IMPORTANCE OF SPRAYING AND WHEN TO DO IT 



VV. T. MACOUN, CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM^ OTTAWA. 



ONE might suppose that farmers and 

 fruit growers would spray their trees 

 as a matter of course, just as they plough 

 and cultivate their fields, since the ad- 

 vantages of spraying have been so well 

 proven and demonstrated during the past 13 

 or 14 years by the best fruit growers of 

 Canada and by men employed by the gov- 

 ernment to do this work. Unfortunately, 

 there is yet a very large proportion of the 

 men engaged in fruit growing who do not 

 spray. 



Some men spray their trees but are not 

 satisfied with the results, the reason being 

 that the mixture is not properly made, the 

 trees are not sprayed thoroughly, or the 

 spraying is not done at the proper time. 

 Spraying is an expensive operation, and it Is 

 surprising that fruit growers continue lo 

 waste hard earned money by not doing the 

 work properly. 



The early sprayings are the important 

 ones, and these are too often neglected on 

 account of press of other work. When the 

 spraying is done it is often too late to be of 

 much service. A spraying calendar, with 

 directions for making the' different mixtures 

 and solutions, will be sent free, on applica- 

 tion to the Central Experimental Farm, Ot- 

 tawa. A certain nun]ber of sprayings are 

 suggested in the calendar and the times 

 when they should be made. 



It should be impressed on those who spray 

 that if heavy rain occurs before the mixture 

 has dried on the trees it will be washed oflf 

 and the work must be done over again.. The 

 neglect of this is probably one of the chief 

 causes of poor success in spraying. 



THOROUGHNESS IS REQUIRED. 



Spraying should be dorte thoroughly and 

 the underside of the leaves should receive "s 

 much of the spray, if possible, as the upper 



sides. Every leaf or fruit, or every part of 

 leaf or fruit, missed means a possible foot- 

 hold for disease or insect pests. The 

 spraying should be done as nearly as possi- 

 ble at the times mentioned in the spraying 

 calendar. A delay of a few days may mean 

 the loss of practically all the mixture or so- 

 lution used, as there might be no beneficial 

 results. 



At the Central Experimental Farm this 

 spring the first spraying will be made during 

 the last few days of April, depending on 

 how far the season is advanced. The aim 

 is to spray the apple trees just as the buds 

 are breaking or have broken. The poisoned 

 Bordeaux mixture (4 pounds copper sul- 

 phate, 4 pounds unslaked lime, 4 ounces 

 paris green to 40 gallons of water) is used 

 at that time. The object of this spraying 

 is to prevent the spread of the Apple Spot 

 Fungus and to kill any leaf eating insects. 



The first spraying at this season was be- 

 gun a few years ago when the Tent Cater- 

 pillars were very bad, as it was found that 

 the young caterpillars began to work just as 

 the buds were breaking, and could be easily 

 killed at that time. 



SECOND AND THIRD SPRAYINGS. 



The second spraying will be made just be- 

 fore the flower buds open, which at Ottawa 

 will be about two and a half weeks after the 

 first application, the poisoned Bordeaux 

 mixture again being used. This is to de- 

 stroy leaf eating insects also, such as the bud 

 moths and Tent Caterpillars, and prevent the 

 spread of the Apple Spot Fungus. A third 

 spraying with poisoned Bordeaux mixture 

 will be made within a week after the blos- 

 soms fall. 



The two first sprayings are important, but 

 this third spraying is even more irrtportant 

 still, as at this spraying the poison is applied 



