jpl I 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 



SPRAYING FOR CURCULIO AND CODLING MOTH 



BY ESTES P. TAYLOR, MISSOURI STATE FRUIT EXPERIMENT STATION, MOUNTAIN GROVE MISSOURI. Continued from February Number 



IN the -table accompanying this arti- 

 cle is shown in detail the actual 

 cost of material and application per 

 tree in plat 2, which was sprayed three 

 times at dates as indicated before. The 

 actual cost is also expressed in terms 

 of cost per acre on a basis of sixty-five 

 trees per acre. The first application was 

 one of arsenate of lead with the addition 

 of a weak bordeaux mixture, and the 

 two following sprays were of arsenate 

 of lead alone: 



It will be seen that the first spray, 

 when a coarse nozzle was used and the 

 trees drenched, required a great deal 

 more liquid than the two following ones. 

 At the first application the average cost 

 per tree for material was 4.9 cents, or 

 $3.19 per acre. The cost of material and 

 labor per tree was 8.76 cents, which 

 brought the combined cost of the treat- 

 ment to $5.70 per acre. For the second 

 application, when a mist spray was used, 

 and less material applied, the combined 

 cost of material and labor was $3.63 per 

 acre, or only about one-half the expense 

 of the first spray. The total cost of the 

 third application was $2.64 per acre. This 

 brought the total expense of the three 

 sprays in plat 2 to a trifle less than 17 

 cents per tree, or $10.97 per acre. 



A comparison of this cost of spraying, 

 with the direct profit secured, is of inter- 

 est at this time. As stated, many of the 

 Ingram trees in this plat were much 

 undersized for their age, and the yield 

 was correspondingly light. Some were 

 overcrowded so much that the fruit was 

 undersized, while others bore only a few 

 apples; the latter, however, requiring 

 their full quota of spray. The average 

 yield of picked fruit in this plat for the 

 trees bearing fruit was a trifle under two 

 bushels per tree , which, at sixty-five 

 trees per acre, yielded 130 bushels per 

 acre. 77.9% of these were No. ], which. 



at $1.32 per bushel, brought $133.72 per 

 acre. The balance, at 66 cents per 

 bushel, brought $18.94, or a total of 

 $152.66 per acre gross. As shown in 

 Table VII, the financial returns for the 

 crop in plat 2 were exactly doubled by 

 reason of the sprays given. After deduct- 

 ing $10.97 per acre as the cost of the 

 spraying, a ngt cash profit by virtue of 

 was secured. This means that 

 for every dollar expended for 

 spraying after the plan followed 

 in plat 2 seven dollars was saved 

 in the price secured for the fruit. 

 These results were secured uprm 

 trees which bore but two bushels 

 of fruit per tree. Upon larger 

 trees yielding heavily it is not 

 unlikely that the profit from 

 such spraying would have ex- 

 ceeded the cost of the spraying 

 ten or twenty fold. The profit.'= 

 accruing in this instance, though 

 yield of the trees was so light, 

 was found to be sufficient upon 

 a twenty-acre tract in one year 

 to pay for a $300 gasoline power 

 spray outfit and leave more than 

 a thousand dollars clear gain besides. 

 Upon orchards bearing as much as 500 

 bushels per acre of high priced fruit the 

 ratio of profit from such a scheme of 

 treatment would make this estimate seem 

 inaccurate from its conservativeness. 



So much has been written about the 

 relation of codling moth spraying and 

 the calyx cup that it is probable that 

 most fruit growers are already aware of 

 its importance. Since a very high per 

 cent of the codling moth worms enter 

 the apples at the blossom end it is 

 highly important that the calj^x be filled 

 with spray so that the worm may be 

 poisoned as it takes its first meal. But 

 since only about a week elapses between 

 variety may be lengthened to ten days. 



the dropping of the petals from the 

 bloom and the closing together of the 

 sepal tips over the calyx cavity, the time 

 allotted for such sprays is indeed lim- 

 ited. Again, the climatic conditions of 

 some seasons shorten this period in 

 which spraying for any one variety may 

 be done sometimes to five days, or the 

 period in other seasons for the same 



W. H. BURKE 

 Secretary and Treasurer of 

 R. M. Kellogg Company 

 Three Rivers, Michigan 



FRANK E. BEATTY 

 President and Manager of 

 R. M. Kellogg Company 

 Three Rivers, Michigan 



I'KOl'ER MKTllOI) OF 1 1 EEEI .XGI .\ S t U AW MERRY PLA.X'IS 

 V \'-shapcd trench in the shade. Set the bunches in the trench with the 



l'"irst make a furriju ur \'-shapcd trench in the shade. Set the bunches in the trench with the crowns jusi above 

 the top of the trench, as shown in Figure 1, allowing the tijjs of the roots to reach down toward the bottom of the 

 trencli, then with a knife cut the strings that bind the bunches and spread the plants, as shown in F'igure being 

 careful the roots are well spread, so the soil will come in contact unifr)rmly with all the roots. Now fill in the trench, 

 pressing the soil firmly against the roots as you fill it in. W hen completed your plant should look as shown in Figure 3. 

 Should weather conditions indicate freezing, cover lightly with straw. 



The Jonathan retains its petals longer 

 than some varieties, but closes the 

 calyces rather quickly, while Yellow 

 Transparent and Ingram retain an open 

 calyx over a relatively long period, and 

 so allow more time for spraying. Pears, 

 which are infested by codling moth less 

 seriously than apples, keep their calyces 

 open much longer — in some varieties 

 never becoming entirely closed. 



Some seasons there is a difference of 

 ten days or two weeks between the open- 

 ing of blossoms of early blooming varie- 

 ties, such as Early Harvest or Jonathan, 

 and the first flowers on late blooming- 

 varieties, such as Rome Beauty, Geniton 

 or Ingram. In orchards of mixed varie- 

 ties the early blooming ones must, there- 

 fore, be sprayed first. The 

 time, in such cases, in which 

 the first spraying could be 

 done would be lengthened, 

 and more work could be done 

 with a single spraying appar- 

 atus than when the orchard 

 consisted of only one \'ariety. 

 It is evident, therefore, that 

 the fruit grower must make 

 a close study of the blooming- 

 periods of varieties in his 

 orchard and make his esti- 

 mates accordingly on the 

 time allotted in which this 

 spra}'ing- may be done. He 

 must then provide apparatus 

 sufficient to thi-)roughly spra\' 

 the orcliaril within this lim- 

 ited lime. 



Examinations of apple blos- 

 soms show other details bear- 

 ing upon this important first 

 spray. The central or termi- 

 nal bud in each fruit cluster 

 is norn-ially the first one to 

 iipeii its bloom. From it the 

 petals are first dropped, and 

 it is generally these central 



