TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 



77 



break apart before the spraying is finished. The hnie-sulphur 

 solution is applied about l-v30 this time. Growers differ some- 

 what in their practice at the third application. Some employ 

 the poison spray, using enough to thoroughly cover the clos- 

 ing buds. Other men add the lime-sulphur at 1-35-40, or even 

 50, and try to spray light enough so that the leaves will not 

 drip at any time. A fourth spraying is made when the ap- 

 ples are about the size of hickory nuts, and many make a fifth 

 application. Some growers are still using Bordeaux, but lime- 

 sulphur has come to be pretty generally adopted. Arsenate 

 •of lead is used for the insecticide, taking from two and one- 

 half to four pounds per fifty gallons. The poison, at greater 

 or less strength, is used at each spraying. Growers had con- 

 siderable difficulty in controlling the codling moth this past 

 season, even with so-called thoroug-h method of spraying. 



Thinning Fruit. 



Only a few of our better growers are beginning to 

 practice the custom of thinning their apples. Those who are 

 are satisfied beyond measure. The thinning is done in July 

 and August, ladders are used, and the entire tree is gone over. 

 Such varieties as Northern Spy and Twent}- Ounce are 

 trimmed to one apple in a cluster. There are never more than 

 two apples of an}- variety left in a cluster. All poor apples, 

 from whatever cause, are taken off. 



Harvesting the Crop. 



The labor for harvesting consists largely of outside help. 

 With us this is the so-called "hobo." He is the fellow who 

 works in a factory, mine, etc., and who gravitates year after 

 year to that section in order to pick apples. He treats it as 

 his vacation. Many of them make good laborers, others are 

 useless. Some growers pay by the barrel, at the rate of a shill- 

 ing or fifteen cents per barrel. A good many growers pay one 

 dollar and fifty cents per day, and board the men. Many farm- 

 ers are now equipped with cheap boarding or lodging houses. 



