-2- 



Excess Trees , A DiGa.dvantp.^:;e 



In a recent orchard management publication from Ner York 

 Stpte, reference is made to this statement of G-. F. Warren in I905, 

 "One of the greatest enemies of the apple orchard is the apple tree." 

 In an apple orchard survey made in Wayne County, N. Y. , at that time 

 it v'as found that orchards '-ith less than 35 trees per acre '"ere 

 yielding on the average, 229 bushels per acre, '"hile the orchards 

 ^ith hS trees or more per acre ^"ere yielding only 186 bushels. Hence 

 the striking statement to the effect that the extra trees consti- 

 tute an actual enemy in the orchard. If ^'e make due allo^'ance for 

 the better care i^'hich may have been given to those less crowded 

 orchards, there is plenty of present day evidence to sho'- the folly 

 of reta.ining tv^o or three times the ideal number of trees. The 

 familiar admonition, "Woodman, spare that tree" ^-as not intended 

 for the orchardist. An acre of land can carry only a limited num- 

 ber of trees of a given size. And if that number is exceeded, '"e 

 immediately run into a disastrous competition of the branches for 

 sunlight, and of the roots for moisture. Both of these items tend 

 to lorer quality and raise the cost of production. 



Some Strav.'berry Observations 



A. P. French reports the HoT'ard Supreme as outyielding the 

 Horard I7 in the State College plant a.t ion, the tno varieties having 

 yielded at the rates of 2^00 and 6350 quarts per acre, respectively. 

 He a.lso reports much better yields of Dorsett and Fairfax r^here th^ 

 plants ^ere spaced than v.'here grom in a matted rov. Each variety 

 produced at the rate of 37^0 quarts per acre vhere the plants '-'ere 

 spaced to a distance of S inches, vhile in the matted rcr the Dor- 

 sett produced only I700 and the Fairfax 2000 quarts. The Cat skill 

 also shovred improvement 'rhere the plaints '"ere spaced, vith a yield 

 of 5200 quarts as compared vith ^5^0 quarts in the matted ror. 

 This data seems to suggest the need of some of these never varieties 

 for a fertile soil and plenty of space. Othernise the crop is al- 

 most certain to be disappointing. 



Y/ild Brambl e Eradication 



Anyone interested in getting rid of a patch of '"lid rasp- 

 berries or blackberries ^"ill do '"ell to read a recent publication 

 from the N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. , by L. M. Cooley (Geneva Bui. Ko. 

 67^). The author says "Farmers generally regard ^'ild brambles as 

 obnoxious and pernicious veeds. But besides being a nuisance, 

 they are also a potential menace to cultivated raspberries and 

 blackberries from the sta.ndpoint of disease and insect pests. 

 Serious diseases in cultivated raspberries a.nd blackberries that 

 may be disseminated from vild hosts include the fungus maladies, 

 anthracnose and orfunge rust, and the virus troubles, mosaics, leaf 

 curl, and streaks. They also harbor such insect pests as the rasp- 

 berry fruit v'orra, the tree cricket and the cane borer. " The author 

 revie'"s the methods of eradicating ^"ild brambles, including clean 

 cultivation, mo^'Ting, burning, and chemical treatments, 



Winter Injury Following Late Stimulation 



The attention of the '-riter vas" recently called to a case of 

 severe injury in a. vigorous young apple orchard in rrestern Massa- 



