igii 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 4j 



moth, together with most 

 other insects which may hap- 

 pen to be wintering upon the 

 trees. It is also a good fun- 

 gicide. If applied in the fall 

 it is nearly or quite equal to 

 bordeaux as a preventive of 

 apple tree anthracnose. and 

 applied to peach trees just 

 before the buds open in the 

 spring it is a preventive of 

 the peach leaf curl. 



As a summer spra3\ the 

 results of the past four sea- 

 sons' work at the Oregon 

 Experiment Station prove 

 conclusively that when prop- 

 erly diluted it can be safely 

 used upon the apple, pear, 

 plum and prune, potato, cel- 

 ery and other hardy plants, 

 and that it gives much better 

 results in controlling apple 

 scab than does bordeaux, 

 which has been the standard 

 spray for this disease, and, 

 further, that it is much less 

 likely to cause the disastrous 

 "spray injury"' to fruit and 

 foliage, which is so common, 

 and often serious, when bor- 

 deaux is used. 



Preparation of Lime-Sulphur — The 

 "stock solution" method of preparing 

 lime-sulphur is now most generally used 

 in this state. A number of brands of 

 commercial solutions which have only to 

 be diluted with w-ater to be ready for 

 use are now offered for sale, and careful 

 experiments extending over several sea- 

 sons have demonstrated that these sprays 

 are fully equal to the old home-made 

 lime-sulphur spray. 



The chief fault to be found w-ith these 

 commercial preparations is that they cost 

 too much. The retail price is $7 to $10 

 per barrel of fifty gallons. The lime 

 and sulphur necessary to prepare fifty 

 gallons of stock -solution, which is 

 equall}' as efficient, costs at present retail 

 prices approximately $3. It may be pre- 

 pared as follows: Sulphur (best fine 

 ground), one sack, one hundred and ten 

 pounds; lime (best grade, unslaked), 

 sixty pounds; water sufficient to make 

 sixty gallons. Slake the lime, mix the 

 sulphur into a thin paste with a little 

 water, add it to the lime, add sufficient 

 water to make all told sixty gallons; 

 bring it to a boil and boil vigorously for 

 thirty to forty-five minutes, stirring con- 

 stantly. The sediment is then allowed 

 to settle, after which the clear, amber- 

 colored liquid is drawn of? and may be 

 stored in tanks for future use. 



Every grower who expects to prepare 

 his own spray by the stock solution 

 method should provide himself with a 

 Beaume's acid scale hydrometer. Such 

 an instrument, which should not cost 

 over one dollar, furnishes a very simple 

 and convenient method of testing the 

 strength of the solution. Having thus 

 determined the strength of any commer- 

 cial or home-made stock solution it may 

 be diluted for winter or summer use 

 according to the following table, i. e.: 

 If stock solution tests 29 degrees for 



Cotyiglit IQio by R. M. Kcllo 



STRAWBERRY FIELD OF GLEX MARY, WILLIAM BELT AND DORXAX 



G. A. FRIEXD, ZOAR, OHIO 



Company. Three Rivers, Michigan 

 BERRIES GROWX BY 



winter spray use one gallon to nine and 

 ^ half gallons of water; for summer 

 spray use one gallon to twenty-nine gal- 

 lons of water. If stock solution tests 

 31 degrees for w-inter spray use one gal- 

 lon to eleven gallons of water, or for 

 summer spray one gallon to thirty-one 

 gallons of water. 



Stock Solution 



Winter 

 Dilution 



32° Beaume scale 1 — 12 



31° Beaume scale 1 — 11 



30° Beaume scale 1^10 



29° Beaume scale 1 — 9% 



2S° Beaume scale 1 — 9 



27° Beaume scale 1 — 8% 



26° Beaume scale .1 — S 



25° Beaume scale 1 — 7% 



24° Beaume scale 1 — 7 



23° Beaume scale 1 — 6% 



22° Beaume scale 1 — 6 



Suuimer 

 Dilution 

 1—32 

 1—31 

 1—30 

 1—29 

 1—28 

 1—27 

 1 — 26 

 1 — 25 

 1 — 24 

 1—23 

 1 — 22 



General directions as to how many 

 times to spray and when the applications 

 should be made are at best unsatisfac- 

 tory. The answer to both questions 

 depends not only upon the variety of 

 fruit to be sprayed, but also upon the 

 conditions prevailing in the orchard to 

 be sprayed, and the relative importance 

 of the orchard crops to other crops. The 

 orchardist can afford to do more spra}-- 

 ing than can the farmer, but usually 

 obtains satisfactory results with fewer 

 applications — first, because he is ordi- 

 narily better equipped for the work and 

 has a better knowledge of why he spra^^s. 

 and. second, because his orchard is usu- 

 ally less serious!}' infested owing to the 

 better care it has received. 



An almost universal practice in this 

 state — and a good one — is to spraj' the 

 orchard, whatever the kind of fruit, with 

 lime-sulphur at some time when the 

 trees are dormant. While this applica- 

 tion is made primarily for San Jose scale 

 we believe there is no other which has 

 such a generall}' beneficial result. It 

 is the annual "house- cleaning" of the 

 orchards. 



The best time for this winter spraying 

 is immediately- after the leaves drop in 

 fall — even before they are all of¥ — or 

 just before the buds open in spring. 

 Personally we w'ould prefer the latter 

 were the orchard seriously infested with 

 San Jose scale, the former were it badly 

 infested with anthracnose. 



It should be noted, however, that since 

 the introduction of the use of lime-sul- 

 phur as a spring and early fall spray for 

 apple scab and apple tree anthracnose 

 that there is much less need for winter 

 applications. In fact w'henever the 

 spring and fall application of lime-sul- 

 phur are made, all w-inter spraying may 

 be omitted, except in the case of orchards 

 which have been badly neglected. 



In the following pages w^e have briefly 

 outlined the applications which would be 

 advisable in a theoretical orchard which 

 is supposed to be infested with all of the 

 important pests which are known to 

 occur in the state. In practice it will be 

 rare, indeed, that 3.ny orchard will need 

 all the sprayings indicated, but about all 

 that we can do is to outline a theoretical 

 number of sprayings and to reiterate the 

 suggestion which was made at the begin- 

 ning, that "it is of prime importance 

 that every fruit grower should know 

 what diseases and insects are prevalent 

 in his district and be able to recog- 

 nize them. " 



It is advisable to spray a young apple 

 orchard twice each year for the purpose 

 of preventing any insect pests or diseases 

 from becoming established. First, spray 

 with lime-sulphur, summer strength, at 

 the time when bearing trees are just 

 coming into bloom. (Corresponds to the 

 first scab spraj- for bearing trees.) If 

 aphids are troublesome, add black leaf or 

 black leaf 40, according to formula given 

 above. Second, spray shortly after the 

 fall rains begin, or about the first of 

 Continued on page 48 



