196 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



SUCCESSFUL RESULTS OF SPRAYING APPLE TREES. 



AILURES in spraying are complained of by several sub- 

 scribers to this journal, whose letters have been forwarded 

 to me for reply. The parties were not thorough enough 

 in their spraying in any, of these cases. The paper I 

 read before the Western New York Horticultural Society 

 (which was briefly summarized in this journal), empha- 

 sizes the practical results of using the Bordeaux mix- 

 ture for apple-scab fungus, and it was a grand success ; but the mixture must 

 be applied in vapor form, and must not leave the plant or tree until it drips. 

 Remember that any excess of lime or milk-of-lime does no harm, but has a 

 tendency to make the mixture adhere to the trees and foliage. 



In my own case the first application was made as soon as the buds began 

 to swell last spring, when I sprayed with 20 lbs. sulphate of copper and four 

 ten-quart pails of milk-of-lime, dissolved in 150 gals of water, thoroughly mixed 

 and kept mixed. The second treatment was commenced just before the nests 

 of buds opened ; in fact some of them were showing the flowers. The third 

 spraying was made when the apples were about half an inch in diameter. The 

 last two treatments were with the same formula as the first, except that a pound 

 of Paris green was added for the bud moth and codlin moth (cankerworm), the 

 arsenic being sure destruction to the latter. On all varieties of fruit trees thus 

 treated the fruit spurs were loaded with perfect fruit, both within and outside 

 the tree heads, while trees not treated bore no fruit at all on the inside branches, 

 and what fruit was on the exterior was scabby and far from good. 



Another point in favor of spraying is that it makes the foliage dark and 

 luxuriant, while on the untreated trees the foliage was rusty and brown, and fell 

 early. I also claim that trees not in blossom should be treated with Bordeaux 

 mixture, to insure a healthy crop another year. 



I use a tank about 11 feet long, set up high on a wagon, with bottom pro- 

 jecting behind, so a man can stand and work the pump, and two men stand on 

 top of the tank. I have a good, strong pump that will carry two lines of ha'f- 

 inch hose, each about 20 feet long, with a y attachment, so as to allow two 

 nozzles at the end of each hose. The hose is put on a bamboo pole 16 to 18 

 feet long, so as to enable one to reach all parts of the trees, for the spray or 

 vapor is so fine that it can only be thrown a short distance. It is right here 

 that many fail in thorough work. I use a brass pump, made at Benton Har- 

 bar, Mich., that will carry two lines of hose and four nozzles, and the McGowan 

 nozzle. 



I have had as good results in spraying plums and pears as with apples. I 

 don't want to be misunderstood to claim that the Bordeaux mixture will raise 



