the 

 Northwest fruit grower, we hope condi- 

 tions will arise that will greatly reduce or 

 eliminate this extra tax. 



AAA 



Advertisers appreciate mention of the 

 fact that vou reacl their ad in Better Fiuil. 



