498 



THE CANADIAN HORTICUf/rU R 1ST. 



POWER SPRAYING WANTED. 



There is no doubt that one half the spray- 

 ing is so badly done that only failure could 

 possibly result. The work is so dirty, so 

 laborious and disagreeable, that the material 

 is not properly prepared, nor is one-tenth of 

 the leaf or fruit surface covered. Few or- 

 chardists seem to remember that only the 

 parts covered with the mixture are safe from 

 the tiny fungous spores which float about in 

 the atmosphere. The time will soon come, 

 we hope, when we shall have the profes- 

 sional sprayer, who will thoroughly under- 

 stand his work, and who will take contracts 

 for the season to do the spraying with a 

 power outfit just as it ought to be done. 



" It would cost me," said Mr. Fick, of 

 Simcoe, " at least $500 to spray my big or- 

 chard by hand in the way my neighbor Mr. 

 Johnson has done his. I have fourteen hun- 

 dred trees about twenty years planted, and 

 to spray them as they should be sprayed, 

 would be no small undertaking." 



" With a power sprayer," said Mr. Alex. 

 McNeill, the chief fruit inspector from Ot- 

 tawa, who was with us, " it would not cost 

 you nearly as much as that. With' 

 our gasoline engine, which we used 

 in the orchards between Ingersoll and 

 Woodstock, we found that one could take a 

 contract for spraying an orchard of bearing 

 trees at about three cents per tree, and that 

 with such a power sprayer the work could 

 be thoroughly done for about ten cents per 

 tree for the v^^hole season. At this rate," 

 said he " this orchard of Mr. Fick's, con- 

 taining 1,400 bearing trees, could be sprayed 

 for the whole season for an outlay of say 

 $140." 



AN IMPROVED BORDEAUX. 



IN Great Britain and Europe during the 

 past three years a mixture has been 

 made with washing soda to neutralize the 

 sulphate of copper instead of lime. It is 

 claimed th?t this mixture rd^-ercs better 



than the ordinary Bordeaux mixture. Tests 

 were made at the Central Experimental 

 Farm this year to learn how much soda was 

 necessary to neutralize 4 lbs. of bluestonc, 

 and it was found that 5 lbs. were needed. 

 The formula for the preparation of the sodi 

 mixture would thus be: 



4 lbs. copper sulphate. 



5 lbs. washing soda. 

 40 gallons water. 



An experiment was tried to determine the 

 value of this mixture as compared with the 

 ordinary Bordeaux, but as none of the fruit 

 was spotted 110 conclusions could be drawn. 

 The soda mixture is well worthy of a trial, 

 for although a little more expensive, it is 

 more easy of application than that made with 

 lim.e, and often good lime ;s had to get in 

 the country. 



IMPROVING OLD ORCHARDS. 



WHILE spraying is the best m.eans of 

 insuring apple and pear orchards 

 against fungus and insect enemies, it is only 

 one of the conditions of success. Top 

 grafting to proper kinds, pruning and man- 

 uring are too much neglected in Ontario or- 

 chards. 



" Is my orchard too old to graft over to 

 better and more profitable kinds?" asked a 

 neighbor. The trees were not over forty 

 years of age, and were good for another 

 sixty years, so we replied that it would pay 

 well, for the new scions would come into 

 bearing within two or three years, and in a 

 few years the trees would be entirely 

 changed over. 



" I can see the results of last year's thin- 

 ning of the young wood on my Spy trees." 

 said another. " I followed the advice given 

 in the Canadian Horticulturist about prun- 

 ing, and instead of beginning at the trunk 

 and cutting off the large limbs I took a high 

 step ladder and began at the outside of the 

 trees and thinned out the young- bearing 

 wood only. I continued this method in to- 



