AUXILIARY WORK. 143 



apparent result of spraying, one ai)plication, is as follows: Four control trees of Early 

 Rivers, adj6ining trees sprayed IMarch 2, are badly curled, leaves dropjnng, and also 

 the greater portion of the fruit. The adjoining sprayed trees of this tender variety 

 are all right (no eurl) and make quite a marked contrast, liesides these, 4 white 

 nectarines and 4 Bilyeau peachi-s, left at the same time, show curl and loss of fruit, 

 although not as badly as the Early Rivers. The surrounding sprayed trees look 

 vigorous and healthy, with no curl. 



Mr. Woolsej^ was among- the first peacTi growers to adopt the copper 



spnivs for the control of curl. His first experimonts were made in 



1S\)'2, and they proved so satisfactory that he sprayed quite extensiyel}^ 



in 181>8 and again in 1894. The work in 1803 was of special interest, 



as the following- extract from acomnmnication received from him will 



show: 



I sprayed nearly all my peach and apricot trees. I say nearly all; for, time press- 

 ing, I found I would not get over all the peaches, so to save what I considered the 

 most valuable portion, viz, the young lower growth, I had that sprayed and left the 

 tops unsprayed. The season was a damp one and leaf curl was very prevalent with 

 my neighbors. On my place all trees sprayed were exempt, all others badly affected 

 and crops on them almost a failure. On the ones partly sprayed there was a healthy 

 growth on the lower part of the trees, while they were denuded of f(jliage above. 



Mr. Woolsey's work in 1894 was negative, owing to the nondevelop- 

 ment of the disease that season. 



Two peach growers of Eldorado Count}*, Mr. John M. Day, of 

 Placerville, and Mr. A. L. Kramp, of Diamond Spring, furnished the 

 writer with reports of their experiments conducted in the spring and 

 summer of 1895. Mr. Day tried 4 formuhe, each sliowing a decided 

 saving of foliage, but the fruit was lost from frost. The spi'ay used 

 by Mr. Kramp was composed of 10 pounds sidphur, 20 pounds lime, 5 

 pounds salt, and 45 gallons of water. He sprayed 600 trees, 3 years old, 

 of the Hales Early, Briggs Early, and Wilcox Cling varieties, and 3,000 

 unsprayed trees were left for comparison. The sprayed trees lost no 

 foliage and yielded 48,000 pounds of peaches, while the unsprayed 

 trees lost not less than 50 per cent of their leaves and yielded 60,000 

 pounds. The average yield of the sj)rayed trees was thus 80 pounds 

 per tree, while the average yield of the unsprayed trees was but 20 

 pounds, a net gain of 300 per cent. 



Gen. N. P. Chipman, of Red Bluff, has been using for at least two 

 years a formula for Bordeaux mixture which gave the writer exceed- 

 ingly good results at Biggs (see row 21 of the writer's experiments, 

 p. 117). Mr. Chipman writes that his experiments were upon several 

 varieties of peach trees and that excellent results were obtained. He 

 further says: "1 used equal parts, or 5 pounds bluestone, 5 pounds 

 quicklime, and 45 gallons water. I believe you have found an infalli- 

 ble remedy. I have used this spray two years with good effect." Mr. 

 Chipman first observed the effects of this spray in the experiment 

 block at the Rio Bonito orchard, in the summer of 1895. 



