26 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February, 191 5 



A Spy tree before dehorniiiff— No. 1. 



branches. Flemish Beauty pears have 

 been so badly attacked by scab as to 

 render the crop unsaleable. 



The following is a list of diseases that 

 can be effectually controlled by spraying 

 with lime and sulphur at the proper 

 time : Strawberry and raspberry rust, pear 

 scab and apple scab, mildew and brown 

 rot on grapes, blister mite, gooseberry 

 mildew, cherry and plum rot, shot hole 

 fungus on plums, pears and apples, curl 

 leaf on peaches. 



The fruit growers of the Niagara dis- 

 trict place great value on lime and sul- 

 phur as a remedy for insect pests and 

 diseases because it has put thousands 

 of dollars in their pockets. It saves the 

 <-rop for the grower when other means 

 fail . 



It is much better for the tree to put 

 the spray on just before a rain than 

 after the rain has gone. You see, you 

 have to wait three or four days after the 

 rain, and by that time disease may have 

 yot started. A rajn coming at the right 

 time has a very favorable effect when 

 \ou are spraying for leaf curl. — Prof. L. 

 Caesar, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



I have faith in the future of the fruit 

 j industry of Ontario, but if that faith is 

 ? to be justified we must have a greater 

 I measure of cooperation. — P. W. Hod- 

 |i,getts. 



sprays and 



Paul Fisher, B.S.A., 



SPRAYING is an insurance. Some 

 years it pays better than others, 

 but it must be done every year for 

 best results. After spraying for five or 

 six years, we find that each succeeding 

 year the various apple pests are more 

 easily controlled. For instance, during 

 the earlier years of operation we found 

 it good practice to bandage the trees 

 with loose sacking. This was to trap 

 the worms of the codling moth. Of late 

 years we have discontinued this practice 

 because the number captured has not 

 been great enough to justify the trouble. 



Scraping the trees destroys a large 

 number of insects and facilitates spray- 

 ing. This should be done every third 

 year. We use a rather dull hoe and put 

 on considerable pressure. 



Before we change from the old stand- 

 bys, lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead, 

 we must have a cheaper or a more effec- 

 tive agent. We have used soda-sulphur 

 for a couple of years and never could 

 see any difference between the trees 

 sprayed by it and those on which lime- 

 sulphur was used. Soda-sulphur is a 

 more active agent than lime-sulphur, 

 therefore is more apt to burn. As I see 

 it, the soluble article has no advantage 

 over the lime, and there is slightly more 

 danger of burning. Where it can be 

 purchased more cheaply than the latter 

 it would be worth a trial. At Burling- 

 ton, both materials are practically 

 the same price. Prof. L. Caesar has ex- 

 perimented to some extent with a mix- 

 ture of soluble sulphur and hard soap 

 for the control of aphids, and has had 

 good results. If future experiments con- 

 firm his results, there may be a market 

 for soluble sulphur. Lime-sulphur is 

 useless for the control of this pest, 

 which is increasing of late years. Black 

 L^af Forty is efficient for this purpose, 

 but very expensive. 



Of late years arsenate of lead has been 

 put up as a powder. According to Prof. 

 Crow's experiments, it is just as effi- 

 cient as the paste and somewhat easier 

 to mix in a barrel. Mixing is usually 

 a rather difficult business, and this is a 

 decided advantage. We have found that 

 an old churn makes an excellent mixer. 



We bought our first spraying outfit 

 ten years ago. It lasted six years. At 

 present we have two sprayers, a power 

 and a hand one. We will soon need 

 two power machines. For poles we 

 have found that a quarter-inch gas pipe 

 is just as good as the bamboo rods. The 

 former cost four cents per foot, the lat- 

 ter two dollars to four dollars a rod. 

 The practice of spraying a small tree 



•Ejrtrtuit from an addrees delivered at a fruit 

 institute meeting held at Port Hope. Out., Jan. 

 27tii. 



Sprayings 



Burlington, Ont. 



with a long pole instead of a short one 

 is often adopted in order to escape the 

 necessity of buying an extra bamboo 

 pole. A gas pipe is cheap enough to al- 

 low buying plenty of them, of different 

 lengths. 



We always use angle nozzles. They 

 are the only satisfactory kind. For first 

 spraying we like a nozzle that makes a 

 fine spray. For the second spraying, one 

 with more driving force is necessary. It 

 is impossible to make the second spray- 

 ing thoroughly effective without using a 

 tower. All spraying is made easier by 

 its use. We built our own tower much 

 more cheaply than it could be purchas- 

 ed from the supply company. We have 

 found it an advantage to put a few hand- 

 fuls of loose lime in the spray. It is 

 thus possible to make sure that each 

 tree is thoroughly covered. 



REDUCING THE CO.ST 



Filling the tank is an important mat- 

 ter. Anything that will reduce- the time 

 taken for this purpose will materially 

 reduce the cost of spraying. .Xt the re- 

 quest of a manufacturing firm we gave 

 the rotary pump a trial. It works well 

 when it does work, delivering twenty- 

 one gallons a minute. But it doesn't 

 always work. The company had a me- 

 chanic on hand, so the fact that it was 



The same tree after dehominB~No. 2. Both 



photographs by R. S. Duncan, B.S.A., District 



Repreeentative, Port Hope, Ont. 



