52 SPRAYING THE APPLE ORCHARD. 



ture just before or after it is placed in the spray barrel. 

 In adding Paris green, first mix it with a little water in a 

 cup to form a paste and then dilute and add to the mixture. 

 If added direct it will not mix well. Mix the arsenate of 

 lead in the same way, and see that it is thoroughly dis- 

 solved before adding to the mixture. If Paris green be 

 sprayed without Bordeaux mixture, always add twice its 

 weight of freshly slaked lime to prevent burning of foliage 

 by any soluble arsenic. 



Several prepared Bordeaux mixtures, sometimes with 

 insecticide added, are now on the market. Some of them 

 are excellent ; others are made to yield a profit to the mak- 

 ers, and though efficient, if enough is used, cost too much 

 for the average grower. These prepared mixtures are be- 

 ing tested by us and the results will be published next year. 

 They are desirable for the man with but half a dozen trees, 

 but the Bordeaux mixture can be made much more cheaply 

 by the man who is to spray an orchard. 



When to Spray.— The first spraying should be made be- 

 fore the buds open and copper sulfate solution, one pound 

 of copper sulfate or bluestone to twenty-five gallons of 

 water, should be used. This can be used only when the tree 

 is not in foliage. 



The second spraying should be with Bordeaux mixture 

 and insecticide, to catch the early leaf-feeding insects, ap- 

 plied after the leaf buds have opened, but before the trees 

 have bloomed. Never spray while a tree is in blossom. 



The next spraying is the most important of all and should 

 be given just after the petals fall, or as soon as two-thirds 

 of the blossoms have been pollinated and have set. This 

 spraying must be made within a few days after the blossoms 

 fall, never more than five days later, while the calyxes or 

 blossom ends of the apples are still open. It is this spray- 

 ing which places a thin film of poison in the calyx cavity 

 of the apple, which soon closes over it. We have seen that 

 the young apple worms do not hatch until three or four 

 weeks later, and that nearly three-fourths of them enter 



