10 Oct., 1017.] Orchard and (lardeii Notes. 637 



ORCHARD AND GARDEX NOTES. 



E. E. Pescatt, F.L.S., Pomologist. 

 The Orchard. 



CULTIV.\TI0N. 



Orchard ploughiug should now he finished, and tlie main work for 

 the next few months will be an endeavour to keep the soil surface loose, 

 friable, and well opened. The consolidation of the surfaces must be 

 avoided, as a hard, compact surface means the loss of much soil 

 moisture, by capillary attraction. So that after rains, heavy dews, the 

 spray pump and other traffic, it will be as well to run the harrows over 

 the surface of the soil, so as to keep the surface well broken and to 

 maintain a good earth mulch. If the harrows are not sufficient to break 

 the clods, a spiked or heavy roller should be drawn over it, and then 

 harrowed. If the weather is at all dry it is advisable to plough only 

 as much as may be harrowed in the same day. By immediately 

 following up the ploughing with harrowing a minimum amount of 

 moisture is lost by capillarity. 



Green manure crops should now be ploughed under, and should they 

 be very abundant in growth, a roller should be run over them and 

 ploughed with a coulter attached. Any of these means will serve to get 

 the crop underground, which is a desideratum. 



In addition to the retention of soil moisture, cultivation of the 

 orchards will suppress the weeds which rob the trees of food and 

 moisture. The suppression of weeds is an important work in the spring 

 and summer, and they should be rigorously hoed or cultivated out. 



Spraying. 



Spraying for all pests and diseases is, at this time of the year, an 

 important work in the orchard. Bordeaux spraying for the black spot 

 of apples and pears, for scabs and shothole in peaches and apricots, 

 for the leaf curl of the peach and rust of the plums and peaches, should 

 now be completed. 



Where there are indications that previous sprayings have not been 

 thoroughly successful, a lime sulphur spray should be given. 



Wherever they are present, nicotine sprays should be given to 

 combat the peach aphis, and the pear and cherry slug. For the latter 

 pest, arsenate of lead should not be used if the cherries are within a 

 month of ripening. Arsenate of lead is so tenacious, and thus it is 

 likely to remain on the fruit until it is ripe, when it would be dangerous 

 to the consumer. Thus, while this property of remaining on the fruit 

 for a considerable time is of great value in the Codlin Moth spraying, 

 it is quite of the opposite value when used for the pear and cherry 

 slug. Either tobacco water or hellebore is useful for the eradication of 

 this pest, as these .substances do not remain long on the trees, and they 

 are quite as effective as arsenate of lead. 



