138 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Spraying at the College 



PROF. W. LOCHHEAD, O. A. C, GUELPH. 



SPRAYING operations usually begin at 

 the college about April 20. As a 

 matter of fact spraying begins as soon as 

 the orchard can be entered by a horse and 

 cart, and no set date can be laid down. 

 Much attention is given to the first oi3era- 

 tions, for more good can be done at this 

 time than at any other. 



The resting spores of many of the com- 

 mon fungi, such as mildew, scab, canker and 

 leaf curl, and the small insects, such as the 

 bud moth and the case bearers, which win- 

 ter as half-grown caterpillars, are not yet 

 active. An application of Bordeaux mix- 

 ture and paris green at this time, before the 

 buds have begun to open, will be very effec- 

 tive, not only in preventing the fungous 

 spores, which will soon be carried to the 

 twigs and buds by the wind, etc., from ger- 

 minating and entering the tree, but also in 

 killing the worms when they attempt to 

 satisfy their hunger after the long winter 

 sleep. 



It usually takes two days to spray an or- 

 chard thoroughly, and for the first half day 

 the instructor works with the men to whom 

 are assigned the task. They are left to 

 themselves as soon as they have shown 

 themselves capable of doing the work pro- 

 perly. Our orchard is chiefly composed of 

 small trees, consequently it is not difficult to 

 get at all parts of every tree and do thorough 

 work. A second application of Bordeaux 

 and paris green is made before the blossoms 

 open, a third after the blossoms fall, a fourth 

 and a fifth are applied during the season at 

 intervals of two or three weeks. 



Sometimes it is advantageous to give three 

 applications before blossoming in apple or- 

 chards, but if the first application is thor- 

 ough there is little need for the one which is 

 usually made a week later. Spraying just 

 before the blossoms open will destroy the 



newly hatched canker worms and tent cater- 

 pillars, and prevent the scab and leaf spot. 

 The application made just aflter the blos- 

 soms fall is intended specially to control the 

 codling worm. The later applications, es- 

 pecially the one about July i, are importanr, 

 as they control the Palmer worm, apple buc- 

 culatrix. and the scab. 



Saving Injured Trees 



COMPARATIVELY few fruit growers 

 attempt to save their trees which 

 have been injured by mice. Where the 

 cambium layer or inner bark has not been 

 completely removed around the trees they 

 may frequently be saved by keeping the re- 

 maining ne\Y wood moist until the growing 

 season. This may be done by erecting a 

 mound of fresh earth to cover the wound, 

 by binding the wound with a mixture of 

 clay and cow manure, half and half, cover- 

 ing the whole with burlap, or by simply cov- 

 ering the wound with grafting wax. As it 

 is impossible always to tell by a simple in- 

 spection whether the cam'bium layer has 

 been all removed it will pay in most cases to 

 try one or other of these methods. 



Bridging is practised by many quite suc- 

 cessfully. Mr. W. W. Cox, of Collingwood, 

 has some old trees which have never failed to 

 bear good crops that were girdled when they 

 were five inches in diameter for a distance 

 of one-half foot or more. The method 

 which he found successful consisted in bor- 

 ing a hole above and below the wound to a 

 depth of half an inch or more with a half- 

 mch bit, using for a scion a branch slightly 

 larger than this in diameter. The ends 

 were cut with a slope and the length was 

 such that they could be inserted readily into 

 these holes, above and below the wound, re- 

 taining their position by the elasticity of the 

 wood. The points of union were covered 

 with grafting wax and the bare wood about 

 the trunk protected with common paint. 



