30 MAINE AGRICUIvTURAIv EXPERIMENT STATION. I912. 



Ben Davis No. 3 gave little promise. This orchard was 

 younger than any of the others, as the trees replaced those 

 originally set which were destroyed by mice, fires in the orchard 

 grass and by lack of drainage, as this was one of the few 

 blocks where water had a tendency to stand. Nearly all the 

 trees were small, lacked vigor, and in many cases were not well 

 rooted. Little was to be expected from this block. 



The age and size of the trees varied in nearly all blocks, 

 according as new trees supplanted those destroyed by various 

 agencies. This fact, together with the years of neglect and 

 lack of plant food, made it difficult to more than guess at the 

 age of the trees on the basis of size. 



With the exception of Ben Davis No. 2, already noted, the 

 general condition of the trees was extremely bad. The vast 

 majority had never known a jDruning knife; fully 75 percent on 

 a general average, had been and were being injured to varying 

 degrees by apple tree borers and girdled by field mice. The 

 damage inflicted by the latter and by insects such as the codling 

 moth, leaf curler, case bearers, tent caterpillars ani^ curculio 

 was very great, and fungus parasites such as leaf spots and 

 scab reduced the vitality of the foliage and damaged the fruit. 

 In addition, the bark of a great number of trees was badly 

 encrusted with growths of lichen. 



Aside from the injuries due to living organisms, nearly all 

 the trees showed m.arked symptoms of lack of plant food. The 

 foliage was notably scant and deficient in healthy green color. 

 Some trees of about two inches in diameter and not over five 

 feet high bore small unmarketable apples, — an indication that 

 injury to the food supply channels had shortened life and 

 abnormally hastened maturity. The continued existence of a 

 thick grass sod had checked the tendency to deep root growth 

 and had reduced the moisture of the soil. The trees were in 

 consequence shallow rooted and not equipped to withstand a 

 season of drought to best advantage. 



Only one plot, Ben Davis No. 2, bore fruit to any extent in 

 1909, although the trees bloomed more or less abundantly in 

 nearly all parts of the orchards. The harvest yielded but 200 

 barrels, of which only 90 could be packed for market. 



In general, then, it may be said that the orchards at the time 

 they came under Station control were in notably bad condition. 



