68 
Januarj 21, 
to do this cleanly, and as two or three mummies were 
enough to infect an orchard, the laugh was generally 
with the mummy. 
Spraying the dormant tree with the commercial 
lime-sulphur was all right for controlling the San 
Jose scale, but did not so much as ruffle the beard 
of the fungus, which at that time was not aboard the 
tree at all. A later desperate spraying of the full¬ 
leaved tree with this mixture would certainly smite 
the rot a deathblow, but unfortunately it was quite 
as certain to result in defoliation. The powerful in¬ 
secticide and fungicide compounds formed by boiling 
slaked lime and flowers of sulphur have a fatally 
caustic effect upon the delicate foliage of the peach. 
The Bordeaux Mixture was, of course, out of the 
question, since it has a peculiarly poisonous action on 
peach foliage. So for many years Mr. Scott’s work 
was most unpromising and discouraging. After try¬ 
ing about all the combinations of sulphur and lime he 
finally picked up the self-boiled mixture which had 
been discredited as a treatment for scale for the rea¬ 
son that the heat of slaking lime only dissolved about 
seven per cent of the sulphur added, and this was 
insufficient to loosen the scale, which is crusted firmly 
on the trees. In his experiments Mr. Scott had 
reached the conclusion that the excess of caustic 
sulphids in the boiled mixture caused the injuries to 
the foliage, and he turned as a last resort to the ex¬ 
pedient of self-boiling as bringing into solution a 
minimum percentage of sulphur. The results were 
gratifying. The new spray not only did not de¬ 
foliate the tree, but on the contrary improved the 
condition and appearance of the leaf and fruit. After 
three seasons of field work in commercial orchards 
Mr. Scott has developed a final formula and method 
for making this spray effective. Eight pounds of 
lime are put into a barrel and enough water is 
poured in to cover it. As soon as the lime begins 
to slake eight pounds of flowers or flour of sulphur 
are added. The mixture must be stirred constantly 
and more water poured in until the lime is well slaked, 
then the bulk of the water is added to cool the mix¬ 
ture and to check further boiling. In all about 50 
gallons of water are necessary to this proportion of 
sulphur and lime. Before spraying the mixture must 
be strained to remove the coarse particles of lime, 
but the sulphur is worked through. The theory of the 
action of this mixture is that the free lime serves as 
a matrix to hold all the other elements together, that 
there are enough of the sticky sulphids to bind the 
solids to the fruit, branches and leaves, and that 
the free, finely divided sulphur deals correctively with 
the fungus. But, while the exact nature of the fungi¬ 
cidal action is a mystery, the effect is unmistakable 
and decisive. 
In the Spring of 1909 J. H. Hale offered the or¬ 
chard of the Hale Georgia Orchard Co., at Fort 
Valley, Ga., as a demonstration and proving ground 
for the spray. Experiments in 1907 had been made 
on small plots in Missouri, and the brown-rot con¬ 
trolled to 10 per cent of the crop. More experiments 
were made in 1908 in Georgia, Arkansas and Illinois, 
these involving orchards in several localities aggre¬ 
gating about 2,000 trees. The demonstration in Mr. 
Hale’s orchard established the complete and convinc¬ 
ing proof of the economic value of the discovery. 
While this great orchard had had the best of care 
and was otherwise in perfect condition, it had in 
recent years become so infested with brown-rot that 
in 1908 the crop was largely lost. Two other enemies 
of the peach, close allies of the rot, had lent evil 
hands to encompass the ruin of the orchard, namely, 
the. scab and the plum curculio. The former is also 
a fungus and is popularly known as ‘‘freckles,” a 
name descriptive of the black spots it causes on the 
fruit. It is not so malignant a malady as the rot, 
but serves as an accessory by cracking and spotting 
the peach, thus giving the deadlier fungus an entrance. 
The scab on its own account depreciates the value of 
a crop at least 25 per cent, and in some localities 
where brown-rot is not so prevalent it is considered 
by growers as their worst enemy. The curculio beetle 
damages the fruit by puncturing the skin for the pur¬ 
pose of laying its eggs within. After laying the eggs 
it cuts a crescent-shaped wound about the puncture to 
prevent the growth of the peach from crushing the 
eggs before they hatch. The larvae upon hatching 
proceed to bore inward to the stone, where they feed 
until the period of pupation, when they emerge and 
drop to the ground, as likewise does the damaged 
peach. The worst crime of the beetle is in making 
the punctures that give the rot an “open sesame.” 
Mr. Scott and his chief assistant, Mr. Willard Ayres, 
conducted the spraying on large blocks of different 
varieties, comprising over 5,000 trees, while Mr. 
Hale’s force sprayed about 7,000 trees in their or¬ 
chard under the supervision of the two scientific men. 
Plots of trees were selected, the trees on them counted 
and sprayed, while next adjoining a sprayed plot an¬ 
other was left unsprayed. Two applications were 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
made, one about a month after the petals dropped and 
again three weeks before the fruit ripened. At pick¬ 
ing time the entire crop, including dropped fruit, was 
counted on five average trees in each plot. On the 
sprayed plot it was found that 17 per cent was affected 
with brown-rot, and that in 93 per cent of the rotting 
fruit infection had been admitted by curculio punc¬ 
tures. The scab was, from the commercial standpoint, 
completely controlled. On the unsprayed plot 49.5 
per cent of the fruit was found to be affected with 
rot, and 91.5 per cent with scab; 81 per cent of rot 
infection had come about through curculio punctures. 
The figures themselves were very satisfactory to Mr. 
Hale, but there was another cause for gratification 
in the increased size and color and generally better 
merchantable condition of the sprayed fruit. The com¬ 
mercial results of the spraying were determined by 
counting the marketable fruit on 500 trees out of 
each plot. The sprayed plot yielded 170 crates, the 
unsprayed SO. Thus was nearly a quietus given to 
the brown-rot. The curculio was the main factor to 
be faced now. As Mr. Scott writes: “The plum 
curculio punctures the skin of a certain percentage 
of the fruit and admits the fungus in spite of all the 
spraying that can be done.” 
In cooperation with Mr. A. L. Quaintance, of the 
Bureau of Entomology, some experiments were made 
of first spraying with arsenate of lead just as the 
calyces were shedding, and again in about three weeks 
with the self-boiled lime-sulphur plus two pounds of 
arsenate of lead added to the formula. The success 
was brilliant. Only 4.5 per cent of the fruit showed 
brown-rot, 6.5 per cent had slight traces of the scab, 
and about 27.5 per cent were curculio punctured. On 
the unsprayed plot 63 per cent was rotted, 99 per cent 
was scabby, and 97 per cent wormy from curculio. The 
sprayed block yielded 327 crates of first class fruit 
while the unsprayed block contributed only 33 crates, 
all of which was poor in quality. In the New York 
market the sprayed fruit brought $2 per crate as 
compared with $1.50 per crate for the best of the un¬ 
sprayed. Also all the sprayed fruit was sold before 
anv of the unsprayed, showing the impression made 
upon the buyers by the difference in the appearance 
of the two classes. The cost of spraying, including 
four treatments, one with arsenate of lead alone, one 
with the arsenate plus lime-sulphur, and two with 
lime-sulphur alone was about six cents per tree. 
Massachusetts. Robert a. sanborn. 
CORN GROWING IN ILLINOIS. 
I raised 90 bushels of corn to the acre this year, 
and did not try very hard, either. I do not mean 90 
bushels of ears, but 90 bushels at 70 pounds to the 
bushel. Western farmers do not know* anything 
about estimating corn yields by the bushels or bar¬ 
rels of ears. Dealers, when they accept corn direct 
from the field at “shucking time,” allow 80, 75 or 
70 pounds to the bushel, according to the amount of 
“sap” which the grain contains. Occasionally, with a 
favorable season, and a moderately quick maturing 
variety, they are offered corn which they can figure at 
70 pounds to the bushel. This year, owing to the 
low price offered, nearly all the farmers held their 
corn. The price has remained at a standstill, and 
owing to the heavy crop, the greater part of which is 
still in the hands of the growers, they begin to fear 
they will be obliged to accept a low price. The crop 
is usually shelled right on the farm, and the grain 
dealers allow 56 pounds to the bushel when delivered 
off the cob. 
A man does not find any difficulty here in raising 
from 60 to 120 bushels of corn to the acre if he uses 
careful, up-to-date methods, and the season is favor¬ 
able. But when it comes to making more, clear profit 
per acre than his brother farmer back East—that is 
a different proposition. If I wanted to make a spe¬ 
cialty of growing apples, I would go to New York 
State, Washington, Oregon, or any place where the 
conditions were most favorable. If I wanted to do 
a little of many things—dairying, poultry, fruit grow¬ 
ing, and mixed farming, surely the East is a good 
place, with its cheap land and excellent, near-by 
markets. But if I wanted to raise corn on a large 
scale, I don't think I should look farther than cen¬ 
tral Illinois, with its naturally rich soil, its season 
of hot days and warm nights, during June and July, 
and its usually cool, dry, crisp weather in October, 
at ripening time. We have no rocks to contend with. 
You can look all over a thousand acres of our 
broad, gently rolling or level praire land, and not 
find a stone to throw at a bird. Most fields contain 
40 or 80 acres, and in plowing, cultivating, and gather¬ 
ing the crop, the team travels a quarter of a mile 
before it turns. A few years ago one man and two 
horses were expected to care for 40 acres of corn; 
now one man and four horses (sometimes three), with 
gang or sulky plow and two-row cultivator, puts in 
and “tends” 80 acres. Illinois this year raised its av¬ 
erage to 39 bushels per acre. Remember, there is 
much poor land in our State, and the localities where 
it exists keep down the average. Central Illinois 
farmers are learning better methods, and the young 
generation of farmers has already commenced to re¬ 
pair the damage done by their fathers, and are putting 
back some of the lost humus and fertility that will in 
a few years push the average yield of corn, as well 
as of other crops higher and higher. Our State ex¬ 
periment station, our farmers’ institutes, and the agri¬ 
cultural press, are all pressing fundamental truths 
home, and they are finding lodgment in minds ripe 
and ready for them. Adjoining my place is a farm 
of over 200 acres, operated by the enterprising son 
of the owner. Last week I saw his manure spreader 
going back and forth across a large field, leaving 
behind it a grey swath of rock phosphate, to be turned 
under with the clover. Several carloads of “floats” 
have been used in the past few years in this neigh¬ 
borhood. Our land is not worn out—this phosphate 
has gone on some of the best farms to be found here. 
Their owners are simply enterprising, and are tak¬ 
ing means not only to keep them among the best, but 
gradually to make them better. Forty bushels of 
wheat to the acre is now becoming common, and 
large yields of all grain crops is the ambition of our 
most intelligent farmers. They will not be satisfied 
with ordinary yields any longer, while gradually de¬ 
creasing averages will not be tolerated at all. 
Macon Co., Ill. J. c. nicholls. 
R. N.-Y.—Many reports of large yields of corn 
prove to be based on a pretty loose way of estimating. 
The truest method is the plan followed at the New 
England Corn Show of figuring the yield of “crib-dry” 
shelled corn. “Crib-dry” means only 12 per cent of 
water, found by taking good-sized samples of the 
corn and analyzing it. The chemist does exactly what 
the western buyers guess at when they estimate the 
sap. 
WHERE GOVERNMENT TRIES TO REGU¬ 
LATE FRUIT PRODUCTION. 
The Greek currant is really a small grape. It has 
been grown in Greece since earliest times, and since 
the failure of the French vineyards in 1880 it is an 
important commercial product. The history of this 
business gives one of the most striking illustrations 
of an attempt by government to regulate a private 
industry. Under the stimulus of high prices the 
Greeks planted heavily and glutted the market. 
Strange to say little effort was made to increase the 
demand for the fruit. The government came in with 
an effort to cut off production. It forced each ex¬ 
porter to deposit in the government stores 10 to 15 
per cent of exports. These were sold by the gov¬ 
ernment for wine making. When the money from these 
sales reached a considerable figure the growers de¬ 
manded their share. A currant bank was established 
in 1889, with a capital of $750,000, required by law to 
make loans in money or its equivalent in sulphur. 
Growers accepted this plan and increased production 
to 180,000 tons. The 15 per cent retention was raised 
to 20 per cent, but even this proved insufficient to 
control and keep up prices. Then the Greek gov¬ 
ernment arranged with the currant bank to guarantee 
growers a fixed minimum price for currants. A loan 
was made to finance this scheme. This guaranteed 
price proved higher than the market price. The 
growers got the money and the bank had the fruit— 
and a loss of $400,000. Then they raised the reten¬ 
tion amount to 35 per cent. 
In 1905 “The Privileged Company” was organized 
with a 20-year charter. This company may retain 35 
per cent of the crop, a heavy tax on new areas put in 
currants and control of tariff and taxes on grapes. 
It is to guarantee fixed prices for currants. For con¬ 
cessions it has the right to collect $2.60 a ton on all 
currants raised, and it may have about 60 per cent 
of all the currants retained for its own use. There 
have been two great crops in succession which have 
nearly swamped this company. In 1910 a law was 
passed which aims to induce growers to pull out part 
of their vineyards! They are paid a fixed price for 
each quarter acre uprooted. 
All this will seem like a curious way to do busi¬ 
ness in this country, where the tendency is to in¬ 
crease production and keep on planting. Imagine 
Oregon or Washington passing laws to induce apple 
growers to cut down their orchards so as to shut off 
the output. The tendency here is to get out and find 
new markets for the goods. All these efforts to es¬ 
tablish prices by law by trying to control produc¬ 
tion are likely to break down. No doubt the world 
would consume twice the volume of Greek currants 
if the Greeks would start a campaign like that of the 
Apple Consumers’ League. 
According to Dr. Towell of the National Bureau of 
Plant Industry brown rot on peaches causes growers to 
lose .$5,000,000 annually, while peach scab causes an an¬ 
nual loss of $1,000,000. Let us spray. 
