UI VIBRELLAS FOR INSECTS 



Are you groiving umbrellas for the insects in your orchard? Take a look now .- 

 before the harvest gets into high gear. Step inside the trees. Are there any 

 openings to the outside? V/ould you or any pest get wet if a broom or spray-mast, 

 in action, went by the tree? Are branches v.'ith moderate or light loads of fruit, 

 touching the ground? In other ^^'ords, you v»'ill do a better job of pruning next 

 winter and spring if you examine your trees no*/ wiiile in full foliage. And j^ood 

 pruning is the first step towards good pest control in 1949, 



The need of open trees which allow sprays and dusts to be directed to the 

 inside of the tree and undersides of the foliage is emphasized by two factors. 

 First, perhaps, is the increased use of spray-masts, heads or booms of various 

 kinds. The man behind a gun could, if he would, pick out openings in a tree and, 

 by adjusting the gun, take advantage of them, Waere mechanical arrangements are 

 employed for directing the spray, the opening to the inside of the treo must be 

 provided by proper pruning. 



Secondly, but no less important, is the presence of such pests as the summer- 

 brood Bud Moth, the several mites and the Rod-banded Leaf roller in addition to 

 Codling Moth, In spite of improvements in insecticides, thorough coverage is still 

 most important v/hen controlling these insects and mites. Thorough coverage of all 

 twigs and branches, both high and low, is essential for good Bud Moth and mite con- 

 trol by early spring applications. How many of those hard-to-hit places could you 

 eliminate without reducing your crop? 



Your trees will look a great deal different when pruning time comes around. 

 Take a brush and a con of paint with you to a few typical Baldwins, Greenings, 

 Cortlands or any others that look like umbrellas. Step insido and. mark the branches 

 and limbs that need to come out. Also mark the ones that need thinning. These 

 troes can then be used as guides to a better pruning job and improved insect con- 

 trol in 1949. 



— E. H, Vmeeler 



PRUNING TO D.IPROVE SIZE AiTO COLOR OF FRUIT 



The harvest season is fji ideal time to observe the effects of previous 

 pruning and to lay plans f 5r the next pruning session. Pruning, if it has any 

 purpose at all, is designed to accomplish one or more of the following: (1) lower 

 the per bushel cost of production, (2) increase tho percentage of salable fruit, 

 (3) eliminate lov; grade fruit at the source by preventing its development. This 

 applies tc fruit color ca:id size as well as pest blemishes. 



In the preceding article tho relation of pruning to insect control has been 

 stressed. Let's carry the thought one stop farther and talk about those little, 

 green apples of poor quality. Once upon a time certain horticultural teachers 

 emphasized tho low headed, open center tree, "Gut u big hole in the top and let^ 

 tho light in", they advocated, not realizing that in so doing they were eliminating 

 vigorous fruiting viand. This method meant cutting out young, upri^^ht growing 

 branches in the hope of invigorating the older, shaded wood* 



This doctrine is based on wrong assumptions. One needs only to study the 

 development of a bearing tree to sense tho fallacy of continually savring off those 

 gr-Tv-rths which extend upv/ard and outward. Instead, it seems advisable to cut out 



