PHOTOENOlCQ 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 4, 1908 
A 25-YEAR ORCHARD WITH SCALE. 
Would You Buy and Clean It? 
With your experience as a guide would you be willing to 
buy a 25-year-old apple orchard badly infested with San 
•Tose scale, expecting to refit if and make it profitable? As 
compared with a similar orchard entirely free from scale 
what would you call the “scaly’’ orchard worth? 
Yes; If Trees Are Vigorous. 
It would depend very largely upon the condition 
of the trees aside from the scale. If the trees 
are vigorous and strong I would expect to “refit it and 
make it profitable,” but on the other hand if the trees 
show decay and much dead wood I would not con¬ 
sider it a good investment so /ar as the trees arc 
concerned. My experience has been that when a tree 
is badly infested, showing many dead branches and 
loss of vigor, as some of them do, it is my opinion 
that such an orchard is of little value except for fire 
wood. On the other hand if the trees are strong 
and vigorous (as some of them are) I would con¬ 
sider it of more value than some orchards of the 
same age that bore no scale; that is to say, 1 do 
not think tiie scale would prevent the orchard from 
being a profitable one in the future, provided it was 
taken in hand at once and properly treated. It de¬ 
pends very much upon the party owning the orchard 
in question. As to the difference in value between 
an orchard badly infested with scale and one free 
from it, perhaps it would depend very largely on 
the difference in the expense in the treatment of the 
two orchards, as I am of the opinion that the scaly 
orchard treated would, in a year or two, produce as 
much and as good fruit as the one that had no scale. 
I would say in this connection that I know of an 
orchard -to years old that 
has had scale on it for the 
past eight years and it has 
increased from year to year 
until last year, the owner 
told me that one-half of the 
fruit was so covered with 
the scale that it was good 
only for cider. T have been 
much interested in this 
orchard and persuaded the 
owner to get a gasoline 
power sprayer and give the 
trees a good coating of sul¬ 
phur and lime. The result 
was that this year he had a 
very fine crop of apples and 
it was almost impossible to 
find an apple with a scale 
on it. This orchard was in¬ 
spected by an expert and he 
found the trees in the same 
condition. This orchard has 
been treated during the past 
year but the treatment has 
not been thorough. There 
is no reason why this 
orchard will not produce 
first-class fruit for many 
years to come, provided it is 
properly treated. 
There will, no doubt, be 
much difference of opinion 
in regard to this question. 
What I have said is based OL 
on an experience of more 
than 15 years in fighting the troublesome San Jose scale. 
New York. l. l. morrell. 
Quite Possible to Clean Up. 
I think it quite possible to clean up a 25-year old 
orchard, provided the trees are not seriously injured. 
If there is much dead wood it would spoil the looks 
of the trees for a while, hut even then they will 
outgrow it, always provided that they have proper 
care. 
In regard to the value of two orchards, one with 
scale and the other without, the difference will de- 
GKA NDMOTl lEU’S CHRISTMAS ON THE FA KM. Fi(i. 1. 
pend on the location of the orchard free from scale. 
Supposing, of course, that they are of equally val¬ 
uable varieties, if the clean orchard is located in 
territory free from scale I would consider it worth 
one-lhird more than the infested one. If, however, 
valuable piece of property. We have just done 
something of the kind ourselves in a small block 
of 54 York Imperial trees, 10 years older than your 
imaginary orchard and, therefore, taller and more diffi¬ 
cult to spray. We do not claim to have absolutely 
eradicated the scale. It is probably impossible to do 
that on trees as old as these ■ because of the great 
difficulty in reaching every spot and particularly in 
our case, as we are just across the fence from a 
badly infested orchard which has not been sprayed. 
However, the fact that we have tripled the yields and 
returns in four years speaks for itself and we cer¬ 
tainly would not hesitate to undertake to duplicate the 
job, having, of course, our own selection of apparatus 
and materials. I am at a loss what estimate to place 
on the difference in value between a “scaly” orchard 
and the same plot free from scale. A situation as 
bad as you suggest would call for severe measures 
and practically no returns for the first year. Vitality 
and thrift would have to be restored in addition tm 
killing the scale. In fact, the matter of counteract¬ 
ing the past evil effects is worse than killing the 
present living insects. The matter of variety would 
also cut some figure. Some kinds are more difficult 
to handle than others, because of a lower vitality or 
because they offer a more congenial breeding ground 
for the scale, or both. In fact, some varieties with 
which I have had no experience might not respond 
to any treatment when so seriously infested. The loca¬ 
tion of the clean orchard would also affect the value— 
if situated near others that are “scaly,” we would not 
think of omitting to spray as a preventive, because 
under these conditions it is absolutely impossible to 
know that your trees are not infested to some extent 
and it does not take long 
for some scale to mean a 
whole lot. If the “scaly” 
orchard lies among others 
of a like nature, and the 
clean orchard entirely re¬ 
moved from danger of in¬ 
festation, all other things, 
such as soil, varieties, 
markets, etc., being abso¬ 
lutely equal, I would con¬ 
sider 100 per cent to be a 
conservative estimate of the 
disparity in value. If the 
probability of infes tation 
surrounds the 
as well as < 
fested, the di 
probably not ij 
half as much, 
conditions first met? 
were reversed there woil 
in my opinion, be but lit^J 
difference and that lay 
a matter of vitality 
other physical conc]^ 
the trees. ej 
Pennsylvania^ 
D AGE ON THE EAST SIDE OE NEW YORK. Fig. 2, 
it is in infested territory the difference in value would 
not be nearly so much, as it will only be a short 
time before the scale will reach it. F. W. v. 
Clean vs. Scaly Trees. 
I take it for granted that your question implies 
that, but for the scale, the orchard would be a 
Opinion 
1 to go n 
herd that 
or one, i 
vc-^Bj 
fl 
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