NOTES FROM SIMCOE COUNTY. 



recuperative powers of nature. I had 

 top-grafted a number of Flemish Beauty 

 and Russian pears with several of the 

 more tender varieties. They made a 

 rapid growth, and on that account I 

 thought they would surely succumb to 

 the severity of the winter. 



I examined them in March and they 

 were to all appearance dead. The bark 

 and tissues were dark and discolored 

 like dead wood. I thought they were 

 gone for sure. But I was agreeably 

 surprised to see them budding out. 

 The bark has again become green and 

 the tissues assumed the normal healthy 

 condition, and they are now nearly out 

 in leaf. Prof. Bailey writing on this 

 subject, says that trees store up nutri- 

 ment in their tissues sufficient to bring 

 the tree into full leaf, yet if badly injured 

 from severe cold they may die later 

 on owing to the frozen wood being un- 

 able to draw nourishment from the soil. 

 For the same reason a tree will blossom, 

 the petals will open although the pistil, 

 the vital part of the blossom, may be 

 killed during the winter. He says there 

 are exceptional cases, as in the case of a 

 vigorous healthy tree which may entirely 

 recover though apparently winter killed ; 

 and if these grafts entirely recover it will 

 be one of the most remarkable cases of 

 recuperation that has yet come under 

 my notice. I believe that good care 

 and cultivation has much to do with the 

 hardiness of a tree, and that a tree is 

 much like a man in this respect. The 

 more vigorous and healthy he is, the 

 better will he be able to withstand ex- 

 tremes of temperature. Proper ferti- 

 lizing has no doubt much to do with it. 

 Furnishing the tree with a well balanced 

 ration will be conducive to the building 



up of good healthy hardy wood and a 

 vigorous constitution. 



This will be an off year for plums 

 and early apples here, apparently. They 

 bore such a large crop last year, that they 

 failed to form fruit buds. But winter 

 apples, judging from present appear- 

 ances will be the largest crop since 1896. 



The tent caterpillar is very much in 

 evidence, and promises to repeat the 

 devastation of last year in some orchards. 

 But where people spray their trees and 

 do it properly, there is no trouble. 

 For the destruction of the codling moth, 

 a valuable adjunct to the spraying of the 

 trees, is the placing of pieces of canvas 

 or woollen rags in the crotches of the 

 trees, and examining them occasionally 

 after the apples begin to drop. I tried 

 it last year on a small scale and found 

 it a great success. 



When an orchard is cleanly cultivated 

 and the trees scraped to remove the 

 rough bark, the larva of the moth readily 

 take advantage of the rags, as a suitable- 

 place to pupate in, here they spin around 

 them their cocoon from which they 

 emerge a perfect insect. From the time 

 the early apples begin to drop these 

 traps should be examined occasion- 

 ally until late fall. When a number have 

 collected, the rags may be plunged in 

 boiling water and replaced. They should 

 be examined late in the fall and again in 

 spring before the blossoms come out. 



Keeping hogs in the orchard to eat 

 up the fallen apples is, where practicable, 

 also a valuable aid. 



I believe if these methods were used 

 together with a faithful and proper use 

 of the spray pump, he codlin moth 

 would soon be almost entirely exter- 

 minated. 



231 



