THE IEEIGAT10N AGE. 



709 



we think it a peculiarity of that variety, not knowing that 

 these spots are caused by the insect ol which we hear so 

 much. But it is really surprising what a foothold this scale 

 has upon fruit growing today. Thanks to the system of 

 nursery inspection now carried out in each state, the scale 

 is not being distributed now as in former years. The only 

 trouble is that we did not have the nursery inspection until 

 after the scale was well distributed. One great trouble in 

 the control of the San Jose scale is the indifference shown 

 by most farmers when they find they have the scale. Put 

 this under your hat. The San Jose scale will kill out an 

 orchard within three years after it becomes well established, 

 unless spraying is practical in a thorough manner. Yet not- 

 withstanding this fact, spraying as a rule is not practiced 

 until some of the trees are dead. Very often it will pay to 

 cut down and burn some few trees in order to save the 

 rest. 



As all scale insects suck their food it would be useless 

 to destroy them by spraying with the arsenate of lead or 

 other like poison. So in this case we must apply what has 

 come to be known as a "contact" insecticide. Such an in- 

 secticide kills by either penetration as an irritant or by clos- 

 ing the breathing pores of the insects. In the case of the 

 San Jose scale, the best contact insecticide seems to be the 

 lime and sulphur solution applied late in winter just before 

 the buds swell. As the insecticide only kills those insects 

 which are actually touched or covered with the spray, it 

 is readily seen how important it is to have the spraying 

 thoroughly done. Even with the best work some few scales 

 will escape and for this reason the spraying will have to 

 be done each year. For with the San Jose scale we cannot 

 hope to exterminate it, but we can keep it well in check. 



several times during the spring and early summer in order 

 to thoroughly check the spread of the fungi. But as the 

 copper sulphate alone would kill the foliage of the plants 

 to which it is applied, we mix it with a solution of lime water 

 and then we have the Bordeaux mixture. 



So here we have three enemies of the same thing. Two 

 insects and one plant disease. But in the case of the Apple 

 Worm and the Apple Scab, experience has shown that we 

 can combine the insecticide with the fungicide and make 

 the application of the two in a single spray. Not only this, 

 but there are many other insects and also plant diseases which 

 attack the apple which are killed by the same spraying. As 

 to what all these are, does not interest us half so much as 

 simply to know that whatever they are, we get rid of them 

 by the spraying. 



But spraying is work, work, work. Does it pay? There 

 is always a good demand at a good price for fruit of a 

 superior quality, and superior fruit is of necessity sprayed 

 fruit. What is the use of raising a crop of apple worms 

 when by a little more work we can get a crop of good apples 

 instead? The most success comes to the fruit grower who 

 studies the When, Why and How. 



LIKES AUSTRALIA'S PLAN. 



Elwood Mead, for many years state engineer for 

 Wyoming and afterwards chief of the Bureau of Irriga- 

 tion at Washington, was called to the public service of 

 the Australian state of Victoria three years ago. He tells 

 his American friends that he believes in government 

 ownership of railroads. 



ALFALFA CLffrTIVATOR. 



So much for the two general classes of insect extermina- 

 tion. Now what about plant diseases? It should be under- 

 stood that plant diseases are caused by two different organi- 

 zations the fungi and the bacteria. The bacteria work within 

 the plants and cannot be reached by any spraying. The best 

 known example is the well known fire blight of pear and 

 twig blight of apple. But most of the plant diseases are 

 caused by fungi, the spores or eggs of which are produced 

 on the exterior of the plants. The fungi are upon and within 

 the plants early in the season, but if we apply some chemical 

 such as copper sulphate to the plants we can prevent the 

 germination of the spores and in this way we keep the plant 

 disease in check. 



Take the Apple Scab as an illustration of a plant disease. 

 This is shown in Fig. 3. The fungi are upon the trees during 

 the winter and in early spring send put the reproductive 

 spores. So if we cover the branches in the spring with a 

 fungicide such as the copper sulphate, we prevent the germi- 

 nation of the spores. Then as there is a new crop of spores 

 every two, three or four weeks depending on weather con- 

 ditions the spraying with the fungicides should be repeated 



NEW BpOK ON ALFALFA. 



The wide-spread interest now being taken in alfalfa 

 with the consequent demand for reliable information con- 

 cerning the best methods to pursue in order to secure 

 good results, has impressed upon Deere & Mansur Com- 

 pany, of Moline, Illinois, the desirability of offering to the 

 agriculturists of the country an authoritative treatise deal- 

 ing with the seeding, culture and curing of alfalfa. 



This company secured the services of A. M. Ten Eyck, 

 Professor of Agronomy at the Kansas State Agricultural 

 College, Manhattan, Kansas, and present the data which 

 he has prepared in neat book form. 



Deere & Mansur Company manufacture a line of tools 

 especially adapted to the work of alfalfa growing, culti- 

 vating and harvesting. A brief description of them is 

 given in the last pages of the booklet. 



We are presenting in this connection a cut of one of 

 their well known tools for working in the alfalfa to in- 

 crease the crop. 



A copy of this book will be sent free to all interested 

 who will write and mention the IRRIGATION AGE. 



