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So me Orchard Obs er vations i n New York and Con nect i cut 



A three-day trip visiting orchards in the Hudson Valley and in Connect- 

 icut brought many interesting things to our attention and prompted the follow- 

 ing disconnected comments. 



1. Most varieties are blooming heavily everywhere. Frost damaged 

 some flowers in nearly every section. While the set of fruit from flowers 

 apparently not injured may have been reduced, the indications are good for 

 a full crop in nearly every orchard. 



2. Llilton is widely planted and increasing in popularity in the Hudson 

 Valley. The grov/ers there say that the fruit grov/s more regular and uniform 



in shapts as the trees grow older. We sav/ few Early Mcintosh. 



3. Ifeiny of the fine orchiirds in the Hudson Valley txre in sod but the 

 sod usually is left but a year or two bufore breaking it up. Swoet clover and 

 orchard grass are favorites for seeding in orchards. 



4. Paul Judson of Kinderhook has some fine trees growing where old 

 trees stood. The stumps weru pullod, manure placed in the holes over winter, 

 then removed and the trees planted. The holes were filled with top soil and 

 the manure used as a mulch. C H- Govi/dy -tt Greenwich, Connecticut h-.s been 

 equally successful in replanting under simil..r conditions. 



5. To insure pollen every year, Mr. Gowdy hi\s planted Wagener and 

 Oldenburg in a new block of Mcintosh, top v^orking Cortland in the top of each. 



6. The extensive orchards on fl,.t land in the Hudson Valloy have 

 brought he^vy sprayers into use here L,nd there, currying up to 1,000 gallons 

 of solution. It is uncertain just what the effect of "chis great weight may 

 be in compacting the soil during the spraying season. 



R. A. Van Meter 



Disease Control i n S t one Fruits , Grapes 5_^ j]tc_; 



The past two «vct se.^sons have increased materially the danger of losses 

 this year from peach scab, brovm rot of all stone fruits, as well as black rot 

 and downy mildow^ of grapes. Growers might v;ell consider it just as' urgent at 

 this time of ye..r to start the regular dise-.se control program on these fruits 

 .iS it is to spray for apple sc .b before and shortly after blooming. It is 

 equ.-lly important to follov/ the regul-.r spray program for each fruit crop 

 throughout the s^^ason. Otherwise, these early season applications will bo 

 largely wasted. In no past season has tnere oeen more over wintering disease 

 m-.teri>..l than in the pcA.st winter. This is p..rticul-.rly true of pe^ch scab 

 which lives over winter on the twigs. It is albo true of the strawberry leaf 

 spot dise^.se. New strawberry pl-^ntings of pr-^cticliy ^,11 v.--rietiu3 other 

 than Howard 17 will need copper dust or spr-^y applications regul-.rly during 

 the groviiing se.\son if le-.f spot is to be controlled. 0. C. Bovd 



Items from Here and T here 



The Planting of t he Apple Tree. What plant V\fe in this apple tree? Sweets 

 for a hundred flowery springs to load the May-vand's restless »vings, when from 

 the orchard-row he pours its fragrance through our open doors, a world of blos- 

 soms for the bee, flowers for the sick girl's silent room, for the glad infant 

 sprigs of bloom, we plant with the apple tree. 



And when above this apple tree the vi/inter stars are quivering bright, 

 and winds go howling through the night, girls, vmose young eyes o'erflov; v/ith 

 mirth, shall peel its fruit by the cottage hearth, and guests in prouder homes 

 shall see, heaped with the orange and the grape, as fair as they in tint and 

 shapo, the fruit of the apple tree. V/illiam Cullen Bryant. 



