AN OBJECT LESSON IN SPEAYING 



BY T. H. RACE, MlTCHEI^Iv. 



^~| ^ HE most striking object lesson, in 

 I spraying that ever came under my 



-■- observation was afforded this fall 

 by a drive of about two miles out from the 

 town of Simcoe. The photo-engraving 

 given below represents very faithfully the 

 difference between apples sprayed and not 

 sprayed. Just outside the town of Simcoe 

 is an apple orchard of forty acres belonging 

 to a Mr. Quin Kick. Immediately across 

 the road is another of twelve acres now 

 owned by Mr. R. H. Johnston. Both these 

 orchards have been planted between 25 and 

 30 years, and neither of them up to this year 

 had ever been sprayed. Of the two the 40 

 acre orchard had received perhaps the bet- 

 ter care ; both had been pruned occasionally 

 and both had borne ordinary crops. One 

 year ago Mr. R. H. Johnston, an enterpris- 

 ing resident of the town, and a man of con- 

 siderable experience in buying and shipping 

 apples, bought the property on which the 

 twelve acre orchard stands. During the 

 month of February of this year he went 

 among the trees and pruned them out se- 

 verely, at the same time scraping all the old 

 loose bark off. In the early spring, before 

 the leaves came out, he gave them a thor- 

 ough spraying with lime and bluestone, in 

 the proportion of about 12 lbs. of bluestone 

 and 18 lbs. of lime to 50 gallons of water. 

 Asked why he used so much lime, he replied 

 that he believed it loosened the old bark and 

 in several ways benefited the tree. At all 

 events he said it did no harm and had a 

 cleansing effect. After the leaves were out 

 the gave a second spraying of lime and blue- 

 stone, with Paris green and white arsenic 

 added. This was repeated after the blos- 

 som had fallen, and nothing more was done 

 till the fruit was ready to pick, except plow 



the ground and sow it with cow peas. Alto- 

 gether Mr. Johnston used about 1,700 lbs. 

 of lime, 430 lbs. of bluestone, 20 lbs. Pans 

 green, and 10 lbs. of white arsenic on his 

 twelve acre orchard. On being asked why 

 he used both poisons in such large quantities 

 he replied that Paris green is oftentimes im- 

 pure and uncertain, and he wanted to make 

 a sure job of it. This latter, it seems to us, 

 would have been accomplished with the ar- 

 senic alone even in less quantities. 



Now as to results. This fall, out of 

 thirty-five barrels of Baldwins, picked from 

 the first rows, there was about one bushel of 

 culls. The Spys would run even a less per- 

 centage of culls than that. From his twelve 

 acres Mr. Johnston would sell nearly eight 



Fig. 2703. Appi.es, Unspray d and Sprayep. 



hundred barrels at about $2.50 per barrel, 

 while his close neighbor, Mr. Fick, was sell- 

 ing his whole 40 acre crop at 75 cents a bar- 

 rel in the orchard. The product of one or- 

 chard went to Chicago as prime Canadian 

 fruit, while the other went to the local can-, 

 ning factory. 



Prof. Zavitz, of Guelph, and myself 

 walked through both orchards and picked 

 what we thought to be a fair sample of the 

 fruit grown in each. These I had photo- 

 graphed, and are shown in the cut above. I 

 do not believe that a single barrel of No. I 

 apples could be gathered in the whole un- 

 sprayed 40-acre orchard. And I do not be- 

 lieve there would be ten barrels of uUs 



