THE VIRGINIA EXPERIMENTS. 17 



the process. This is of the utinost importance if the contagion is to be 

 stopped.'' They also state that "the disease can be kept in check 

 duiiiio- the sununer l)V I'epeated api)!ications of Bordeaux mixture." In 

 a pajx'r read lieforea meeting- of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, 

 IJurrill" reports experiments conducted in three counties of southern 

 Illinois, showing- that the disease 3'ielded to applications of Bordeaux 

 mixture. The results of these experiments indicate especially the 

 importance of early spraying-. 



Reporting- upon two years' ex])eriuients, von Schrenk and Spaul- 

 ding* state that "to a certain extent, varying from 10 to 7;") per cent, 

 Bordeaux mixture surely does prevent the ravages of the hitter-rot." 

 Thev also stronglv reconunend the removal of diseased fruits, nuun- 

 mies, and limb cankers. 



THE VIRGINIA EXPERIMENTS. 



The orchard of Mr. \\'. II. (ioodw^in, in which the experiments were 

 conducted, is situated on a spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Nelson 

 County, about 5 miles south of Afton. This and the adjacent county 

 of Albemarle have long been famous for their production of the 

 Yellow Newtown (or Albemarle Pippin) apples, some trees of which 

 are 100 years old and still thriving. This variety is not subject to 

 serious injur}' from apple si-ab, nor does it sutler materially from the 

 leaf-spot diseases, and until the advent of bitter-rot magniticent crops 

 were secured in this section without spraying. 



Mr. Goodwin's orchard has a northern exposure, with an elevation 

 of from 1,000 feet on the lower side to about 1,250 feet at the upper 

 side. The land is ver}- steep, having an incline of almost forty-five 

 degrees in some places, and an extra man with a lever is re<(uired in 

 spraying to prevent the wagon from upsetting. The soil is dark 

 brown, almost black, deep, and fertile, such as is known throughout 

 that section as "pippin" soil. The stones that almost completel}' 

 covered the ground have been piled up in windrows, and a deep furrow 

 has been plowed between the tree rows in which to run the upper 

 wheels of the spray-wagon, to avoid turning over. Above the middle 

 of the orchard is a spring with a flow of five to eight gallons a minute, 

 which affords an ample supply of water for spraying- purposes. 



The bearing orchard is composed of about 800 trees of Yellow New- 

 town 18 to 28 years old, 500 Winesaps 8 to 23 years old, and 200 York 

 Imperials 8 ^ears old. There are also a number of young trees not 

 yet in bearing. Mr. Goodwin states that the original forest was 

 removed and the trees planted the second year after clearing, and 

 that, as a rule, crops of corn or tobacco were grown between the rows 



"Burrill, T. J. Experiments in Spraying for Bitter-Rot. Trans. 111. State Hort. 

 Soc, 1902, 54-66. 



^ Bui. 44, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1903, pp. 38-45. 



