Adjust (^alei^dar, 



J. S. HARRIS, LA CRESCENT. 



The man who would succeed in any kind of business does not de- 

 pend upon chance or luck but looks after the business in all of its de- 

 tails. The orchard and fruit g-arden should be looked after, if not 

 daily, at least once or twice a week. See that fences are kept in per- 

 fect repair. A loose staple may admit a drove of stock that in a 

 single hour will trample, break down and destroj' the labor and 

 care of months. 



Early varieties of apples should be gathered clean as soon as ripe, 

 and the surplus disposed of, and inferior specimens should not be 

 left upon the ground to rot and breed insects, but be picked up and 

 fed to stock or otherwise disposed of. By doing this promptly, the 

 apple worm crop of the late varieties and of next year may be 

 greatly diminished. Bands of carpet, bag'ging, or other fabric fast- 

 ened around the trunks of the trees with a single long tack will 

 catch many apple worms. Examine them weekly and kill all that 

 are found. Trees will frequently be broken by accident or careless 

 pickers. Saw off injured limbs close to another branch or the trunk 

 of the tree and cover with grafting- wax, shellac or paint. 



In some sections the oak pruner (Stenocorns putator, of Peck), 

 or some nearly allied insect, is doing considerable damage to the 

 orchards. Its presence is detected by small branches lying under 

 the trees an neatly severed as if cut with a saw. In splitting open 

 the cut end of such branches, they will be found to be perforated 

 several inches in the course of the pith, and a slender grub, the au- 

 thor of the mischief, will be discovered therein. (Later we will give 

 a description and life history of the insect or engage Prof. Eugger to 

 do so.) This grub remains in (he branch over winter and is trans- 

 formed into pupa and comes out next season a perfect insect and 

 deposits eggs on other branches to perpetuate its species. All fal- 

 len branches should be gathered up and burned to prevent the de- 

 velopment of the beetles. If trees set last spring are suffering 

 from drouth, either keep the surface loose by frequent hoeing 

 or mulch them or both. If the growth is feeble or the leaves 

 wilt on hot, dry days, the trunks should be shaded or wrapped with 

 burlap or paper to prevent sun-scald. 



Young trees may have their shape controlled by pinching in 

 shoots that grow too rampant, thus diverting the sap to weaker 

 branches. Water shoots, or sap sprouts, should be removed while 

 yet soft, and this month is the best of all for doing it. 



It is a good time to make clearings of wood lands for a future or- 

 chards, either by grubbing or cutting the trees close to the ground, 

 on account of the lessened liability to sprout again. 



