224 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



October, 1 909 



the agents of the organization in the various 

 localities to ask the members to stop dig- 

 ging. He shipped 22 cars and held the re- 

 maining 13 for two days, when they were 

 sold profitably and the market sustained. 

 This organization has increased prices all' 

 around and has made the local buyers come 

 up. In the year's work, notwithstanding 

 some mistakes, drawbacks and losses, the 

 receipts increased wonderfully. Potatoei 

 and apples are handled chiefly. These are 

 distributed where the demand is, regard- 

 less of nearness to market. 



SULPHUR SPRAYS. 



One of the most important subjects dealt* 

 with by the society was "Sulphur Sprays." 

 Various members discussed it. One of the 

 most valuable papers was contributed by 

 Mr. W. M. Scott, Washington, D.C. This 

 was read by the secretary in the absence of 

 the author. Mr. Scott pointed out that the 

 self-boiled lime-sulphur will soon become al- 

 most, if not quite, as indispensable to the 

 peach grower as Bordeaux mixture is to 

 the apple grower. The main reference of 

 the paper was to the use of the lime-sulphur 

 as a summer spray. The results of experi- 

 ments conducted by Mr. Scott and his as- 

 sistants this year, in the Hale orchards of 

 Georgia, increased the yield of merchant- 

 able fruit by 100 per cent. 



In fighting the brown rot the curculio 

 must also be controlled. This insect punc- 

 tures the skin and admits the fungus in 

 spite of all spraying. The self-boiled lime- 

 sulphur in combination with arsenate of 

 lead is a complete remedy for the curculio, 

 the brown rot and the peach scab. 



The writer showed by examples that 

 sprayed fruit brings the highest prices. 

 The difference in market value was due to 

 the fact that the sprayed fruit showed less 

 rot, was more highly colored, and had a 

 better appearance in all respects than the 

 unsprayed fruit. 



If the self-boiled lime-sulphur is properlj 

 prepared there is no danger of injury to the 

 fruit or foliage ; even if carelessly prepared, 

 the danger is not great. There is some dan- 

 ger of staining the fruit if the mixture is 

 applied within three weeks of the time of 

 ripening.. To get best results give a light 

 uniform coating in a fine spray. 



Time of application : 1, about the time 

 the calicos (or shucks) are shedding, spray 

 with arsenate of lead at the rate of 2 lbs., 

 to 50 gals of water. As this is too early 

 for both scab and brown rot, the lime-sul- 

 phur mixture is not necessary. 2, Two 

 weeks later or about one month after petals 

 drop, spray with 8-8-50 self-boiled lime- 

 sulphur, and 2 lbs. of arsenate of lead. 3, 

 About one month before the fruit ripens, 

 spray with 8-8-50 self-boiled lime-sulphur, 

 omitting the poison. 



[Note. — It is presumed that the "50" re- 

 fers to gallons in wine measure, which is 

 equivalent to 40 gallons. Imperial, the mea- 

 sure used in Canada. — Editor.] 



In orchards where the curculio is not 

 omitted. The best treatment in that case 

 would be to spray the trees with the lime- 

 sulphur a month after petals fall, a month 

 before fruit will ripen, and at a period 

 about half way between those dates. Early 

 maturing varieties will require but two 

 sprayings, except in wet seasons when three 

 treatments will be required. 



For scab or black spot alone, one applica- 

 tion of lime-sulphur about one month after 

 the petals drop, will prevent most of the 

 infections. In most cases, however, a se- 

 cond application would probably pay. 



In a discussion that followed Mr. Scott's 

 paper. Prof. J. P. Stewart, State College. 

 Pa., told of serious cases of burning that 

 were due to this combination. He had used 

 the arsenate of lead with the lime-sulphur. 



He found that the adhesive quality of the 

 arsenate is lost when combined with the or- 

 dinary lime-sulphur. The arsenate of lead, 

 according to Professor Stewart, costs six 

 times more when applied this way than 

 when applied in other mixtures. Dr. 

 Fletcher stated that the diluted factory-boil- 

 ed lime-sulphur, would soon be the stand- 

 ard summer spray. He said that arsenate 

 of lead used with this gave results — worm 

 free fruit — and that is all that is wanted. 

 The first application is made immediately 

 after the blossoms droj), the second two 

 weeks later, and the third a month later. 

 A lively discussion took iilace on the use of 

 arsenate of lead in sulphur sprays and 

 opinion was divided. 



M18CELL.\NB0US. 



In addition to the foregoing there were 

 many other addresses and discussions of 

 equal importance. Some of those that 

 were of particular interest to Canadian 

 fruit growers and which will be reported 

 in later issues, are: "Little peach," M. B. 

 Waite, of Washington, D.C. ; "Controlling 

 Codling Moth," L. Caesar, O. A. C. 

 Guelph; "Influence of Blighted Pear Trees 

 in Apple Orchards," J. A. Burton, Orleans, 

 Ind. ; "A Study of Varieties," Prof. W. 

 N. Hutt, Raleigh, N. C, and "Status of 

 Grape Growing in Canada," Murray Pet- 

 tit, Winona, Ont. ; "Adaptation of Varieties 

 of Soil Conditions," by various speakers; 

 and some others. 



EXCURSIONS. 



Three excursions were taken by the mem- 

 bers of the society and others. The first 

 one was through the Grimsby-Winona dis- 

 trict, where were visited the fine farms of 

 Hamilton Fleming, A. G. Pettit, Murray 

 Pettit, J. W. Smith & Son, and the large 

 establishment of E. D. Smith's. The se- 

 cond was to the Queenston-St. David's dis- 

 trict, where the excellent farms of Wm. 

 Armstrong and C. E. Fisher & Sons, were 

 visited, and some of the party visited th< 

 farms of W. C. McCalla, A. Onslow and 

 Robt. Thompson. The third and con- 

 cluding feature of the program, took the 

 members for an all-day trip to the Onta- 

 rio Agricultural College, Guelph. 



OPFICERS ELECTED. 



The election of ofiicers resulted in the re- 

 turn to ofiBce of those gentlemen, who have 

 held these positions during the past two 

 years as follows : Pros., L. A. Goodman, 

 Kansas City, Mo. ; 1st vice-pres., T. V. 

 Munson, Denii?on, Tex.; sec, John Craig, 

 Ithaca, N.Y. ; treas., L. A. Taft, Agricul- 

 tural College, Mich. ; chairman, executive 

 committee, C. L. Watrous, Des Moines. 

 Iowa ; chairman general fruit committee, S. 

 A, Beach, Ames, Iowa. 



Society for Hort' 1 Science 



At the sixth annual meeting of the So- 

 ciety for Horticultural Science, which was 

 held at St. Catharines, Ont., on Septem- 

 ber 13, topics of much importance to fruit 

 growers and experiment station workers 

 were discussed. The main purpose of this 

 organization is the promotion of research 

 work in horticulture. A fair representation 

 from the experimental stations and colleges 

 of the United States and Canada was pre- 

 sent. President W. A. Taylor, of Washing- 

 ton, D.C, was in the chair. 



Some notes on pruning were given by 

 Prof. W. R. Lazenby, of «joiumbus, Ohio. 

 He stated that pruning isthe one fundamen- 

 tal practice in horticulture about which we 

 havelittledeflnite or no exactknowledge, and 

 still less well grounded principles. 'There 

 are few definite and well defined systems 

 of pruning. It is a sort of hit or miss, go-as- 

 you-please policy from start to finish. 



In giving the reasons for this lack of 



widely accepted policies in pruning, the pro- 

 fessor referred to the diverse objects said 

 to be accomplished by the same operations ; 

 such as, to stimulate as well as to check 

 vigor of growth, to hasten as well as to re 

 tard the age of bearing, to increase as well 

 as to decrease fruitfulness, to promote as 

 well as to restrain the production of wood, 

 and some others. These make the methods 

 employed in the practice variable and the 

 difficulty correspondingly great. 



Another reason lies in the fact that we fail 

 to recognize the colony characters of trees 

 and higher plants. We are apt to treat 

 the tree as an individual with a complete 

 anatomy like the higher forms of animal 

 life. By removing a certain portion of a 

 tree at one time, we increase its vitality 

 and by removing a like portion at another 

 time we decrease its vitality, and in both 

 jases, we may enlarge its usefulness. Tho 

 speaker suggested that our norticultural ex- 

 perts get together and plan some far-reach- 

 ing co-operative experiments in pruning. 

 Many questions should be settled. 



A paper on "Concentrated Lime-sulphur ; 

 Its Properties, Preparations and Use," w is 

 presented by Professor John P. Stewart. 

 of State College, Pa. The subject was 

 dealt with in an able manner and much 

 that was new was told. Extracts from this 

 paper will appear in later issues of The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. 



Mr. W. T. Macoun of the Central Ex- 

 perimental Farm, Ottawa, read a valuable 

 paper entitled, "Over-coming Winter In- 

 jury." Some of the topics dealt with, such 

 as root killing, sun scald and others, already 

 have been discussed, by Mr. Macoun in The 

 Canadian Horticult^'Rist. Extracts from 

 this paper are published elsewhere in this 

 issue. 



"Observations on the Horticulture of West 

 Europe" was the subject of an interesting 

 talk by Prof. U. P. Hedrick, Geneva, N. 

 Y. He said that America can learn very 

 little from Europe in regard to commercial 

 horticulture, but that many ideas regarding' 

 landscape gardening could be gained. Dr. 

 E. W. Allen, of Washington, D.C, dis- 

 cussed "The Adams Fund in its Relation 

 to Investigation in Horticulture." 



In an address on "The Ideal Variety," 

 Prof. W. N. Hutt, of Raleigh, N.C, said 

 that the demand in the markets for red 

 apples had driven out much good fruit. 

 The ideals of the producer and of the con- 

 sumer should be merged as they are now 

 widely divergent. While the strictly ideal 

 variety may never be secured, we should 

 strive to attain that end. The transpor- 

 tation problem should be given more at- 

 tention so that fruit of the best quality 

 may be carried to distant markets in good 

 condition. Present facilities for transpor- 

 tation are largely the cause of the Ben 

 Davis, Kieffer and Elberta, being standard 

 varieties in their respective classes. 



An able address was delivered by Dr. 

 L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, on 

 "The Field of Research in Horticulture." 

 He pointed out that every man could not 

 do satisfactory research work, because ev- 

 ery man has not a research mind. Mature 

 men are needed in horticulture both in sci- 

 entific and in practical work. Boys should 

 not go to college too young ; should they 

 do so, they should spend a few years at 

 work after graduation so that they might 

 get right views of life before entering upon 

 scientific research or other work. An all- 

 round horticultural education is required, 

 but the aim should be specialization in 

 some one of its branches. 



Rennie's fall catalogue has been received 

 In it are listed the best varieties of bulbs, 

 perennials and other plants. Send for a 

 copy. 



