SPRAYING EXPERIMENTS AT BENTONVILLE. ARK. 



17 



dry weather. However, the writers have not yet determined the con- 

 ditions necessary for twig infection. 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES. 



The experiments and demonstrations conducted by the writers in 

 190G show that the apple-blotch disease may be controlled by proper 

 applications of Bordeaux mixture," and these results were confirmed 

 by similar work in 1907. In order to determine the number of appli- 

 cations required and the time at which they should be made the fol- 

 lowing experiments were carried out at Bentonville and Gravette, 

 Ark. : 



SPRAYING EXPERIMENTS AT BENTONVILLE. ARK. 



In the orchard of Mrs. Sneed, at Bentonville, a block of eighteen- 

 year-old Ben Davis trees which were badly affected with the disease 

 the previous year and which are said to have never been sprayed before 

 was divided into seven plots of six trees each and sprayed with Bor- 

 deaux mixture. Twelve trees were selected as checks and left un- 

 treated. The crop, including windfalls, from three trees in each plot 

 and from six check trees was sorted with reference to blotch into 

 diseased and sound fruit and the apples in each class counted. The 

 treatment given and the results from each plot are presented in 

 Table I. 



Table I. — Results of experiments for the control of apple blotch on Ben Davis 

 trees, Bentonville, Ark., 1907. 



Plot numbers i 3 trees of each 



Trea 



tment with Bordeaux 



mixture 



Fruit picked September 12 

 to 19. 



plot). 



(5-5-50 formula). 



Sound 

 fruit. 



Blotched fruit. 



1 



Apr. 

 Apr. 

 Apr. 

 Apr. 



27 

 27 

 27 

 27 



May 22 



May 22 

 May 22 



June 15 

 June 15 



July 5 



Number. 

 4, 056 

 3,008 

 4.292 

 4,837 

 1,242 

 2,169 

 1,403 

 1,103 



Number. 



208 



115 



606 



595 



2, 705 



4,237 



3,346 



10,235 



Per cent. 

 4.9 



2 



3.7 



3 





12.5 



4 



June 15 

 June 15 

 June 15 



July 5 



July 5 

 July 5 

 July 5 



11.0 



5 



May 22 



68.5 



6 



66.1 



7 





70. 5 



8, check (6 trees) , no treatment . 











90.3 















In studying this table it should be remembered that the season was 

 a month earlier than normal and that April 27, the date of the first 

 application, corresponds to about May 27 of the previous year, both 

 dates being respectively about a month after the petals had fallen. 

 Moreover, it should be borne in mind that .the weather turned dry 

 about the middle of June, after which the rainfall was very light, so 



a r. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin 283, pp. 17-1S. 

 144 



