﻿Annual 
  Eeport 
  of 
  Commissioner 
  of 
  Agriculture. 
  559 
  

  

  ORCHARD 
  WORK. 
  

  

  I 
  spent 
  about 
  four 
  weeks, 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1899, 
  investigating 
  an 
  

   outbreak 
  of 
  apple 
  tent 
  caterpillars 
  and 
  canker 
  worms, 
  mostly 
  in 
  

   Ontario 
  county. 
  Very 
  few 
  owners 
  were 
  thorough 
  in 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  

   destruction, 
  none 
  began 
  early 
  enough, 
  and 
  many 
  neglected 
  to 
  do 
  

   anything 
  whatever; 
  much 
  damage 
  was 
  done 
  to 
  both 
  the 
  crop 
  and 
  

   the 
  trees. 
  Orchardists 
  who 
  wished 
  and 
  tried 
  to 
  keep 
  their 
  own 
  

   trees 
  clean 
  were 
  annoyed 
  and 
  damaged 
  by 
  their 
  neighbors' 
  neglect. 
  

   A 
  few 
  were 
  entirely 
  successful. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  induced 
  owners 
  to 
  bum 
  about 
  3,000 
  bearing 
  trees 
  tha:t 
  

   were 
  infested 
  with 
  San 
  Jose 
  scale 
  — 
  500 
  more 
  should 
  be 
  burned, 
  

   but 
  the 
  owners 
  are 
  slow 
  to 
  see 
  that 
  the 
  trees 
  are 
  doomed, 
  notwith- 
  

   standing 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  fruit 
  of 
  pears 
  and 
  apples 
  was 
  marked, 
  

   and 
  the 
  rapid 
  spread 
  of 
  the 
  scales 
  to 
  other 
  trees 
  imminent. 
  

  

  In 
  many 
  orchards, 
  gardens 
  and 
  fruit 
  plats 
  in 
  Ontario, 
  Wayne 
  

   and 
  Cayuga 
  counties, 
  I 
  have 
  located 
  San 
  Jose 
  scale, 
  and 
  much 
  

   alarm 
  is 
  expressed 
  by 
  the 
  orchardists. 
  

  

  In 
  ]Srovember, 
  1897, 
  I 
  began 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  experiments 
  on 
  trees 
  

   infested 
  with 
  San 
  Jose 
  scale. 
  On 
  three 
  trees 
  I 
  applied 
  warm 
  

   whale-oil 
  soap, 
  very 
  thoroughly, 
  two 
  pounds 
  to 
  one 
  gallon 
  of 
  water. 
  

   In 
  September, 
  1898, 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  young 
  growth 
  covered 
  with 
  

   scales, 
  and 
  young 
  scales 
  were 
  thick 
  on 
  the 
  trunks 
  and 
  large 
  branches. 
  

   About 
  80 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  scales 
  were 
  killed, 
  but 
  enough 
  lived 
  

   to 
  thoroughly 
  infest 
  the 
  trees. 
  I 
  also 
  used 
  kerosene 
  and 
  water 
  

   applied 
  as 
  a 
  mechanical 
  mixture 
  on 
  24 
  infested 
  trees, 
  and 
  in 
  

   February, 
  1899, 
  I 
  repeated 
  the 
  spraying 
  on 
  one-half 
  of 
  them. 
  

   Twenty 
  per 
  cent, 
  oil 
  killed 
  peach 
  — 
  one 
  application. 
  

   Forty 
  per 
  cent, 
  oil 
  killed 
  cherry 
  — 
  two 
  applications. 
  

   Forty 
  per 
  cent, 
  oil 
  damaged 
  plum 
  — 
  one 
  application. 
  

   Forty 
  per 
  cent, 
  oil 
  damaged 
  plum 
  seriously 
  — 
  two 
  applications. 
  

   Pure 
  oil 
  — 
  one 
  application 
  did 
  not 
  kill 
  apple 
  or 
  pear 
  trees, 
  but 
  

   injured 
  both 
  branches 
  and 
  fruit 
  buds. 
  

  

  Pure 
  oil 
  killed 
  Kieffer 
  pear, 
  plum 
  and 
  currant 
  bushes. 
  

  

  