IMPROVING AN OLD ORCHARD. 



409 



Bordeaux mixture and Paris green at least 

 twice after the blossoms have fallen. The 

 former will clean the limbs of hanging- lichens 

 or moss, and the latter will settle most of 

 the noxious insects, though it cannot reach 

 the apple maggot, which calls for special 

 treatment, because it is the larva of a small 

 fly which punctures the skin of the apple and 

 lays its eggs underneath. No matter how 

 thorough the spraying may be it cannot reach 

 this pest ; but if the windfalls can be de- 

 stroyed as soon as they drop, and all refuse 

 from places where winter fruit has been 

 stored be burned, the next season's numbers 

 will be appreciably reduced. It is in this 

 respect that pasturing the orchard has a 

 marked advantage, because if well stocked 

 with hogs or sheep the apples are eaten be- 

 fore the insect is likely to escape. 



There are some instances in which the 

 orchard may be in such a condition from 

 long neglect that the land cannot be properly 

 tilled, and the trees cannot be adequately 

 fed. One of the best methods of feeding 

 the tree \z to keep it well pruned, because 

 then the food which would otherwise be dif- 

 fused in numbers of worthless limbs is con- 

 centrated in a small number. It is only the 

 well pruned trees that are capable of suc- 

 cessful treatment with sprays. Apple and 

 pear trees should be pruned to keep the 

 heads open. Plum trees should be pruned 

 to keep out the black-knot, and some Japan- 

 ese varieties require frequent cutting back. 

 All pruning can best be done very early in 

 spring, before the sap starts. 



There are so many apple trees of little 

 value growing in Canada, which could be 

 successfully top-grafted with better varie- 

 ties, that it would well repay anyone possess- 

 ing an orchard to go carefully over his trees 

 and top-graft those which do not produce 

 paying crops. The chief points to take in- 

 to consideration in top-grafting may be 

 summarised as follows : — 



Old trees, if healthy, may be grafted with 

 success. 



The top should not be all cut away the 

 the first year, but should be removed grad- 

 ually, the time required to change the top 

 successfully being from three to five years. 

 Early spring, before growth begins, is the 

 best time to graft. The branches to be 

 grafted should not be more than from two 

 to three inches in diameter where the grafts 

 are to be inserted. 



After the branch is carefully sawn in two, 

 the stub is split with a mallet, held open 

 with a wedge, and the scions inserted ; two 

 being used, one on each side, if the branch 

 is more than an inch in diameter. 



The scion is mj^de from a twig of the 

 previous year's growth, about four or five 

 inches long, and having three or four buds. 

 It is prepared by making a wedge of the 

 lower end, beginning near the base of a 

 bud. The scion is inserted in the stock as 

 far as the upper edge of the wedge. 



In inserting the scion great care should be 

 taken that the inner bark of both scion and 

 stock should come in contact with each 

 other. This is very important, as the heal- 

 ing begins from this point, and if the scion 

 be inserted carelessly there is almost certain 

 to be a failure. 



After the scion has been set, the cut sur- 

 face is covered over with grafting wax to 

 exclude the air, and strips of cotton may be 

 wrapped over this. 



A good grafting wax for out door use is 

 made by melting together rosin and bees- 

 wax in the proportion of five parts rosin and 

 two parts beesvax ; to this is added one 

 and one-half to two parts linseed oil. 



In top-grafting a tree always have in 

 view the production of a symmetrical top 

 after the old one has been removed. 



With this cultivation codling moth will 

 disappear, and in three seasons an old ugly 

 and comparatively worthless orchard can be 

 converted into a pretty uniform one, with 

 abundant crops of marketable and profitable 

 varieties. An orchard is "never too old to 

 mend," or beyond renewal. 



