THE MONTHLY BULLETIlC. 533 



COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' DEPARTMENT. 

 WINTER WORK IN A PRUNE ORCHARD. 



By G. H. Hecke. 



The harvestin*; of tlic prmic crop in Yolanda orchard is fjeiierally 

 finished by the Ix'tiinninu' of October. The oreliard. a izenerous producer 

 for a lonu: nuiiilx'r of years, is then ready to receive its compensation in 

 the shape of stable niannre, as far as such can be obtained from the cor- 

 r;ils of the snrronnding p:rain farms, or by hauling it from the nearby 

 city of Woodland. Generally ten to fifteen out of sixty acres can thus be 

 served every year. The balance would have to iio hungry if we had not 

 our experience to guide us in the planting of the leguminous cover crop. 

 For this purpose we give the orchard a light irrigation to induce a quick 

 starting of the seed of the vetch. The mixture that is used consists of 

 Iwo thirds haiiy vetch and one third barley. Starting it by an early 

 irrigation means that by Noveml)er the ground between the trees is 

 entirely covered by the growth of the cover crop, which will give an 

 i<!)uiulance of good hunuis in nitrogenous material to plow under in 

 .March. 



The pruning is confined to an annual thinning out of the tops of the 

 trees. We endeavor, in a general way. to reduce old substitute and 

 (Micourage new growth. Particular care is exerci.sed in the proper 

 making of the cuts, and if a limb is amputated a careful covering of the 

 wonnd with asphaltum "D" is necessary. Contract lalwr is never 

 allowed in pruning, and we find that the native Spaniai'd. under the 

 guidance of an Amci'ican foreman, is making the most intelligent pruner 

 available. 



There is no scale in the orchard at the i)resent time. The sixty acres 

 of the twenty-three year old prune orchard, part of the Yolanda farm, 

 was first infested with the Eui-opean fruit scale in 1907. No control 

 measures were adopted at that time, except the liberal introduction of 

 its parasite, ('o»j.(/.s' fusca. ]\ruch valuable time was lost wdiile experi- 

 menting with this jiarasite. which, for numerous reasons, failed to in- 

 crease at the same rapid ratio that was characteristic of the fruit scale. 

 Conditions in li)()8-09 were closely watchetl and proved the total failure 

 of Comys fusca. A partial control and check for the scale were begun 

 in 1910, with a distillate spray. The years of 1911-12 again brought a 

 rapid increase of the pest, and a thorough campaign of control was 

 decided upon in the fall of 1913. With ^Ir. Geo. P. Weldon's assistance 

 and advice the spraying operations were commenced in December, but, 

 due to the heavy rains of the season, were not finished until iMarch 1st, 

 just before the blossoms of the trees were showing color. Several kinds 

 of sprays were used, but the best all around satisfaction was given by 

 the crude oil emulsion, used at the rate of thirty-two gallons of oil 

 emulsion for the 200-gallon tank. The cost of spraying was from $1 to 

 $10 per acre for material. The average amount per tree used was eleven 

 uallons. This large quantity per tree was needed to give the perfect 

 result of this spraying campaign. 



This fall it is practicall.v impossible to find any survivors of this scale 

 on the trees, after thorough inspection. We consider that a splendid 

 job was done. 



