112 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 191 1 



f.ill, v\liich makes a dense mat of vege- 

 tation, which ticeps the apples clean. In 

 order to obtain high-class apples and es- 

 pecially of such varieties as Snows, Mac- 

 intosh Red, Duchess, Spy, it is absolutely 

 necessary to thin them. It is of no use 

 to grow culls and the fruit grower might 

 as well pick the fruit off through the 

 summer as to let it go until fall. In short 

 in order to obtain good apples it is nec- 

 essary to prune and spray thoroughly, 

 plow early in the season, cultivate regu- 

 larly until the first of July, then seed to 

 cover crop, and thin, out the apples. 



OSHAWA FEUIT GROWERS. LIMITED 



The above association, of which I am 

 secretary, has had a very successful sea- 

 son, last year having shipped 7,500 bar- 

 rels of apples, of which the farmers re- 

 ceived for the apples alone an average 

 of $2.69 for No. I, and $1.75 for No. 2. 

 These high prices were largely due, in 

 addition to the efficient work done by the 

 secretary and manager, to the thorougli 

 work in spraying as done by the members 

 of the Association. This success has had 

 its effect upon adjoining farmers as many 

 of those who a few years ago would not 

 think of spraying, are waking up to its 

 necessity, and buying spray pumps and 

 material. Up to the present the Associa- 

 tion has sold one htindred and fifty bar- 

 rels of Niagara lime-sulphur, three tons 

 of arsenate of lead, seventy-five bags of 

 sulphur and thirty spray pumps to its 

 members. 



Pruning at Planting Time 



J. H. Hare, B. S. A., Whitby 



In this district many of our best grow- 

 ers have an erroneous idea of letting the 

 young trees grow a couple of years with- 

 out pruning. In planting, trees should 

 be selected that have the head formed 

 from two to two and one-half feet above 

 the ground; the new growth should be 

 cut off from six to eight inches from the 

 trunk, and the trees thoroughly cultivat- 

 ed for five or six feet from the trunk dur- 

 ing the summer. 



In order to prove the benefit of prun- 

 ing the trees at the time of planting, an 

 experiment was conducted, in which part 

 of the trees were planted just as they 

 came from the nursery while the limbs 

 of the others were cut back to six or 

 eight inches from the trunk. On the un- 

 pruned trees there was almost no growth 

 of wood, the leaves were small and had a 

 dried up appearance and were only about 

 one-half the usual size. The trees ap- 

 peared to suffer greatly from drought, 

 and did not look healthy. In fact, the 

 owner feared that he would lose them en- 

 tirely, and the greater number of them 

 were pruned about the middle of August. 

 This seemed to revive the trees to a con- 

 siderable extent as they put forth new 

 growth. Thig growth, however, was 

 very soft, not ripening up well and it is 

 doubtful if it will stand the winter. 



A Well cared for Orchard 



The trees which were cut back made 

 a vigorous growth of fifteen to eighteen 

 inches, did not appear to suffer from 

 drought and went into winter quarters 

 with the wood well ripened up. From 

 one-half to one-third the growth should 

 be taken off each year in order to make 

 a good stout vigorous foundation for the 

 trees. 



Spraying in British Columbia 



W. J. L. Hamilton, Sooth Salt Spring, B.C. 



The spring season is on us again with 

 all the work it entails. Disagreeable 

 work, too, for of all unpleasant things to 

 handle, lime-sulphur spray of winter 

 strength (one to ten) is the worst. Hence 

 it is well to see that it is effectively 

 done, so as not to require repeating. 



Before spraying the trees should be 

 thoroughly pruned, and the prunings, to- 

 gether with as many leaves as possible, 

 should at once be raked up and burned, 

 whereby a great deal of scab and other 

 fungous infection, together with many 

 insect enemies, and their eggs, are de- 

 stroyed. Then each tree should be spray- 

 ed from four different points, the spray 

 being first directed against the small 

 twigs, and then against the branches and 

 stem. No portion of the tree, however 

 small, should escape a thorough dose of 

 spray, and then the ground under the tree 

 should receive its share, to kill fungous 

 spores. 



After the trees are all thoroughly 

 sprayed, the orchard will take care of 

 itself until spring when the spraying 

 should be repeated just before growth 

 commences. 



The ground should then tse thoroughly 

 disked and a few days afterwards re- 



in the Grimsby Fruit District 



disked crossways. From this on until 

 time for the summer growth to ripen, 

 constant cultivation should be given, the 

 different summer sprays being used from 

 time to time as directed. 



In using the ready manufactured lime- 

 sulphur spray it should be used with nine 

 or ten times its bulk of water, and this 

 spray is rendered much more eflficient, 

 and at the same time more visible, if 

 twelve pounds of quick lime are added 

 to, and well stirred up in each barrel of 

 forty gallons of mixed spray. 



A really efficient pump and nozzle arc 

 imperative, for the spray should not be 

 applied as a douche, but as a very fine, 

 misty spray, with force enough to pene- 

 trate everywhere. 



Buy a Spray Pump 



Even if you have no more than a dozen 

 trees it will pay you to buy a spray pump. 

 The barrel spray pump is what the aver- 

 age small fruit grower needs. It will be 

 cheaper to buy the pump and then mount 

 it on a good molasses or vinegar barrel, 

 than to buy one already mounted. Any 

 man handy with tools can easily mount 

 the pump on the barrel himself. 



It is poor economy to select a cheap 

 pump. Get one with all the working 

 parts made of brass, for if made of iron 

 they corrode rapidly with the spray ma- 

 terial. A pump with the working parts 

 made of brass will cost more in the be- 

 ginning, but will be cheajjer in the end. 



Any time after the leaves have fallen 

 and before the sap begins to flow, prun- 

 ing may be done. By making the prunl 

 ing an annual task the labor is lightene 

 and its efficiency increased. 



