Il8 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



rels were classed as culls. The season of 1912 gave the great- 

 est surprise of all. for no one connected with the farm antici- 

 pated that trees which were in the condition these were in 



1909 and which gave a large crop in 191 1 would show a still 

 farther increase in yield of 750 barrels. The figures just ob- 

 tained for 1912 show a total yield of 3,200 barrels of which 

 2,950 were merchantable. The percentage of merchantable 

 apples would have been greater this season if continued rainy 

 weather had not prevented the application of the lime-sulphur 

 spray on a part of the orchards before the blossoms opened. 

 Experimental work conducted this year showed that for the 

 present season this application was probably more effective in 

 preventing scab than all the others combined. It also may be 

 remarked in passing that the use of lime-sulphur in place of 

 bordeaux mixture in 1909 and 19 10 would doubtless have given 

 a slightly greater percentage of merchantable apples, but this 

 would not have influenced the total yield materially, which de- 

 pended to a large extent on the nutrition of the trees. 



Before leaving the discussion of the practical results obtained 

 at Highmoor I wish to state that the growth of the trees has 

 more than kept pace with the increase in production of the fruit. 

 This is particularly evident in the Baldwin orchard where the 

 trees were especially unhealthy looking and stunted when the 

 Station took control. Some of these trees appear to have 

 nearly twice the spread of limbs that they had three years ago. 

 This may be illustrated by the life history of two small 

 branches taken at random in this orchard a few days ago. 

 The first was put forth from the main branch in 1905. In 

 1906 it grew two and three-quarters inches, in 1907 four and 

 one-fourth inches, 1908 four and three-fourths inches, 1909 

 five inches, 1910 three inches. In 191 1 came the real response 

 to the new method of treatment when it elongated and matured 

 seventeen and one-fourth inches of new wood. The present 

 season it has done nearly as well and although weather condi- 

 tions have not been so favorable, the growth has amounted 

 to sixteen inches in length. In other words in 191 1 and 1912 

 this limb gave an average annual growth which was more than 

 three-fourths of that of the five preceding years taken together. 

 The other limb is two years younger. In the three years 1908 to 



1910 inclusi\"e, the entire growth in length was only eight and 



