SPRAYING AND PRUNING. 



95 



reliable firms will be dealt with, and thus 

 one of the most common sources of vexation 

 and loss will be avoided. Cooperation in 

 packing, marketing, etc., will be considered 



later. Two or three orchard meetings will 

 be held during the summer and a conven- 

 tion about the end of the year in the fruit 

 sections of the province. 



Pruning Cherry Trees 



A cherry orchard (sour), 16 years old, set 16 

 feet apart each way, has grown up so high as 

 to make the fruit ripen unevenly and hard to 

 pick. Is it safe to head back the topmost 

 branches, say six feet, of course painting the 

 wounds made ? — (R. Robinson, St. Catharines, 

 Ont. 



W. T, Macoun, Horticulturist, Experi- 

 mental Farm, Ottawa : Severe pruning of 

 cherry trees causes gumming of the trees 

 and weakens the trees considerably. If it 

 can be avoided, it is not wise to prune cherry 

 trees severely. In the present case it would 

 be well to prune a few trees the first season 

 and see the effect. If no gumming occur- 

 red, the work could be continued the fol- 

 lowing year. Much depends on the health 

 of the trees, and if they are as vigorous as 

 stated I do not beUeve that severe pruning 

 would injure them much. 



Prof. H. L. Hutt, O.A.C., Guelph : This is 

 the inevitable result of the common mistake 

 of planting trees too closely together. 

 Severe heading back will remedy matters to 

 some extent, but it is an injury to the tree. 

 Such trees may be pruned back severely and 

 still form good heads. Mr. Peart, my as- 

 sistant, says he once had a similar case to 

 deal with, and the main branches were cut 

 back to stubs two or three inches in diameter 

 and only a few feet from the trunk. Yet 

 these trees have formed new tops and have 

 done well. This, of course, involves loss 

 of crop for two or three years. 



Pro. L. R. Taft, Michigan Agricultural 

 College : A great deal will depend on the 

 growth and shape of the trees. While 

 severe pruning of the cherry is not advis- 

 able, it might be well , under the conditions 

 mentioned, to head back the branches, but 

 I would hardly recommend the removal of 



as much as six feet of the growth unless 

 there are numerous side branches lower 

 down on the limbs. 



Spraying for San Jose Scale 



ROB£;rT THOMPSON, ST. CATHARINES, ONT. 



The San Jose scale is slowly but surely 

 spreading every season into fresh orchards 

 and widening the infested areas; but, judg- 

 ing from the results of thorough spraying, 

 I can safely say that the scale can be held 

 in check and the trees kept healthy and the 

 fruit almost entirely clean. Spraying with 

 lime and sulphur in the proportions of 15 to 

 18 pounds of lime, and the same quantity of 

 sulphur, to 40 gallons of water, and boiling 

 two to two and a half hours, has given as 

 good results as any mixture. 



In several instances by using 20 pounds of 

 sulphur, 25 pounds of fresh lime and 12^ 

 pounds of sal soda to 40 gallons of water, 

 and allowing the lime and soda to boil with 

 its own heat for three-quarters of an hour, 

 slaking the lime with hot water, excellent 

 results have been secured. One point of 

 great importance is that the spraying must 

 be thoroughly and carefully done. This 

 mixture is cheaper and is not so hard to 

 apply as when 40 pounds of lime to 40 gal- 

 lons of water is used. It is not necessary, 

 to use the lime and sulphur as hot as it was 

 used two years ago. 



The law regarding the scale is sufficient 

 protection if it is enforced. Infested trees, 

 when the owner will not treat them, should 

 be taken out and burned. The San Jose 

 scale is not much worse to combat than the 

 potato bug if taken in time and if spraying 

 is done once a year. The man who will 

 not spray will soon lose his trees. 



