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shire, where a tree exists — or till recently 

 existed — which is said to have been a large tree 

 in the time of Milton (1608 to 1674), who, in 

 his younger days, used to sit under its shade. I 

 have seen a Nonpareil apple tree of great size 

 at Cornwallis Rectory, Nova Scotia, Canada, 

 said to have been planted by the French previous 

 to their expatriation in 1755. 



Old pear trees, healthy and still bearing, can 

 be seen at Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., planted 

 there by French missionaries more than 250 years 

 ago.' Some of the giant pear trees of Hereford- 

 shire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire must 

 be nearly or quite as old. 



The Economic Duration ol Fruit was put by 

 one of the largest East Kent growers as 14 or 15 

 years for Raspberries, 20 to 25 years for Plums, 

 60 to 70 for Cherries and up to 100 years for 

 Apples. 



Labour Required for Fruit Growing and Market 

 Gardening. 



On a fell sheep farm on the Cheviots one man 

 is required to about 1,000 acres; on a fruit 

 farm £5 to £8 is spent on hand-labour per acre 

 in cultivation, exclusive of picking expense. In 

 Australia one man can work 10 acres of fruit 

 land, with the help of one man for three months ; 

 two men can work 18 acres. The trees are 20 

 feet apart on the square, with nothing between, 

 the whole being cultivated by horse. Mr. Hugh 

 Mumford, of Pershore, told me that, on his fruit 

 and vegetable farm of 40 acres, he employed 

 about 16 persons in winter (ten men and six 

 women), and in summer 40 to 50 persons, of 

 whom 25 were engaged in picking fruit; in 1920, 

 he spent £1,465 in wages (including bonuses to 

 men, women and pupils). Nearly all fruit farms 

 grow vegetables or flowers between the fruit or 

 as rotation; these chiefly include runner beans, 

 broad beans, peas, cauliflowers, spring broccoli, 

 sprouting broccoli, spring cabbage, onions, spring 

 onions, potatoes and wallflowers. For informa- 

 tion on vegetable growing for market I know of 

 no better book than " The Profitable Culture of 

 Vegetables for Market Gardeners, Smallholders 

 and Others," by Thomas Smith. (Longima,ns.) 



Number of Pickers Required for a Certain 

 Acreage. 



For strawberries, five or six pickers per acre; 

 for raspberries for jam, four persons per acre; 

 for plums, about the same number; damsons 

 are picked after the plums. 



Tractor Cultivation of Fruit Plantations. 



Perhaps the best at present in use is the 

 Cletrac caterpillar tractor, which will hoe 6 to 10 

 acres of apple plantation a day. I was told 

 that a 25-horse-power Cletrac costs about £375. 

 I saw two at work on a farm near Maidstone, 

 where, in addition to the driver's standard wage, 

 he was paid an acreage bonus of 6d. per acre 

 for ploughing and 3d. per acre for harrowing. 



These tractors also haul the fruit to the road 

 to the road-tractor lorries. At Brenchley a cater- 

 pillar tractor is used to draw a hop sprayer (seven 

 acres a day being possible), which was also used 

 to spray tall apple and cherry trees. 



Quantity of Spray used per Acre. 



To spray an acre of five to seven-year-old trees 

 took 240 gallons ; to spray large, old plum trees, 

 bCO gallons per acre, on Mr. E. P. Whiteley's 

 farm at Pershore. Washing with caustic alkah, 

 copper sulphate or lime occupies considerable 

 labour in late winter. Winter washing lakes 

 more liquid than summer spraying. To spray 

 with limewash large, old apple trees and tall 

 cherries took 900 gallons per acre. 



Approximate Cost of Different Spraying Washes 



per 100 gallons. 



(Materials bought at wholesale prices. 



May, 1921.) 



Winter Cleansing Washes. — Caustic soda, 

 201bs. per 100 galls, of water, IBs. Lime spray, 

 Icwt. quicklime per 100 galls., 20s. 



Insecticides. — Arsenate of lead, 61bs. per 100 

 galls., 8s. Nicotine, 6ozs. per 100 galls, 9s. 6d. 

 Combined arsenate of lead and nicotine, per 100 

 galls., 17s. Nicotine 6ozs., soft soap 51bs. per 

 100 galls., 12s. Quassia lOlbs. , soft soap lOlbs. 

 per 100 galls., lOs. Paraffin 2 galls., soft soap 

 3^1bs. per 100 galls., 6s. 



Fungicides (Winter Washes). — Copper 

 sulphate, 41bs. per 100 galls., 6s. Caustic soda 

 lOlbs., soft soap lOlbs. per 100 galls., 12s. Lime- 

 sulphur, 6i galls, per 100 galls., 20s. 



Fungicides (Summer Washes). — Bordeaux 

 mixture, 81lbs. copper sulphate, 81bs. quicklime 

 per 100 galls., 13s. Lime-sulphur, 1 2/3 galls, 

 per 100 galls., 5s. 



Combined Fungicide and Insecticide (Summer 

 Washes). — Lime-sulphur 1 2/3 galls., nicotine 

 6ozs. per 100 galls, 14s. Lime-sulphur 1 2/5 

 galls., arsenate of lead 61bs. per 100 galls., 12s. 6d. 



Powder for Gooseberry Sawfly Cater- 

 pillar. — Hellebore, 4s. per lb. 



For details as to mixing and making the above 

 sprays, see Food Production Leaflet No. 39. 



Dry Spraying. 



In England for this work "Belumnite" is 

 employed for aphides, etc. In America the dust 

 is composed of 10 to l5 per cent, arsenate of lead 

 powder and 85 to 90 per cent, hydrated (slaked) 

 lime or gypsum. If for fungous diseases, as well 

 as for caterpillar, sulphur is used in place of 

 the lime or gypsum. 



Spraying Maxims. 



E. G. Lodeman, late Instructor in Horticulture 

 at Cornell University, in " The Spraying of 

 Plants," says : — " Be prompt, thorough and 

 persistent. Knowledge and good judgment are 

 more necessary to success than definite rules." 



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