Locality and Site for the Commercial Orchard 123 



quality fruit. There may be a great variation even among 

 orchards in the same locality. Once pests have gained a 

 foothold in an orchard, their eradication may be an ex- 

 pensive process. Newly developed regions with young 

 trees are as a rule singularly free from insects and disease. 

 They are not guaranteed immune, however, for sooner or 

 later the pests which might be expected to thrive under 

 such conditions usually appear. Vigilance in controlling 

 early infection will very materially reduce later loss. 



Some pests are very much more expensive to control 

 than others. Apple-scab, apple-blotch, and bitter-rot are 

 serious fungous diseases which the prospective purchaser 

 should keep in mind, not that they should be absolutely 

 avoided, for one or more appears in many very important 

 regions, but that their degree of prevalence should be con- 

 sidered. It makes a difference whether one or two fun- 

 gicide applications will suffice for their control or whether 

 five or six may be necessary. In some regions one spray 

 controls codlin-moth, in others six to seven applications 

 may be required. 



A careful inspection of an orchard at harvest time will 

 usually reveal the loss in fruit which may be expected 

 from insects and diseases, although in some instances and 

 particularly with fungous diseases, the extent of the in- 

 jury varies widely in different seasons. 



Climatic influences. 



Climatic influences should be carefully considered in 

 relation to the purchase of a fruit-farm. The critical 

 period for the apple crop is at the time the trees are in 

 bloom. Frost-injury to the blossoms or damp rainy 

 weather to prevent pollination are the most frequent 



