•The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXV 



FEBRUARY, 1912 



No. 



Spraying Suggestions for the Apple Groover 



S. C. Parker, Secy., Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association, Berwick, N.S. 



THE necessity of spraying with 

 fungicides and insecticides to in- 

 sure a crop of marivctable apples 

 is almost universally conceded by grow- 

 ers. Occasionally one is found who 

 says he does not spray and yet his apples 

 are as good as his neighbors' ; with such 

 as he it is of no use to argue, one can 

 only say "Ephraim is joined to his 

 idols, let him alone." 



Admitting that spraying is a necessity 

 to the progressive fruit grower, he is at 

 once compelled to decide on his "poi- 

 on." Two year ago when the writer of 

 this article was called on to discuss 

 sprays, the well-tried bordeaux mixture 

 was the first and only thing mentioned. 

 Learned discussions as to the merit ( f 

 four-four-forty a^ compared 

 with three-three-thirty could 

 be heard in every gathering 

 of apple men. It is often 

 said that the farmer is slow- 

 to change his methods. With 

 the up-to-date orchardist 

 such is not the case. Con- 

 vince him of improved meth- 

 ods and no man will seize 

 the opportunity more quick- 



ly- 



In the spring of 1910, 

 ninety-five per cent, of the 

 spray used in Nova Scotia 

 was Bordeaux; in igii the 

 same per cent, of the grow- 

 ers used lime-sulphur. Why 

 this revolution in methods? 

 Bordeaux had been fairly 

 successful in controlling the 

 fungus, but the tendency to 

 russetting under certain con- 

 ditions, and bordeaux injury 

 to the foliage and fruit was 

 often very obvious. In 1910 

 a few careful growers used 

 lime-sulphur, and the results 

 were so marked that every- 

 body went the same way in 

 191 1. Most of the growers 

 used the commercial brands. 

 Two lime-sulphur plants 

 manufactured several thous- 

 and barrels and supplied the 

 trade at a fair price. Small 

 growers who want only a 

 few gallons had better buy 

 than to bother with boiling 

 the mixture. However, from 



practical experience we found no difiRcul- 

 ty in making an article just as good as 

 any commercial product. A boiling plant 

 can be fitted up at a cost of a very few 

 dollars, and a good stock solution that 

 will test twenty-eight degrees to thirty 

 degrees Beaume, can be prepared in a 

 few hours. The commercial product 

 costs us from twenty to twenty-five cents 

 per gallon, while the same quality made 

 in a small way can be turned out by the 

 growers at less than half that price. 



Some manufacturers vvili try to con- 

 vince the farmer that boiling lime-sul- 

 phur is a very intricate process, and that 

 the amateur will meet all kinds of diffi- 

 cultie«. This is hardly the case, as any 

 prnctical man. cnn prepare a couple of 



A Power Sprayer at Work in the Niagara Diitrict, Near Burlington, Ont. 



—Photo courtcpy Niagara Brand Spray Co., Burlington 



25 



hundred gallons of stock solution in a 

 day, and sa\e fifteen or twenty dollars 

 for his time and trouble. 



QEEAT IMPROVEMENTS 



Nothing more strongly marks the pro- 

 gress of spraying than the improvement 

 of spraying outfits. About fifteen years 

 ago the writer bought and used his first 

 spray pump. This was purchased on 

 the recommendation of Prof. John Craig, 

 then the Horticulturist at Ottawa. The 

 pump was of cast iron, no brass fittings, 

 had ten feet of hose, with an iron nozzle 

 fit for a small steam engine. Extension 

 rods were unknown, and we used a rake 

 handle tied to the nozzle to get the ele- 

 vation. One season's experience with 

 this crude outfit settled the question, 

 and. fungus and bugs had 

 possession for the next few 

 years. Then we tried sev- 

 eral makes of hand pumps, 

 and found with improved 

 nozzles and bamboo exten- 

 sion rods that satisfactory 

 work could be done, and fun- 

 gus controlled. 



Five years since, we 

 bought a power outfit, used 

 by the Dominion Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in the 

 Annapolis Valley, for demon- 

 stration spraying. We sup- 

 po.sed we were getting an 

 outfit, tried and proved, as 

 the best obtainable. For- 

 tunately for us, there was a 

 good wagon under the outfit 

 and a good tank, as this is 

 all that we got for our money 

 save vexation and annoy- 

 ance. The first season saw 

 the pump relegated to. the 

 scrap heap ; the second, the 

 engine followed suit. People 

 who will build a power pump 

 with two horizontal cylin- 

 ders on top of the tank, hitch 

 it up to an engine with a 

 chain gear, and expect it to 

 do business, are not practi- 

 cal and should not be in the 

 business. 



After this unsatisfactory 

 experience we got together 

 the outfit shown in the illus- 

 tration. When spraying in 

 large orchards we use three 



