23° 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



October, 191 2 



apples and make as tasty and firin a pack 

 as desired. The only exception to this 

 is when necessity requires all or part of 

 the last one, two or three layers to be 

 placed on their edges in order to obtain 

 just the projjer height of apples to se- 

 cure the desired pressure by the bottoms. 

 I have found that lads of good ability, 

 from twelve to sixteen years of age, ac- 

 quire quite quickly the skill for placing 

 the apples properly in these two packs, 

 and for simplicity, solidity, and freedom 

 from bruising this diagonal pack seems, 

 upon the whole, most desirable. If the 

 edges of the lining paper where they 

 meet over the face layer of the apples 

 are figured or fringed, it enhances the 

 appearance of the pack when the cover 

 is removed, especially if the apples are 

 not wrapped. We also like a corrugated 

 pulp head just next the cover to assist 

 as a cushion and keep out dust when 

 two-piece heads are used. The lining 

 paper must l>e plaited where it turns from 

 the cover to the sides in order to pre- 

 vent tearing when the cover Ijends to the 

 pressure of putting on the bottoms. This 

 plait of about one-half or three-quarters 

 of an inch is rapidly made by putting a 

 number of sheets together and turning 

 all at once. 



The stem clippers are indispensable for 

 the face layers. Tissue paper made for 

 the purpose, with one side glazed, has 

 proved best for wrapping and a small 

 circle of letters in the middle of the 

 square, giving the name of the packer, 

 adds somewhat to the style of the pack. 



PACKING 



It pays to pack from tables rather than 

 from boxes or baskets, and the can- 

 vassed top packing tables, which allow 

 four packers to stand at the four sides, 

 are thoroughly satisfactory. With two 

 tables, one for the "Fancy" grade and 

 one for "No. r," we have found just 

 enough variation in sizes of apples to 

 fill boxes properly. The numbers two 

 and three grades are put, of course, in 

 barrels as they go from the grading 

 tables. The only additional expense in- 

 curred, as far as the packing into boxes 

 goes, is simply the mechanical arrange- 

 ment of the apples in the boxes by light 

 help, which with us is not more than 

 two or three cents per box. 



Where apples are very carefully thin- 

 ned on the trees the grading table may 

 not be so necessary, and there is no 

 question whatever about the wisdom 

 and economy of this careful summer 

 sorting to lessen autumn work, dispense 

 with low grades, and conserve vitality 

 of trees. 



I go over the pear trees three times 

 in the season and cut out any limbs that 

 show evidence of blight. By this care- 

 ful attention I find that I can keep it in 

 control. — W. H. Gibson, Newcastle, 

 Ont. 



Fall Campaign Against Insects and Fungus 



Diseases 



Prof. W. Lockhead, Macdonald College, Quebec 



WHILE many fruit growers and 

 gardeners wage relentless war- 

 fare against in.sects and fungous 

 diseases during the spring and summer 

 months, an armistice is proclaimed in 

 early fall, and practically nothing is 

 done until the following spring. Ex- 

 perience, the best of teachers, bears out 

 the fact that such a practice is unwise ; 

 moreover, a knowledge of the life his- 

 tories of the pests tells us that many of 



Flat Headed Apple Tree Borer 



A, larva; b. adult; c, front of head: d, pupa, 

 all enlarged 



them can be controlled to better advan- 

 tage in the fall than at any other time. 



IN THE ORCHARD 



In some localities the Fall Canker- 

 worm (Alsophila pometaria) is trouble- 

 some. These moths, as their name in- 

 dicates, emerge in late fall and lay their 

 clusters of eggs in the forks of the 

 smaller branches. Inasmuch as the 

 female moth is wingless the deposition 

 of the eggs and the subsequent destruc- 

 tion of the leaves by the worms can be 

 prevented by banding the trees with 

 tanglefoot in early October, before the 

 moths emerge. 



Many young apple trees suffer from 

 the work of the Buffalo Treehopper (Cer- 

 esa bubalus), which lays its eggs in 

 punctures made in the ends of the twigs, 

 causing them to weaken and fall. If the 

 punctured twigs are pruned out and 

 burned in the fall the eggs will be de- 

 stroyed. 



One of the most injurious pests of 

 apple and plum orchards is the Plum 

 Ciirculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar). It 

 hibernates as an adult under loose bark, 

 among leaves on the ground, and in 

 other protected places. Experience has 

 shown that clean culture in the fall has 

 a decidedly beneficial effect. The un- 

 necessary rubbish that has lain on the 

 ground during the summer, and the 

 leaves that are known to shelter large 

 numbers of insect pests are gathered and 

 burned. 



The fall is a good time to get after the 

 borers that affect apple and peach trees. 

 Their presence can usually be detected 

 by discolored bark, frass, or exudation 

 of gum, and the larvae can be cut out by 

 a knife, or killed by the insertion of a 

 stiff wire into the tunnels. In addition 

 in recent years orchard trees have suffer- 

 ed much from girdling by field mice. 

 To prevent such injury, wire netting two 

 to three feet wide, is cut into suitable 

 lengths, and fastened loosely about the 

 base of the trunks of the trees. The 

 netting should be thrust well into the 

 soil so that the mice cannot readily 

 burrow under it. 



BURN THE TREES 



The Shothole Borer (Scolytus rugulo- 

 sus) is also an injurious pest in many 

 varieties of orchard trees. Badly infest- 

 ed trees should be cut and burned, for 

 they are sources of infestation to other 

 trees. With regard to forms such as 



Stages in the Life of the Codling Moth 



The Codling Moth is one of the worat enemies of the fruit grower. Illustration a shows the adult 



moth enlarged to four times its natural size. In illustration b is shown the pupa in a 



cocoon as they are found on the under aide of looee bark or in rubbish in the orchard. 



