June, 1917 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
157 
Notes on Spraying’. 
I Amount of Material: “About 
how much spray material will 
he required for one acre apple 
trees ten years planted, tops (i 
to 10 ft. in diameter?” 
(Answered by D. E. Bingham 
on basis of 75 trees.) 
To thoroughly spray 75 apple 
I trees of the size mentioned, 3 
s times, will require about five hun- 
I dred gallons of material if the 
trees are loaded with fruit ; if no 
fruit, three hundred gallons would 
do a good job. For the 300 gal- 
lons this would mean 24 lbs. eop- 
I per sulfate, 6 lbs. dry arsenate of 
lead and 30 lbs. fresh lime. 
Cost of material 
Copper Sulphate $3.00 
Arsenate 1.25 
Lime 50 
Total $4.75 
The dry Bordeaux sold in closed 
packages is seldom used by com- 
mercial growers but amateurs 
love it. The directions printed 
on the packages usually provide for 
mixing at least 5 gallons. A 
member has computed that 1 ounce 
is the proper amount for a gallon 
of water. 
Watch for the currant worm. 
We predict that this pest will be 
especially destructive this year. 
This voracious serpent usually be- 
gins operations on the inside 
branches, thus escaping notice 
until only the outer leaves are left. 
There are people who would 
give a billon or more for an appe- 
tite equal to that of the currant 
worm. 
Powdered white hellebore is 
good medicine. Use a heaping 
tablespoonful in a gallon of water. 
A whisk broom will answer for a 
sprayer. Hellebore left over from 
last year and kept in a paper sack 
on the top shelf of the pantry is 
not good, get a fresh supply. 
If tlie present dry spell (May 
18) continues a few days longer 
plums will get through the blos- 
soming season with little blossom 
blight. This destructive blight 
which so often kills all t lie bloom 
in seasons when rains are frequent 
is one manifestation of brown rot. 
sclerotinia fructigcna, affecting 
both the twigs and ripening fruit. 
A dormant spray is advisable fol- 
lowed by lime sulphur 1 to 35 or 
bordeaux 3-4-50 just as soon as 
the first blossoms begin to drop. 
An Omission. 
The supplement to the March 
number contains among other 
things a discussion of lime sulphur 
and a formula for dormant spray, 
one part commercial lime sulphur 
solution to eight parts water with 
the caution added that at this di- 
lution lime sulphur should not be 
used on growing plants. This is 
all very good so far as it goes but 
does not go far enough. Lime 
sulphur is now commonly used in 
place of Bordeaux for prevention — 
the different diseases of fruits and 
for this purpose one part of lime 
sulphur is used to thirty-five parts 
of water. 
Good Tillage and Artificial 
Watering. 
Proper tillage practices reduce 
to a minimum the necessity for 
applying water artificially, and 
in most cases should make artifi- 
cial watering unnecessary. At 
times, however, garden crops de- 
mand additional moisture to that 
naturally found in the soil. The 
methods of applying water are 
various, but all save the overhead 
irrigation system are faulty in 
one or more respects. If one is 
gardening permanently it will 
usually pay in the end to invest 
in an overhead system adapted to 
his needs. Such a system is com- 
paratively inexpensive. 
Water Gardens Intelligently. 
In any method of watering arti- 
ficially, certain precautions 
should be observed. Preferably, 
watering should be done in the 
late afternoon or evening. This 
avoids loss of moisture and in 
some cases, injury of the plants. 
It also permits the water to soak 
deeper into the soil before rapid 
evaporation takes place. 
Apply water liberally. Small, 
frequent applications are usually 
more injurious than beneficial. 
Enough should be put on to moist- 
en the soil during the operation 
to a depth of three to four inches, 
depending upon the method em- 
ployed. Its effects will extend 
somewhat below this by the fol- 
lowing morning. 
Placing the Soil Mulch. 
The soil mulch should be re-es- 
tablished just as soon as possible 
after watering. During the 
warmer weather and on the loamy 
types of soil this usually will 
mean the following morning, pro- 
viding the water has been distrib- 
uted evenly. If there are wet 
places, do not leave the tillage of 
the remainder of the garden un- 
til these are dry enough to work. 
Leave the wet places and till all 
the rest. 
Some are frequently deceived 
as regards the necessity for wa- 
tering by the wilting of plants. 
Wilting is not always an indica- 
tion of deficient soil moisture. 
Wilting is quite likely to occur on 
a bright day following a period 
of damp, hot weather, even 
though there be abundant moist- 
ure in the soil. Adding water at 
this time is not only unnecessary, 
but may even be detrimental. 
