APPLE ORCHARD SURVEY OF NIAGARA COUNTY. 



301 



but its ravages have been much reduced and fairly well controlled 

 where careful sprayings have been given. 



The San Jose scale, although not so widely spread as the codling moth 

 or some other insects, has been far more destructive than all other 

 pests combined. In fact, the loss of fruit and the destruction of trees 

 have been so great as to threaten the eradication of the whole apple 

 industry in the western part of the county. This alarming outlook 

 is due more to a combination of. unfavorable conditions than to the 

 character of the scale or the inefficiency of spray mixtures. For the 



FIG. 35. A good equipment for making lime and sulfur. The engine pumps water 

 from a pool at left, and the boiler furnishes steam for cooking the mixture 



past three years, the special difficulties have been of three kinds, and 

 these are associated with climate, the management of the trees, and 

 the attitude of the fruit growers. Each of these may be briefly treated. 



Many growers have been bothered to find suitable weather for spray- 

 ing. In spring, when most of the spraying for scale has been done, 

 there were frequent rains, strong winds, or wind in the wrong direction ; 

 or in some instances, a combination of all three. In consequence of 

 these obstacles a few orchards were not sprayed at all, while some others 

 were only partially sprayed, and in still other cases an ineffective spray- 

 ing was all that could be accomplished. 



In the second category of difficulties comes an improper manage- 

 ment of the trees. By this is meant a failure to keep the trees within 



