THE VIRGINIA EXPERIMENTS. 17 
the process. This is of the utmost importance if the contagion is to be 
stopped.” They also state that **the disease can be kept in check 
during the summer by repeated applications of Bordeaux mixture.” In 
a paper read before a meeting of the Hlinois State Horticultural Society, 
Burrill “ reports experiments conducted in three counties of southern 
Illinois, showing that the disease yielded to applications of Bordeaux 
mixture. The results of these experiments indicate especially the 
importance of early spraying. 
Reporting upon two years’ experiments, von Schrenk and Spaul- 
ding? state that ‘‘to a certain extent, varying from 10 to 75 per cent, 
Bordeaux mixture surely does prevent the ravages of the bitter-rot.” 
They also strongly recommend the removal of diseased fruits, mum- 
mies, and limb cankers. 
THE VIRGINIA EXPERIMENTS. 
The orchard of Mr. W. H. Goodwin, in which the experiments were 
conducted, is situated on a spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Nelson 
County, about 5 miles south of Afton. This and the adjacent county 
of Albemarle have long been famous for their production of the 
Yellow Newtown (or Albemarle Pippin) apples, some trees of which 
are 100 years old and still thriving. This variety is not subject to 
serious injury from apple scab, nor does it suffer materially from the 
leaf-spot diseases, and until the advent of bitter-rot magnificent crops 
were secured in this section without spraying. 
Mr. Goodwin’s orchard has a northern exposure, with an elevation 
of from 1,000 feet on the lower side to about 1,250 feet at the upper 
side. The land is very steep, having an incline of almost forty-five 
degrees in some places, and an extra man with a lever is required in 
spraying to prevent the wagon from upsetting. The soil is dark 
brown, almost black, deep, and fertile, such as is known throughout 
that section as ‘“‘pippin” soil. The stones that almost completely 
covered the ground have been piled up in windrows, and a deep furrow 
has been plowed between the tree rows in which to run the upper 
wheels of the spray-wagon, to avoid turning over. Above the middle 
of the orchard is a spring with a flow of five to eight gallons a minute, 
which affords an ample supply of water for spraying purposes. 
The bearing orchard is composed of about 800 trees of Yellow New- 
town 18 to 23 years old, 500 Winesaps 8 to 23 years old, and 200 York 
Imperials 8 years old. There are also a number of young trees not 
yet in bearing. Mr. Goodwin states that the original forest was 
removed and the trees planted the second year after clearing, and 
that, as a rule, crops of corn or tobacco were grown between the rows 
Burrill, T. J. Experiments in Spraying for Bitter-Rot. Trans. Ill. State Hort. 
Soc., 1902, 54-66. 
> Bul. 44, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture, 1903, pp. 38-4. 
