L?.^''_ Control in Y ounr OrcIi: irds 



Folks oft oil ask about tuo niinimum nunbcr of sprays required on 

 non-bcarlng fruit trees ^ Selc'oi.i is it necessary to api^ly more than throe 

 sprays. But those tilings should bo kept in irdnd. Young trees if kept in 

 vigorous condition by such practices as iiiulching, fertilization, or cultiva- 

 tion, arc better able to withstand pest dariage. Peat control measures may be 

 confined to those pests which threaten to injujre the tree. Only by constant 

 observation can destructive insects be detected before sevf>re injury results. 

 Some of these insects, including borers, require special treatment. A new 

 bulletin (jf274-) from the University of L'ain^ "Insect pest Control in Young 

 Orchards," by F. H. Latiirop contains- many helpful suggestions. The following 

 insect pests are discussed- round-headed >^pple tree borer, oyster sliell 

 scale, tree hoppers, woolly apple aphid, gypsy moth, leaf roller, tent cater- 

 pillar, yellov/ necked and red humped caterpillars, fall webworm, brovm tail 

 moth, European red irdte, and green apple aphid. 



Indi a ns of Ancient Ti::i^e_s_ jlnev; j'j;i.iIi_Cui3;jali_o 



According to P. J. Ghapmsin of the Maw York Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station there irj evidence to show thab wild plums occupied an important 

 place in the diet of certain Indian tribes long before Columbus' time. In 

 1534 Jacques Cartier, on his firLrc trip down the St. Lav/rence, noticed that 

 the Indians had plui.is which thsy had dried for the v/inter. Of the tree fruits 

 which v;e grov; today, the early Indians had only the v/ild American plu;.is which 

 were also the original food plants of the plum curculio. Yi/here no control 

 measures are practiced, the curculio is an exceedingly destructive past of 

 both v/ild and cultivated pluiTiS . And if, as some v^riters contend, the Indians 

 planted rude orchards of wild plujns, they j-.ust have knovm of the ravages of 

 this insect. U. P. Hedrick states that thickets of wild plums coimnonly oc- 

 curred on tliQ outskirts of early Iroquois villages. But whether the Indians 

 maintained orchards of plums or merely collected the fruit afield, the dam- 

 age caused by tlie curculio could hardly have been overlooked. 



A. C. Parker of the Rochester L.usoum of Arts and Sciences, says, 

 "The picking and drying of the plums was done entirely by Indian women. 

 Fruits wore split and pitted for drying. I have boen told that it was always 

 necessary to remove tho worm fr.m tho plujn bcforo it was driod, the belief 

 being that the presence of the worm v/ould cause the fruit to spoil. One in- 

 formant said there were tim.es when e.ll the fruit was so damaged that no plums 

 could be preserved. Furtlier, it was noticed that the fruit rotated in abund- 

 ance;, some years there were abundant crops and at others none at all." 



Tills "wori.i" nouiced by the Ind:.c.n3 m.ust have been the larval 

 stage of tho curculio. There is no o.hor comj-ion larva (worm) that infests 

 the plura in this area. SOj while the ovidonco available doos not constitute 

 absolute proof that ;-an's acquaintance vrith the plum curculio antedates the 

 colonization of this continent by the -^li'Ge man, the probabilities seera defin- 

 itely to favor such an assum.ption. 



In.jury to Ap-?le Trees fro/.'. Oil . 5j5ri?j_s 



Many orchardists are still skeptical of dormant or delayed dor- 

 ■..lant applications of jil sprays. To be sure, oil sprays do injuro apple 

 trees occasionally, es'-ecially when applied too late or when followed by uii- 



