Fruit Meeting's in the Niagara District 



Tlllv .\i;ig;iKi I'ciiiiisulii I'riiil Growers' 

 Association held its anmial series of public 

 iiieelings during the last week in March. 

 Meetings were held in Beaiiisville, Jordan 

 vStalion, Si. Davids and vSl. Catharines. The 

 association was fortunate in securing as chief 

 speakers the services of Mr. J. S. Woodward, of 

 Lockport, N.Y., and Mr. Willis T. Mann, of 

 Barker, -N.Y., both of whom are well-known 

 authorities and pleasing speakers. 



SPRAYINO 



One of the most interesting addresses of the 

 series was Mr. Mann's talk on spraying. "It 

 is a prolituble operation," said the speaker. 

 "We cannot raise fruit without il. Spraying 

 is absolutely essential to success. To spray 

 inlelUgently, fruit growers should know sonie- 

 ihing about the life history of the insect or the 

 disease that lie intends to combat." 



The standard fungicide is Bordeaux mixture. 

 Mr. Mann's formula is 33^2 It's, copper sulphate, 

 Jbs. lime, 40 gals, water. An excess of lime is 

 used to prevent injury to foliage. The old 

 fornutla in old conditions was efleclive without 

 burning; now, new conditions and new methods 

 of application have changed the effect on the 

 foliage. The reason for this is not delinitely 

 known. It is supposed that the extreme fine- 

 ness of the spray produced by power sprayers 

 has a more intense elTecl on the foliage. The 

 Geneva expl. station is conducting experiments 

 along this line The Bordeaux mixture is used 

 for all fungous diseases, although for peach 

 leaf curl the lime-sulphur wash is just as effective. 



The lime sulphur wash is the best yet for the 

 San Jose Scale. "1 believe the San Jose Scale 

 is a blessing in disguise," said Mr. Mann, "ll 

 can be controlled by the industrious man, while 

 the careless grower will be crowded out of the 

 business. This will elevate the standard of 

 the fruit industry, and of the, people connected 

 with it." 



APPLE CULTURE 



In an address on "Apple Culture" Mr. 

 Mann quoted statistics to show the relative posi- 

 tions of the various states in the production 

 of apples. New York state produces more fruit 

 per tree than any other apple-producing state. 

 This is due to the fact that improved methods 

 in culture and care are more generally adopted 

 in that state than in others. 



The practice of spraying increases both the 

 price of the fruit in an orchard and the value of 

 the orchard itself. The market demands good 

 fruit and buyers quickly pick up a good article 

 at a remunerative figure, and they enter the 

 districts where good apples are grown and 

 compete with each other in buying. To-day 

 in planting orchards there have been radical 

 changes made in care and methods of culture. 

 -Mr. Mann's system is to get two-year-old nursery 

 slock of medium height (not large), well rooted, 

 head about 2]/^ ft- from the ground, allow the 

 various branches to remain, prune very little, 

 just enough to shape the trees, give thorough 

 cultivation, spray systematically. The orchard 

 he planls on the filler system, the desired distance 

 of trees apart for certain varieties is 40 x 44 ft., 

 so by filling in between with other varieties 

 makes the trees 20 x 22, the intervening trees 

 are cut out when the trees commence to meet 

 and crowd by this system. He has an orchard, 

 seven years planted, which has produced crops 

 for three consecutive years, and which last 

 season produced 600 bush, on eight acres. Ex- 

 cessive pruning when the trees are small tends to 

 produce wood growth. Then, when trees are 

 large, low heading is practised by keeping the 

 trees pruned back at the top as the tall apple 

 orchards cannot be effectively sprayed and 

 leave a margin of profit. 



Mr. Mann advocates planting standard 

 varieties known to be adapted to the particular 

 locality where the orchard is to be planted. 



\ 



Besides these he mentions Spitzenburg, a choicd 

 variety that has been discarded in some districts] 

 because not properly cared for. It is one of the 

 linest apples when looked after as it should be 

 in the matter of spraying, pruning, etc. Boiken, 

 a newer apple, is also a valuable variety. It 

 is an early and regular Ijearer, and when stored 

 is free from scald, a serious warehouse trouble 

 with most varieties of apples. 



During the series of meetings Mr Mann also 

 delivered a valuable address on the "General 

 Principles of Fruit Growing." This address 

 will be published in a future issue of The Hokti- 



CULfUKIST 



ORCHARD COVER CROPS 



In an address on the "Necessity and Value 

 of Cover Crops," Mr. J. S. Woodward referred 

 to the enormous quantity of plant food taken 

 from the soil by crops of the dilTerent classes of 

 fruits. Such a tax on the land should be return- 

 ed by the use of some sort of fertilizing material. 

 The most economical means of doing this is 

 the use of cover crops. Hairy vetch is one of 

 the best crops of this kind but the seed is ex- 

 pensive. It is a rapid and heavy grower and 

 assimilates more nitrogen per acre than any 

 other legume. According to experiuiental data, 

 it has been shown to be worth $43 per acre. 

 About 30 lbs. to the acre makes a good thick 

 cover. Mammoth clover is worth §23 per acre, 

 and is second in value to hairy vetch. Besides 

 increasing the amount of nitrogen in the soil, 

 these crops are valuable to protect the roots in 

 winter, to improve the texture of the soil, and 

 to hasten maturity of the woods of trees in the 

 fall. Neither hairy vetch nor mammoth red 

 clover will do well on a "sour" soil. To deter- 

 mine whether a soil is sour or not, use Litmus 

 paper. Soils that are acid or sour may be im- 

 proved by the use of lime. Oats and rye may 

 be used as cover crops on soils that are already 

 over rich in nitrogen. 



Potash and phosphoric acid, also, should be 

 added to the soil as they are required in the build- 

 ing up of plant tissues and in producing high 

 color, flavor and body in the fruit. 



Mr. Woodward spoke in an interesting manner 

 on "The Leaf; its Oflice, its Importance, and 

 How to Keep it Healthy," A leaf is very 

 highly organized. A study of this organ is of 



practical value to the fruit grower. By means 

 of illustrative charts Mr. Woodward showed 

 the ineclianism of the leaf. He showed how 

 the leaf does work for the whole tree or plant — 

 how it breathes and how it absorbs and digests 

 plant food. Out of crude materials it makes 

 food and it cannot do this unless in contact 

 with sunlight. 



The leaf must be kept healthy. When it is 

 diseased both the stomach and the lungs of the ^ 

 tree are effected and the tree cannot produce 

 fruit. When the leaf is covered with lungi it 

 should be treated with spray mixtures, \Vhen 

 the leaf appears yellow in color, the tree needs 

 nitrogen. Other conditions indicate a want ot 

 potash and phosphoric acid. The leaf and the 

 tree must be given these constituents, througu 

 the roots, by the use of cover crops, comiiierctal 

 fertilizers and barnyard niauure. 



THB IDEAL, PEACH ORCHARD 



This topic furnished the subject mailer of 

 another address by Mr. Woodward, He said 

 that successful peach culture depends first of all 

 upon the location. The St. Catharines district 

 is particularly favored in this res]x.'Ct. An 

 ideal soil must be chosen also, and mat is one 

 of sandy natiu-e, well drained but retentive of 

 moisture. The trees should be set out wnen 

 one year old and cut back to a foot or a foot and 

 a half from the ground. Low-headed trees are 

 best for purposes of spraying and harvesting. 

 The work of fighting the San Jose scale is lessen- 

 ed when the trees are headed low. 



The trees should be planted 20 ft. apart. 

 This facihtates the work of cultivation, prumug, 

 spraying, etc., and it allows the sun to get lu. 

 A peach orchard must be looked after. A man 

 who neglects his orchard for one year had better 

 tear it out and begin again. It will never make 

 up for the loss occasioned by a year's careless- 

 ness. The orchard may be inter-cropped with 

 beans or potatoes for two years but not longer. 



Mr. Woodward pointed out that it is unwise 

 to allow a peach tree to overbear. There is as 

 much of a strain on a tree in bearing small 

 peaches as large ones, as it is forming the pit 

 that saps the strength of the tree. Peaches 

 should be thinned in June, when the newly 

 formed fruit is about the size of the end of a 

 person's thumb, — .\.B,C. 



Bxilletins for Fruit and Vegetable Groovers 



DURING the past few weeks numerous bul- 

 letins and reports have reached The Hor- 

 ticulturist from the different colleges 

 and experiment stations in America. They 

 contain valuable information for the fruit grower 

 or the market gardener. Lack of space pre- 

 vents us giving a full review of each, but a 

 brief outline will show our readers their value. 

 Those who wish to secure them for reference 

 can, in most cases, have them by writing to 

 the college or station from which they are 

 issued. 



VERMONT bulletins 



Bulletin 119 of the Vt. Expt. Station dis- 

 cusses the occurrence of plant diseases through- 

 out that state during 1905. Apple scab and 

 pear blight, brown rot of plum, bacterial dis- 

 eases of vegetables, including the early and 

 late blights and the potato rot are dealt with 

 fully. Preventives and remedies are discussed 

 in each case. In this bulletin lettuce culture 

 is outlined, and the results from crops grown 

 in flats compared with those grown on benches. 

 Experiments have shown that a greater net 

 profit can be secured from closely planted let- 

 tuce than from that given sufficient space to 

 develop into full sized plants. 



Bulletin 120 gives the results of experiments 

 in planting white pines. It has been shown 

 that this tree is very profitable for forest plant- 

 ing under most conditions. Bulletin 121 deals 

 with the laws governing the sales of commercial 

 fertilizers in that state. Tables showing the 

 amount of available nitrogen, phosphoric acid, 

 and potash in the various brands put up by 

 the different manufacturers, are given. 



The susceptibility to rot of potatoes is dealt 

 with in bulletin 122. Experiments have been 

 conducted to show the resistance of vines to 

 blight and tubers to rot and to scab. Careful 

 notes were taken during the experiments regard- 

 ing the conditions of the soil and the cultural 

 methods adopted, 



THE PENNSYLVANIA STATION 



Bulletin 76, from the State College, Centre 

 County, Pa,, contains an outline of experiments 

 conducted in testing varieties of potatoes. Be- 

 fore planting the tubers were treated for scab 

 with a solution of two oz. corrosive sublimate 

 to 16 gal. of water for l}4 hours. The best 

 early maturing varieties included Eureka, 

 Early Norwood, Pride of Michigan, Freeman, 

 and Six Weeks. Some of the best late matur- 



