THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
77 
Correspondence. 
INTER-STATE REQUIREMENTS. 
Dear Sir: 
If there is any one trade that has more perplexities and 
burning questions to solve than another it is the nursery 
business. Take the matter of permits to ship, goods across 
state lines alone is enough to drive one wild. Here we have 
some 48 states and territories to deal with, nearly each one 
of which issues a different permit and imposes different 
obligations. To the credit of Canada be it said that she 
hps but one law for all its provinces and that a very easy 
one for our nurseries to comply with, while at the same time 
it is a very effective and safe one for our customers across 
the line. All we have to do is to ship their stock via certain 
specified ports of entry and there the stock is fumigated in 
government fumigators and by government experts, an 
arrangement at once simple and easy to comply with and 
probably more effective in keeping out diseases and noxious 
insects than any of our numerous state laws. 
Sorghum and Baling Material. 
Another question, w T hich by the way, we have solved to 
our entire satisfaction, is the matter of material for baling 
trees. Some years ago everybody used long flail thrashed 
rye straw. Then it was easy to get and cheap. We have 
bought it as low as $10.00 per ton, But now there is much 
less rye grown than formerly and farmers willing to thrash 
by hand are fewer yet. Next we raised the r.ye or had it 
grown for us and cut when in milk. This-makes a very 
satisfactory article but rather expensive. At Rochester, 
N. Y., and vicinity they use flagg that grows wild in swamps. 
It can be had dried-and ready for use for about $20.00 per 
ton. This with freight added makes it pretty expensive 
also. Some four years ago our supply of bailing straw 
failed before the season was over and as we had nothing bet¬ 
ter at hand than cornstalks we used them. It will do for a 
make shift but is not very satisfactory. At that time one of 
our workmen suggested “sorghum” saying that it grows as 
tall as any corn and the stalks are much finer. That follow¬ 
ing season we grew an acre of it, some got as tall as 11 feet. 
We had a big crop and turned out entirely satisfactory in 
everyway. The length and fineness of growth wanted can be 
easily regulated. In case you want it fine and not too long 
sow thick. If very long then fertilize well and sow thin. Like 
corn it likes a warm soil. Sow in drills 28 to 36 inches apart 
so you can cultivate it. It starts slowly and needs a hoeing 
while young, but after awhile it grows very rapidly and 
soon covers the ground and smothers any weeds that may 
have started. We cut it with a horse corn cutter that ties 
it up in small bundles which are left on the ground to dry 
for a few days, then set up in small shocks. Late in the fall 
we drive posts in the ground and set the bundles around 
them in large shocks and tie them on thoroughly. Heie 
they are left all winter and drawn in when wanted in the 
spring. Or they can be housed during the winter but the 
bundles must be stood up on their butts else they will heat. 
So far we have not hit on a good and cheap way of sax ing 
the seed, hence we only save enough for our own use which 
we scrape off with a how on a board. If somebody knows 
of a better way we would like to know what it is. 
_ Lewis Roesch. 
FIGHTING THE CODLING MOTH. 
The Codling Moth and the San Jose scale run a close raca 
in the contest for supremacy as worst fruit pests in the 
United States. The codling moth is in all places where the 
apple is grown. The San Jose scale is limited in its North¬ 
ern march practically to the region of successful peach cul¬ 
ture. 
A. 'L. Quaintance of the United States Department of 
Agriculture has an interesting article in the annual Year 
Book on the control of the codling moth. He says “It is 
best controlled by the use of arsenical insecticides sprayed 
on the trees. In regions where fungicides are unnecessary 
the arsenite is applied in water and of the arsenites recom¬ 
mended Paris green, arsenate of lead and arsenite of lime 
hold prominent places.” 
There has been a good deal of complaint in recent seasons 
in regard to the effect of arsenate of lead on both tree and 
fruit, especially when used in combination with Bordeaux 
mixture. This is probably due to the fact that the arsenate 
contains salt and other by products and probably some free 
arsenic. Orchardists should be very careful in purchasing 
the material to secure from the seller a guaranteed analysis 
showing the exact amount of each ingredient. 
Application: The first application should be made as 
soon as the petals or blossoms have fallen. The object of 
this is to place in the basin of the apple, around the eye, a 
dose of poison to be eaten by the larva when it is making an 
entrance into the fruit. In most regions this is the most 
important application. It is made when the apples are still 
pointing their eyes upward. At this time the fruit should 
be very thoroughly covered with the spray, and if the cover¬ 
ing is complete nearly all the first brood larvae will be 
destroyed. 
Second spraying: This is ordinarily applied three to 
four weeks after the fall of the blossoms. At this time it is 
very desirable that all parts of the foliage should be covered, 
foi it has been found that the eggs are occasionally scattered 
over twiss and leaves and that the larvae eat more or less 
indiscriminately until they reach the fruit. In the case of 
more or less isolated orchards it is probable that two com¬ 
plete sprayings will give reasonable protection, especially 
in the East. In the West, however, where the season is 
longer and conditions more favorable for the development 
of the later broods, subsequent sprayings are required. A 
third spraying should be made nine to ten weeks after the 
falling of the petals and a fourth application where the 
enemy is specially active may be made two or three weeks 
after the third. In Oregon a fifth application is made two 
or three weeks after the fourth. 
WORDS OF APPRECIATION FROM A VETERAN IN THE 
BUSINESS. 
Enclosed please find $2.00 for the National Nurseryman for 
two years. I consider it so valuable a paper that I always look up 
and read back numbers when I have been away for the winter. 
Success to the National Nurseryman! 
Yours very truly, T. C. Thurlow. 
