Gbe national nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK 
Copyrighted 1909 by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated. 
Vol. XVII. ROCHESTER, N. Y., MARCH, 1909 No. 3 
PROGRESS IN SPRAYING STEADY AND CONTINUOUS. 
Knowledge Develops Confidence. 
The year 1908, has seen a steady and probably perma¬ 
nent extension of the practice of controlling plant parasites 
by applying preventive remedies. It has seen some 
important tendencies more or less outlined in reference to 
the kind of remedy used and the method of applying it. 
There has been notable change also in the character of the 
discussions which hinge upon this subject, and are more or 
less animated at our fruit growers organizations. Formerly 
we discussed the strength of Bordeaux mixture and the 
proper proportion of Paris Green to be used with it. Now 
we are inclined to discuss combinations of sprays which will 
destroy sucking insects as well as act as fungicides. We no 
longer fear or dread the ordinary leaf-eating insect. This 
enemy is readily controlled. 
The evidence of the year leads to an increase of confi¬ 
dence in our ability to successfully control San Jose Scale. 
While it is an unwelcome and a much-disliked pest, yet it is 
no longer the dread enemy that it was. 
This restoration of confidence is due almost wholly to 
our greater faith in the efficiency of spraying methods. 
Specifically it may be credited to our knowledge of the 
killing effects of lime and sulphur and the miscible oils 
when properly applied for sucking insects. 
Another feature of the year’s work has been the use of 
the lime and sulphur as a summer wash and the strong 
indications that its range of usefulness may be greatly 
widened by our ability to use it in summer as well as winter. 
Miscible oils are also becoming more popular in their home¬ 
made as well as proprietary forms. 
In the North-west, the fight of the year has not been so 
much against' San Jose scale, as against the codling moth, 
and the indications are that a closer study of the habits of 
this insect will lead growers to find that they can control 
it by a single, or at most two sprayings, instead of the five 
or six as formerly in vogue. 
The year notes the introduction of power spraying outfits 
in increasing numbers. These are coming more and more 
into general use. The kind of gasoline pump that one 
should buy is about as indefinite as the kind of automobile 
that one should purchase. Each make has it own strong 
advocates, and there seems to be no clearly defined and 
underlying principle which will guide the purchaser, other 
than efficiency and durability. There is perhaps a tendency 
on the part of some manufacturers who know little about 
the needs of the orchardist to put into the market engines 
which are poorly constructed and which in the long run will 
bring more dissatisfaction than anything else. The power 
is an important factor in spraying. We are glad to present 
our readers in this issue with the latest on this important 
subject of the control of the parasites which attack orchard 
and nursery products. 
LEAF BLISTER MITE ON THE APPLE. 
This insect has taken the chief place of prominence in 
the minds of orchardists of western New York and certain 
parts of New England and Pennsylvania during the past 
three or four years. New York Experiment Station has 
made a study of the best means of controlling the insect. 
It causes brownish blisters to appear on the under side of 
the apple leaf, and in severe cases brings about the early fall 
of the foliage. 
Bulletin No. 306 of the New York State Experiment 
Station says that “the most susceptible time to treat this 
insect is during the late fall when the majority of leaves have 
dropped, or during the spring before the new foliage ap¬ 
pears.’’ It further says that orchards which are regularly 
sprayed with sulphur or oil emulsions are not subject to 
injuries by the mite. Tests with lime-sulphur and miscible 
oils gave satisfactory results when the application was 
properly made. The author, Prof. Parrott, recommends 
that the affected trees be sprayed with the sulphur wash as 
the buds are swelling and before the leaves appear, and that 
this be followed by the usual second and third application 
of Bordeaux mixture in their proper season. .Such treat¬ 
ment will not only control the enemy, but rid the orchard of 
his presence. 
WHITE STAR PEAR. 
The editorial office of the National Nurseryman is 
recently in receipt of a sample of the White Star Pear being 
introduced by the Spring Hill Nurseries, Peter Bohlender 
& Sons, Tippecanoe City, Ohio. The specimen received is 
of medium size, regular pyriform, dull green in color; the 
flesh is yellowish, somewhat gritty, mildly flavored and of 
medium quality'. As a winter pear, athough lacking the 
size and handsome appearance of the Kieft'er as grown in 
suitable Kieffer localities, it is an improvement on that 
variety in quality. The introducers say that the “original 
tree bore more than 28 bushels this year and is practically 
blight proof. It is a cross between the wine pear and the 
pickling pear. The original tree is over twenty-years of age 
and began to bear quite young.” If the specimen sent us 
was kept in ordinary storage, as a winter variety it should 
have considerable value. 
