30 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February, igia 



Spraying the Peach Orchard 



W. J. L. Hamilton, South Salt Spring, B. C. 



BKFORE attempting to spray his 

 orchard, the owner should make 

 a study of the different pests he 

 has to combat and become famihar with 

 their appearance, as it will clearly be 

 impossible for him to attack them in- 

 telligently without this knowledge. 

 Where it occurs, the San Jose Scale is 

 probably one of the mosit injurious in- 

 sect pests the peach grower has to con- 

 tend with. If neglected it quickly de- 

 stroys the tree, spreading with amaz- 

 ing rapidity. It has been estimated that 

 one San Jose Scale insect will produce 

 about three millions at the end of the 

 season. 



To control this Scale, one application 

 of the ready-made (factory-made) lime- 

 sulphur wash, strength one to fifteen of 

 water, to which one pound of -'^alt is 

 added to every ten gallons of the dilute 

 solution, should be applied in the spring 

 whilst the tree is fully dormant. If any 

 of the last year's growth is immature 

 it will likely be injured by this applica- 

 tion. It is by. far the most efficient Scale 

 insecticide, besides which it kills fungous 

 disease spores wintering on the tree. 



The curculio is another serious enemy 

 to the peach grower. It can be com- 

 bated : One, by destroying the trash 

 around the orchard in the winter where 

 the parent beetles shelter; two, by ga- 

 thering and burning all immature 

 peaches as they drop, since these con- 

 tain the grubs; and three, best cf all, 

 spraying with lead arsenate, two pounds 

 to fifty gallons of water, to which three 

 or four pounds of fresh slaked lime has 

 been added. This must be kept thor- 

 oughly stirred. Or the lead arsenate 

 may be added to a solution of lime-sul- 

 phur, one to forty or one to fifty in like 

 amount, if leaf curl or other fungous 

 diseases are present. This should be 

 applied after the blossoms fall, and twice 

 afterwards, about ten days apart, if 

 needful. 



-Some damage may be done to the 

 foliage by this spray, varying with the 

 variety of peach and with the locality. 

 If the damage is excessive, further dilu- 

 tion of the lime-sulphur is recommended. 

 In using lime-sulphur for peach trees, 

 always use salt as before directed. This 

 is important. The peach borer can be 

 partly controlled by piling the earth 

 around the trunk of the tree to the height 

 of about one foot. This should be done 

 during the blooming seaso;i, and the 

 mounds may be levelled in October. The 

 stems can also be painted with the fol- 

 lowing : Two quarts green soap, two 

 ounces paris green, half a pint crude 

 carbolic, to a pailful of water thickened 

 with lime and clay to thin paste. 



Killing the worms whilst under the 



tree bark in spring and fall is advanta- 

 geous. Cultivation of the orchard also 

 destroys these enemies. Many a peach 

 tree is injured by the black peach aphis, 

 which attacks both roots and foliage. 

 Before planting nursery stock the roots 

 should be examined to see that they are 

 free of this pe.st. 



Spraying with whale oil soap or kero- 

 sene emulsion will remove this jaest, and, 

 if it infests the roots, tobacco dust 

 worked round the tree is efficient. If 

 nursery stock is affected, dip the roots 

 in whale oil soap solution before plant- 

 ing. 



The peach twig borer, a not very com- 

 mon, but very injurious moth larva, can 

 best be destroyed by winter spraying 

 with strong kerosene emulsion. The 

 bark beetle generally attacks aged and 

 decrepit trees, whence it spreads to 

 others, which it quickly girdles. Cut 

 down trees thus affected and burn them 

 at once to kill the grubs. 



.\mongst fungous diseases, lime-sul- 

 phur (which is rendered fifty per cent, 

 more efficient as a fungicide by the addi- 

 tion of arsenate of lead, as previously 

 directed) is the remedy for leaf curl and 

 lecanium (a sooty deposit on the leaves). 

 Peach yellows, so far as I know, has 

 never yet been affected by any treat- 

 ment, so its only remedy is to at once 

 dig up and burn all trees suffering from 

 it. 



The following sprayings are recom- 

 mended where the before mentioned dis- 

 eases are present : One, in dead of win- 

 ter, on those trees which are very seri- 

 ously affected with leaf curl, two pounds 

 bluestone to fifty gallons water ; two, in 

 spring, whilst trees are dormant, limc- 

 sulphur-salt as directed ; three, after 

 blossoms drop (for curculio and other 

 leaf and fruit eating insects), dilute 

 lime-sulphur, salt, and arsenate of lead 

 as directed ; also ten and twenty days 

 later if curculio is bad. If there is no 

 bad disease, dilute J:he lime-sulphur one 

 to fifty, with two pounds arsenate to 

 the barrel of solution ; four, for aphis, 

 where necessary, kerosene emulsion or 

 whale oil soap. 



Best Varieties of Fruit to Plant 



R. M. Winslow, Victoria, B, C. 



The red apples of varieties ripening 

 from October to May have given better 

 results, as a rule, than any other class of 

 fruit under the conditions now existing 

 in British Columbia. The high price of 

 labor militates against the rapid expan- 

 sion of the small fruits industry, though 

 the market conditions are very favorable, 

 while the same applies to a lesser extent 

 to the sweet cherries, which do well, par- 

 ticularly throughout the interior. Early 



plums bring good returns in most dis- 

 tricts, for shipment by local express, but 

 late plums and prunes are liable to go 

 on to a declining market, due to the ex- 

 tensive plantings of Southern Idaho, 

 which occupy the field about the same 

 time. Main crop plums, prunes, and 

 Bartlett pears prove a good investment 

 where districts produce enough to make 

 shipments in mixed carloads possible, 

 l)Ut are not to be recommended in other 

 districts where the supply is at present 

 equal to the local demand, and where 

 there is no likelihood of mixed car ship- 

 ments materializing at the time plantings 

 commence to bear. 



British Columbia's ability to produce 

 large and heavy crops of high-class red 

 apples of dessert varieties is now so well 

 established as to justify the present de- 

 mand for nursery stock of these varie- 

 ties. While the summer fruits may, in 

 some cases, provide a return a little 

 earlier, experience has shown that for 

 stability of market and net returns the 

 winter apple is the best of all fruits. 



Dehorning Peach Trees 



If peach trees are old we would not 

 advise dehorning, but if they are middle 

 aged they can be dehorned with profit. 

 The best time to cut the trees back is 

 in the late part of the winter or early 

 spring. 



It is best not to dehorn the whole tree 

 at once, but leave a limb or two, and 

 when the young sprouts are a year or 

 two old cut the rest of the old ones off, 

 as cutting the whole tree off at once 

 would be too much of a shock for the 

 tree to recover from. — J. W. Smith &• 

 Sons. 



Spraying is a disagreeable piece of 

 work at any time, but much can be done 

 to make the work more pleasant, and pre- 

 vent injury to the hands or eyes from the 

 spray mixture. Have a drip guard just 

 below the nozzle. .-\ circular piece of 

 leather with a hole in the center, makes a 

 good one, or a simple piece of small rope 

 tied around the pipe and allowed to hang 

 down four or five inches, will answer the 

 purpose. Have a shut-off tap that does 

 not leak and make sure that all the joints 

 are tight. Pui on a pair of cheap leather 

 gloves, to protect the hands, and co\er 

 the horses with a pair of canvas blankets. 

 With reasonable care a man should be 

 able to spray all day vi-ith very little an- 

 noyance from the corrosive action of the 

 spray mixture. 



If San Jose scale is present spray with 

 lime-sulphur while the tree is dormant. It 

 will also control leaf curl on peaches 

 and the scurfy bud louse, the blister mite 

 and oyster shell bark louse of the apple. 



Remember when purchasing fertilizers 

 that the finer the ground and the drier 

 the substance, the greater their value. 



