168 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 1916. 



implements, dip them into the disin- 

 fecting solution before making another 

 cut. Burn all cut-off material without 



§,n 





A useful garden implement that soun pays for it.self. 



July Work in the Orchard 



Thorough cultivation in the orchard 

 is important in the early part of the 

 summer in order that moisture may be 

 conserved and an abundant supply be 

 available for the growing tree and the 

 developing fruit. In some parts of 

 Canada where the seasons are compara- 

 tively short and the winters are cold, 

 it is very important to stop cultivation 

 during the latter part of June in order 

 to make conditions favorable for a 

 thorough ripening of the wood. If the 

 wood is not well ripened the danger of 

 winter-injury is very great, and late 

 cultivation induces late growth. Where 

 the seasons are long and there is lit- 

 tle or no chance of winter injury, cul- 

 tivation may be continued until the 

 middle of July, especially if the season 

 is a dry one. 



As soon as cultivation is discontinued 

 in the orchard it is important to sow 

 seed for the cover crop, which is an 

 important factor in good orchard prac- 

 tice. The cover crop, growing during 

 the latter part of the summer, uses 

 considerable moisture and plant food 

 and so helps to check the growth of 

 the tree and ripen the wood. When 

 ploughed under, the vegetable matter 

 adds humus to the soil and so makes it 

 more retentive of moisture. In the case 

 of leguminous crops nitrogen is also 

 added to the soil by this means. 



Where it is important to hold the 

 snow m winter to protect the roots of 

 the trees the cover crop is valuable. 

 If the soil is in good condition a non- 

 leguminous crop, such as buckwheat, 

 rape or millet, will make good growth 

 and serve the purpose of checking 

 tree growth and furnishing vegetable 

 matter for ploughing under. If the 

 oil is rather poor the summer vetch 

 lakes a good crop, and where clovers 



do well red clover or crimson clover 

 are satisfactory. 



Many fruit growers, if they spray at 

 all, do not spray after they have spray- 

 ed for codling moth when the petals 

 of the flowers fall. In some seasons 

 there is little danger of scab after this 

 spraying, but in wet seasons another 

 spraying two weeks later and possibly 

 still another will pay well. Sometimes 

 scab develops in late summer when the 

 grower may not suspect it, and a late 

 spray sometimes makes the difference 

 between a profitable and an unprofit- 

 able crop. Bordeaux mixture and lime 

 sulphur wash are about equally effec- 

 tive in controlling apple scab, but there 

 is less danger of russeting the fruit if 

 lime sulphur is used. 



Fire Blight and Cankers 



The summer is the time when much 

 can be done to prevent "fire or pear- 

 blight" from becoming serious. It 

 costs little to remove all dead twigs 

 or limbs in the summer, when they will 

 show up well; and the doing of this 

 prevents a lot of serious damage. Fire 

 blight, black rot and other fruit dis- 

 eases will destroy twigs, and, if not re- 

 moved in time, "hold-over cankers" 

 will form on limbs or trunks, which 

 you cannot remove without spoiling 

 the tree. If you do not remove such 

 dead twigs during the summer months, 

 your trees will always go back, be- 

 cause you aid in the propagation of 

 these diseases, and sooner or later you 

 will have to remove the whole tree. 



Do a little work now and save the 

 tree ; but do it well. Take a knife or 

 shears or saw, and sterilize them in a 

 solution of one part of Perchloride of 

 Mercury to 1,000 parts of water, and 

 cut off the diseased twigs well below 

 the diseased tissues. After using the 



Orchard Suggestions 



Keep the cultivator going. Every 

 weed allowed to go to seed now means 

 many weeds next season. 



Plums and apples may be budded the 

 latter part of July or early in August. 

 Try a few. It is an easy way to increase 

 good varieties. 



Now is the time to buy a home can- 

 ning outfit. The June issue of the Min- 

 nesota Horticulturist contains a good 

 paper on home canning. 



Cover crops of oats or buckwheat 

 may be sown in the orchard now to hold 

 the snow next winter and check the 

 growth of the fruit this autumn. 



GARDEN SPRAYS. 



Fruit growers at this time of the 

 year should watch their shrubs closely 

 so that attacks of insects may be con- 

 trolled before they become serious. The 

 lice are found on the under side of the 

 leaves, causing the leaves to curl. 



Currants are likely to suffer from 

 plant lice at this time. Spraying should 

 be done before the leaves are badly 

 curled. The spray to use is tobaeco ex- 

 tract — a. forty per cent, solution at the 

 rate of one tablespoonful to a gallon of 

 water, with about a half-pound of soap 

 for each five gallons to make the spray 

 sitick. 



The currant .saw fly or "currant 

 worm" also appears about this time. 

 Sprajang early with arsenate of lead 

 |vill prevent injury to the currant, but 

 if the berries are well grown when the 

 worms make their appearance, helle- 

 bore should be used as this will not be 

 pois'ouous on the fruit. Hellebore is a 

 powder and should be freshly bouglit 

 and sprinkled over the plant wU'le the 

 dew is on. 



The currant worm can be killed also 

 witili tobacco extract. If the aphis is 

 also present, probably a thorough 

 spraying with tobaceo is the best treat- 

 ment. 



A Correction. — In the June issue of 

 The Canadian Horticulturist there ap- 

 peared an error in connection with the 

 article of M. M. B. Davis, on "Vege- 

 table Gardening." The White Butter- 

 fly, as described in this article, is the 

 adult of the green cabbage worm, not 

 the adult of the cabbage maggot. The 

 adult of the cabbage maggot is a small 

 insect resembling the house fly. The 

 methods for the control of this cab- 

 bage maggot are as described in the 

 article ; the only error was in the 

 description of the adult female insect. 



