94 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



spray a tree while in bloom, is liable not 

 only to injure the fruit and thus help to 

 destroy the crop, but also kills the bees and 

 other insects that are absolutely essential in 

 carrying pollen from fruit to fruit, and 

 thus help fertilize the blossoms and insure 

 a crop. 



" If there is any one tiling against which 

 there should be definite and emphatic legis- 

 lation in this State at the present time it is 

 the ignorant and absurd practice of a few 

 persons who yet appear to spray while in 

 bloom. Please help us to educate the people 

 against this practice. Education as practi- 

 cal and rational as this would do much more 

 than legislation, as growers, if educated on 

 this point, would understand it is greatly te 

 iheir disadvantage to spray wliile in bloom. 

 This fact should be placed before each 

 schoolteacher, and kept on the walls of each 

 schoolroom of the State. Let us make it 

 strong. Tell every schoolteacher in your 

 county to write on the blackboard in capi- 

 tals : '• Never spray while in bloom.' 



" Another reason for not spraying while 

 in bloom is that there is no need of it. There 

 are no pests that must or should be killed or 

 prevented at this time. It will not do any- 



where near the amount of good that it would 

 to spray before the blossoms appear, and 

 again after they fall. Before the blossoms 

 open, spray with the boiled lime-sulphur 

 solution, either home-made or commercial, 

 boiling one pound of lime and two pounds 

 of sulphur in one gallon of water for one 

 hour, and dilute this with about six or seven 

 times its bulk of water, and spray the trees 

 tlioroughly and before the blossoms open. 

 About the time the leaf buds are swelling is 

 the best time. This is good for all kinds of 

 trees, shrubs, and bushes. After the brown 

 husks of corollas fall from around your 

 peaches and plums use this same prepara- 

 tion, but ten times as much water as you 

 would at the other time ; and to every fifty 

 gallons of the extremely dilute preparation 

 add two pounds of arsenate of lead, and 

 spray again. The first spraying here men- 

 tioned is to kill the San Jose scale and cer- 

 tain other insects and plant-disease germs. 

 The second spraying is for the cureulio that 

 makes wormy fruits, and when used on pome 

 fruits, or apple, pear, and quince, it is for 

 the codling moth and certain other insects 

 and diseases." 



REDEEMING BY CAREFUL PRUNING AND SPRAYING, A 

 NEGLECTED APPLE-ORCHARD OF SOME 50 ACRES 



BADLY 



BY J. L. VAN RENSSELAER 



That Ohio is equal to and perhaps even 

 better adapted for the raising of apples 

 than are Oregon and other western States, 

 has been thoroughly demonstrated this fall 

 by W. H. Southam and myself. Early in 

 the spring of 1913 we rented what is com- 

 monly known as the Wm. Bennett farm, 

 ,]ust south of Stone Hill, in Brunswick, 

 Medina Co., 0. The farm consists of 200 

 acres with approximatelj' 55 acres of or- 

 chard with 1400 apple trees. The farm was 

 leased for five years of Mrs. Frank Isham, 

 47 Beersford Road, Cleveland, 0., with the 

 privilege of buying at the expiration of the 

 lease. We took possession of the farm in 

 January, 1913, and immediately set about 

 pruning and trimming the badly neglected 

 trees until we had the entire 55 acres of 

 orchard in the best of shape, with all the 

 dead and diseased limbs removed and burn- 

 ed before the warm weather of the spring 

 airived. 



The orchard was in a worn-out, run-down 

 condition, and for years had borne but a 

 scanty crop of wormy and ill-shaped fruit ; 

 but this fall, under careful management, 

 thousands of bushels of perfect fruit have 

 been harvested, 



The first spraying was done with a lime- 

 and-sulphur solution while the buds were 

 dormant. The second was done when the 

 buds began showing pink, early in the 

 spring, with 3I/2 pounds of arsenate of lead, 

 to 1^/4 gallons of lime and sulphur to 50 

 gallons of water. The third and practically 

 the most important spraying was done when 

 the petals showed first signs of falling; and 

 the fourth followed within ten days after 

 the third. The fifth commenced July 1. 

 The same formula was used for the last 

 four complete sprayings. As a result of 

 careful work the pickers found on an aver- 

 age but one wormy apple in a bushel of all 

 apples harvested. 



One year ago, 25 acres of this orchard 

 had almost no leaves, and it has been years 

 since this portion has had any apples at 

 all. By these regular sprayings this same 

 orchard had perfect foliage, and practically 

 evei'y tree in the orchard was very heavily 

 loaded with perfect fruit. 



The orchard presented one of the most 

 beautiful sights imaginable, with the hun- 

 dreds of trees, and their branches bending 

 to the ground, heavily loaded with beauti- 

 fully colored fruit. There are trees of al- 



