THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Readers of THE AGE should compare prices paid 

 by them for California dried fruits in 1891-2 with 

 those for which the fruits sold, as shown by the 

 table first above presented. The prices given in the 

 table are of course average prices for the whole 

 amount of fruit dried by the association, and neces- 

 sarily represented different grades. It may be here 

 said, however, that the fruits prepared by these co- 

 operative drying associations are put up in the most 

 cleanly manner, and that throughout all the opera- 

 tions the greatest care and cleanliness are observed, 

 thus adding not only to their value as staple articles 

 of food, but very properly to their market value also. 



TURKISH VINEYARDS. 



La Nature, a French publication, states that about 

 Constantinople, Turkey, the vineyards have been 

 attacked by phylloxera, but that the disease makes 

 only slow progress from the fact that the vines are 

 those planted at a depth of one meter over three 

 feet. It is alleged that the roots of the vines planted 

 at that depth attain large dimensions under ground, 

 and thus offer greater resistance to the disease. 



This mode of planting is in striking contrast with 

 that of planting orange trees in P'lorida on little 

 mounds with no hole at all, except that made by 

 pushing the hoe handle down into the loose, sandy 

 soil to contain the tap root. It is alleged by many 

 who thus plant orange trees that the nearer the sur- 

 face they can keep the roots of the tree the better. 

 They claim that the influence of the sun is better 

 utilized in that way, resulting in sweeter and better 

 fruit and healthier trees than in cases where they are 

 planted deeper, and have to push out their first 

 rootlets in a colder and less inviting environment. 

 The two cases cited, however, would seem to indicate 

 extremes in fruit planting, between which a happy 

 mean may be generally found. 



REMEDY AGAINST CUTWORMS. 



In many sections of the country cutworms are one 

 of the most persistent pests with which farmers and 

 fruit growers have to contend. Every spring they 

 present themselves with unfailing regularity and in 

 great numbers. In almost every state corn, melons 

 and other spring crops are annually subjected to the 

 ravages of cutworms. It is often necessary for 

 farmers to replant most of their spring crops, and in 

 many instances two or more replantings are necessary. 

 In California and some other sections of the country 

 cutworms have worked on vineyards and fruit orchards 

 with disastrous effect. Hundreds of acres of the 

 finest raisin vineyards in that state have been com- 

 pletely stripped of their leaves and the first crop of 



grapes entirely destroyed. In many orchards of 

 deciduous fruits the trees have been attacked and 

 completely defoliated, practically destroying the crop. 

 Many remedies have been tried, some of them effect- 

 ive and many of them not so. Among the successful 

 remedies used for the cutworm pest, probably the 

 most efficient and least expensive is the following: 

 Mix three pounds of Paris green with a grain sack- 

 ful of dry wheat bran, stirring well in order to thor- 

 oughly distribute the poison throughout the mass of 

 bran; moisten sufficiently to make the mixture ad- 

 here, then with pails or other vessels carry it along 

 the rows of vines or trees and deposit a handful or 

 two on the ground close around the base of the tree 

 or vine. 



The worms work mostly at night, avoiding the hot 

 sun, hence if the poisonous mixture be deposited just 

 before nightfall, it will be likely to nearly complete 

 the work of extermination the first night. Should 

 the bran blow away after having become dry, it 

 should be renewed until the worms are destroyed. It 

 has been found in practice in Southern California 

 that ten pounds of Paris green and a few sacks of 

 bran will suffice for thirty acres of raisin vineyard, 

 and for orchards the quantity would be less owing to 

 the greater distance between trees. It is found that 

 the worms eat this poisoned bran with avidity, and 

 that they are thus destroyed before doing any dam- 

 age to the leaves of tree or vine. For this reason it 

 is far preferable to the method of spraying the leaves 

 with Paris green or other poison, since, in the latter 

 case, the leaves must be eaten by the worm in order 

 that it may take the poison. The same treatment 

 has been found effective with corn, melons, cabbage 

 and tomato plants. 



THIN YOUR FRUITS. 



Fruit growers especially should remember that the 

 great effort of nature in the production of a crop of 

 fruit is largely expended in her struggle to mature the 

 seeds. The concern of mother nature for hei off- 

 spring relates mainly to their ability to propagate 

 their kind, and not to the gustatory pleasures they 

 may afford to the destroyer man. But the strength 

 and vitality are, for a given time, a fixed quantity, and 

 if a great number of fruits are left upon the tree, that 

 strength which the tree possesses and is able to main- 

 tain from the soil will be expended to the best of its 

 ability in maturing the seeds of the fruit. This may 

 be and often is accomplished at the expense of size 

 and flavor in the edible parts of the fruit itself. 

 Herein lies the philosophy of thinning fruits on the 

 tree. By reducing the number of seeds to be ma- 

 tured, the life forces of the tree are thrown into a 

 lesser number, with the almost certain result that the 



