i)0 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1914 



In the foregoing it will be noticed that 

 I have not included the new spray, Solu- 

 ble Sulphur, or the powder forms of 

 arsenate of lead. I think that Soluble 

 Sulphur will prove satisfactory against 

 San lose Scale; it gave me good results 

 on this pest last year, but even for this 

 it would be better to test it further before 

 strongly recommending it. As a sum- 

 mer wash I should advise every grower 

 to be very careful in using it with arse- 

 nate ol lead as a substitute for lime-sul- 

 phii- and arsenate of lead. There were 

 not many cases of burning last year from 

 its use but I am not at all sure that under 

 different weather conditions it may not 

 cause serious injury. Therefore, my ad- 

 vice would be to use it only in an experi- 

 mental way. I doubt very much whether 

 it will prove to be nearly so safe as lime- 

 sulphur or bordeaux mixture. It is a 

 soda sulphur compound, not a lime- 

 sulphur. Further study by chemists as 

 to the reactions that take place when 

 arsenate of lead is added to it may help 

 us to supplement the knowledge we shall 

 soon have obtained as to its safety and 

 efficiency. I do not find that this wash 



will kill aphids as claimed by many of 

 its advocates. 



As for the powdered forms of arsenate 

 of lead, some experiments in the labora- 

 tory tend to show that it will be necessary 

 to test these considerably before recom- 

 mending them as a substitute for the 

 paste form. The claim that they stay up 

 in suspension much better than the paste 

 form did not seem to be justified either 

 when mixed alone in water or with lime- 

 sulphur. Moreover the sticking qualities 

 were seen to be not quite so good as 

 those of the paste forms, though differ- 

 ent makes differ in these respects. The 

 particles are not quite so fine as in the 

 paste. The greater convenience, how- 

 ever, in using, shipping and storing jus- 

 tifies their being used on a small scale 

 by fruit growers. 



In conclusion, I should mention that 

 for grapes and potatoes bordeaux mix- 

 ture should always be used instead of 

 lime-sulphur. For potato beetles most 

 men will get better results from paris 

 green than arsenate of lead. Use from 

 one to two pounds to every forty gallons 

 of bordeaux. 



Better Fruits at Less Cost 



Prof. 



The two points involved in this topic 

 are, first, the production of fruits of 

 higher quality, and second, the reduc- 

 tion of the cost of production. 



Before proceeding far upon a discus- 

 sion of quality, we should establish a 

 definite basis by defining this much abus- 

 ed word. Perhaps we should go farther 

 liack and explain what quality is not. 

 Therefore, we are prepared to say that 

 quality does not mean huge size. Com- 

 pare a Jonathan apple with a Wolf River, 

 for example. Neither does this word 

 mean the production of giants within any 

 one variety. Let it be remembered that 

 the scoring rules of the American Pomo- 

 logical Society properly provide for the 

 scoring down of specimens of any var- 

 iety if they are over size, or above a 

 fair standard. 



Quality is not red color. Compare Ben 

 Davis and Grimes. Neither is it fine 

 appearance alone. Compare a western 

 l)Oxed apple of any variety with a rough- 

 ly-handled eastern grown Northern Spy, 

 BaWwin, Mcintosh, Tompkins, King, 

 (Crimes, Jonathan, or Stayman Winesap. 

 Neither is quality produced by boxing 

 what should be put into a barrel. Nei- 

 ther is it to be found in naturally low 

 grade or mediocre varieties. 



Quality in fruits is an epitome of those 

 desirable features embraced in pleasing 

 fl£\or; fair, uniform size for a certain 

 variety; good, uniform color for the var- 

 iety: freedom from injury by insects, or 



•Extract from an address deliveiXKl before th? 

 Niagara District Fruit Growers' Association 



H. A. Surface, Pennsylvania 



by fungous diseases, and the absence of 

 artificial injury, such as bruises. 



Now comes the very important ques- 

 tion : "Will one-tenth of our fruits mea- 

 sure up to this standard?" and the more 

 important reply, that the average of the 

 crop for .America does not. Why not? 

 Because there are more persons growing 

 fruit trees who absolutely neglect them, 

 producing nothing but culls and seconds, 

 than there are who attempt to care for 

 them and produce a first-grade product. 

 We have shown in the demonstration or- 

 chards of the Bureau of Zoology of the 

 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 

 trees bearing apples ninety-eight per 

 cent, free from worms, which but two 

 years ago produced fruit ninety-five per 

 cent, wormy. The difference is due 

 chiefly to negligence on the one hand, 

 and care on the other. 



With all orchardists the greatest pro- 

 blems involve the questions of how to 

 improve quality, and how to reduce cost. 

 To such men we venture to speak from 

 personal experience in our own orchards 

 which are, we believe, the largest in the 

 Keystone State, and which produced, this 

 year, carloads of fancy fruits that sold 

 at record prices. 



ESSENriALS TO 8UOOE8S 



To produce fruit of better quality, first 

 select "fruit soil." This must be deep, 

 loose, and originally fertile. This pro- 

 duces good growth and large fruits. The 

 "abandoned farm" proposition for suc- 

 cessful fruit growing is generally a mis^ 



take. Starved trees usually produce poor 

 crops of small size fruit. 



-Select land with elevation for air drain- 

 age. Dead or stagnating air is as sure 

 to foster diseases of trees and fruits as 

 of human beings or live stock. Low 

 lands cannot produce fruits of highest 

 color, free from fungous injury. Actual 

 elevation above sea level is not nearly as 

 impcrtant as relative elevation, above 

 immediate surroundings. 



Plant the orchard in soil with good 

 water drainage. A tree cannot thrive 

 with wet feet any more than can a man. 

 Wet soil means poor growth, diseased 

 trees, and small, pale, insipid fruit. If 

 your orchard has been planted in wet 

 soil, nothing will pay better in the pro- 

 duction of fruit of quality and quantity 

 than to drain it well. 



I'lant good varieties, and top-work 

 the older frees of poor varieties if they 

 are vigorous enough. In an orchard 

 there will be no figs from thistles, and no 

 Rome Beauty or Stayman Winesap from 

 Smith Cider or Ben Davis. 



In any region plant only those var- 

 ieties that do best there. It would he 

 a mistake to reduce the quality of the 

 ensuing product by planting the Spy in 

 the Albemarle region, or the Rome 

 Beauty in the Snow region, however ex- 

 cellent each of these may be when grown 

 "at home." 



Plant only healthy trees from reliable 

 nurserymen, but pay no attention to the 

 "old fogy" notion that hardy trees are 

 to be obtained only from the north ov 

 young-bearing trees only from the south. 



Plant at such distance between trees 

 as to permit abundant growth without 

 crowding, and also provide for the 

 spreading of low broad tops, without that 

 crowding and shading which must re- 

 sult in light-colored fungus-specked 

 fruits. 



Help to obtain color by so pruning as 

 to grow low, open spreading tops. Top 

 back old tall trees to spreading branches. 

 Get sunshine and air to each fruit, 7f ptos- 

 sible, to give color and flavor. 



Obtain color by (a) growing in suit- 

 able soil, (b) at some elevation, (c) with 

 potash and phosphoric acid fertilizers, 

 (d) reducing the nitrogen so as to avoid 

 too rank growth where greater color is 

 wanted, (e) not cultivating too late in 

 the season, and (f) not pushing too much 

 leafy growth by severe dormant prun- 

 ing, but (g) remove suf)erfluous small 

 growth by judicious midsummer pruning. 



Strive for uniformity of color by adopt- 

 ing a definite, uniform system of prun- 

 ing that wiH keep the tops open and 

 spreading ; avoid dense masses of foli- 

 age or spch arrangement of branches as 

 will close and become dense by weight 

 of fruit ; adopt a system of uniform feed- 

 ing. 



