-3- 



One Gallon Instead of Ten . A few days ago an extremely poor job 

 of controlling scab was observed in an orchard where the present operator 

 is getting his first experience in spraying. Although he thought he had 

 sprayed five times, the trees show very little evidence of it. On inquiry, 

 it vms found that a spray tank of. material is being stretched too far. The 

 trees are receiving about one gallon instead of the ten needed for good 

 coverage. 



Last Year's Spray Lime . Imagine using in the spray tank, hydrated 

 lime held over from 1943. Although the spray chart specifies "freshly hy- 

 drated" lime, one grower has been demonstrating that old lime will not do 

 the trick. Having stood for a year, the lime is now partly carbonated and 

 is gritty enough to resemble ground limestone. Clogged nozzles and a les- 

 sened corrective effect generally result from using old hydrated lime. 



Bridge Grafts Too Short . Twice in recent weeks the writer has ob- 

 served failures in bridge grafting. In one instance the ovmer said, "I 

 seera to have very little luck in bridge grafting." V/e tried to convince 

 him that success in this venture involves much more than luck. His diffi- 

 culty lay in cutting the scions too short and in failing to insert them far 

 enough beneath the bark above and below the girdled area. If ordinary pre- 

 cautions are taken, including tacking the bridges in place with small flat 

 headed nails and waxing the wound to prevent drying, at least nine out of 

 ten of the scions should unite. A first class job of bridge grafting of 

 a tree trunk one foot in diameter can be completed in less than an hour, 

 and that's not a bad investment of time, on a tree which required 20 years 

 for its development. 



Frost Rings on Pears . Some peculiar looking pears have been ob- 

 served in a number of orchards this season as a result of the freeze of 

 May 19. Some Bartletts have a v/ide russet band extending entirely around 

 the pear about midway between the stem and the calyx, suggesting a variety 

 v/hich combines Bartlett and Bosc. Maybe they'll rate a special market as 

 "Fcincy" pears. 



Wild Morni ng Glory . This rank grovfing perennial with strong root- 

 stocks seems "to be~closely associated with a pest of apple trees, the buf- 

 falo tree hopper^ which lays its eggs in the wood of the terminal growth. 

 V/liile this pest selaom causes severe damage, many trees shovY badly scarred 

 branches ar, a result of the deeply inserted eggs. And very often, the more 

 wild morning glory in the tree the more scarred branches are in evidence. 



TOiite Grubs, The need for a rotation of crops in strawberry grow- 

 ing is well illustrated in a planting visit^jd a few days ago. A planting 

 which bore in 1943 vras plowed under after the crop was harvested, beans were 

 then planted, and last spring strav/berry plants v;ere again set on this par- 

 ticular land, instead of waiting the usual three or four years before reestab- 

 lishing a strawberry bodr in this field quite a number of the plants look 

 wilted and on digging around the roots every one of them showed a white grub. 

 Half a dozen plants were dug up v;ith the same result. This suggests the need 

 for grov/ing tvro or r.iort. crops between crops of strawberries, for the purpose 

 of elL'ainating white grubs. There are, of course, other reasons for a ro- 

 tation, aiaong them the destruction of weeds, increasing fertility, and add- 

 ing organic matter. 



