NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 6i 



keeping the leaves also in good working condition. The 

 early apple orchards were planted oftentimes with no ade- 

 quate conception of the size to which the trees would even- 

 tually attain. Sometimes the trees were put no more than 

 twenty-five feet apart. Red varieties, like Baldwin, in 

 such cases eventually bore much green fruit, because the 

 sunlight could not penetrate through the dense tops of the 

 crowded trees. Many people in Connecticut, I see, have 

 made this mistake and neglected to provide for the free 

 access of air and light to all parts of their orchard trees. 



The leaves constitute what I have often called the "food 

 factory of the tree." It is in them that the crude food 

 materials which have been absorbed from the soil through 

 the roots are combined with other material from the air 

 and built up by the help of sunlight into organic substances 

 which really feed the plant, thus putting into available 

 form the food which the plant needs to sustain life, support 

 growth and develop fruit. Leaves which are not reached 

 by sunlight cannot do their work. If we fail to protect the 

 leaves from injurious insects and diseases we expose the 

 food factory of the plant to serious injury. Probably few 

 fruit growers have a right conception of the injury which 

 these pests do to the leaves of their orchard trees. He who 

 would make the apple orchard most profitable must fight 

 these insects and diseases intelligently, thoroughly and per- 

 sistently, in order to make the conditions as favorable as 

 possible for the tree to perfect new growth, develop fruit of 

 the current season and fruit buds and leaf buds for the fol- 

 lowing year. 



There are now so many of these pests that it is usually 

 impracticable for the fruit grower to treat each separately. 

 The best plan to follow is to learn definitely what diseases 

 and insects are infesting the orchard and then combine the 

 necessary treatments in the fewest possible applications. 

 The number of treatments and the time of application 

 should be varied somewhat to meet the conditions which 

 are found in the orchard. Where the applecanker disease, 

 the bud moth and the case bearer are abundant two 

 treatments should be given before the blossoms open, as 

 will be indicated a little later; but under other conditions 



