34 New Hampshire Experiment Station [Bulletin 223 



]teriments has not 3^et been demonstrated that there is an appreciable 

 benefit from such a practice. Many of the best growers, however, use 

 acid phosphate or mixed chemicals in addition to the nitrogenous ma- 

 terial as a matter of insvu-ance. There can be no objection to such a 

 Ijractice jirovided that in order to do so the.y do not reduce their appli- 

 cations of nitrogen to too low a point. Sod orchards such as consti- 

 tute the majority of New Hampshire plantings are rarely successful 

 without large supplies of nitrogen. 



Sixty-five per cent of the growers report that they prune every year, 

 and nearly 30 per cent more prune occasionally'. Slightly less than 2 

 per cent never prune. Apj^roximatelj' 3 per cent of the men indicate 

 that their trees are pruned c\'ery 2 or 3 years. It is essential, partic- 

 ularly if the trees are adeciuatel>- fertilized, that they be pruned to a 

 sufficient extent to keep them open to light and accessible for the 

 sprayer. The proi)ortion of men who prune their trees is fairly sat- 

 isfactory ; but it is probable that in particular those who prune occa- 

 sionally, or every two or three j'ears, could greatly impi'ove their 

 practice in this respect. 



Information as to the spraying or thisting practice was obtained for 

 all but one of the 804 farms visited. Seventy-seven of these men do 

 not spray or dust. Probabh' they are the same ones who do not fer- 

 tilize or prune regularly. They constitute nearly 10 per cent of the 

 growers. The majority, 712 men, or nearly 89 per cent, prefer liquid 

 api)lications, while 14, or somewhat less than 2 per cent, use dust. The 

 number of applications used is shown in Table 14. Referring to those 

 who use the licpiid materials, it is encouraging to note that approxi- 

 matelj' 35 per cent use the ])re-pink. 45 per cent use the pink, and 95 

 per cent use the calyx application. In some of the larger orchards 

 dusting equipment is maintained in addition to the sprayers but is 

 reserxed for use in case that bad weather or other circumstances ren- 

 ders it impossible to complete the liquid application. Others spray the 

 early applications which are of greatest importance for control of scab 

 and use dust later in the season. 



That the practice of spraying is gaining is indicated by the fact that 

 more growers use two sprays than one, and the proportion of those 

 who use three or four is fairly high. Under New Hampshire conditions 

 it is often possible to produce excellent crops of scab resistant varieties 

 such as the Baldwin, using only one or two sprays each season. How- 

 ever, if the state is to attain a reputation for apples of uniformly high 

 quality one year with another, the adojition of at least three sprays is 

 necessary in most districts. 



The practice of thinning is one in which all jirogressive New Hamp- 

 shire fruit growers are interested although as yet only about 17 per cimt 

 have tried it. Only 1.6 per cent make a regular practice of thinning .all 

 varieties, and about 15 per cent more thin certain varieties. Of the 

 134 growers who report that they thin more or less, about 15 per cent 

 use the jjractice on Mcintosh, about 34 jicr cent thin Wcalthies, and 



