THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
119 
Correspondence 
SPRAYING EXPERIENCE OF AN EXTENSIVE PEACH 
AND APPLE GROWER. 
D. Maurice Wertz. 
Waynesboro, Pa. 
Some of our readers have expressed a desire for articles on the 
different phases of orchard management by noted orchardists of 
the country. The article by Barnes Brothers of Yalesville, Conn, 
last year, on controlling San Jose scale, has been so highly commen¬ 
ded that we are anxious to secure other contributions of the same 
kind. We are pleased to present the following notes from one of 
the large Pennsylvania fruit growers, which have the virtue of com¬ 
ing dii'ectly from an extended field of practical experience. Com¬ 
mon report has it that Mr. Wertz sold fruit last year from his 
Waynesboro farm to an amount something above $60,000, so that he 
may be looked upon as a wholesaler in the producing ranks. The 
opinion and experience of a man of this type is worth having and 
reading.— Editor. 
Mr. Wertz says: 
SAN JOSE SCALE. 
“I am forced to confess that I have not held the scale in check as 
well as possibly I should have done, or as some possibly think I 
have done. The fact is, while I have had scale in my orchards for 
years and really lost only a few unimportant trees from it, still I am 
far from free from scale at the present time. 
Over a large part of the orchard I have held it in check and pos¬ 
sibly greatly decreased it; then there are other places where it 
seems to have gotten ahead of me and it is just a constant fight. I 
sometimes feel that I have too many trees to look after personally 
and carefully, and that some of those trees are not sprayed as 
thoroughly and completely as they should be, else I would have had 
better results. I must admit, however, that in my peach crop of 
nearly 100,000 Delaware baskets last year, it was the rarest excep¬ 
tion to see a scale mark on any of the fruit. At the same time, im¬ 
mediately after the peach crop I started on my 4,000 barrel apple 
crop and I am ashamed to say that some of my apples were not fit to 
barrel, and I was obliged to sell them in bulk. I sprayed those 
particular trees this winter with j$ure crude oil and will follow in a 
few days with lime and sulphur. # If I have not injured the trees, I 
hope to have a cleaner crop of apples next year. 
The Lecanium scale is very much more obstinate than the San 
Jose scale and seems to be on the increase with me, in spite of my 
spraying, and 1 scarcely know what to do for it. 
As for my lime and sulphur solution, I would say that I have a 
traction engine and boil by steam in large tubs, then dilute and draw 
off into a tank from which I fill my spray carts. I have five iron 
carts for spraying with compressed air, and believe it is the best ar¬ 
rangement on the market. I have made and applied as high as 
4,000 to 4,500 gallons per day. 
I still use salt in the mixture, feeling that it may help the stick¬ 
ing quality, and in our unsettled climate and particularly this time 
of the year, I am willing to use anything that may prevent washing 
off so soon. 
Last year 1 used the self-boiled lime and sulphur for the brown rot 
of the peach, but found 10—10—50 too strong and dropped to 5 - 5 ~ 5 °- 
It certainly did much good, but there is yet much uncertainty about 
its results I think. 
SOME REMARKS BY HENRY SCHROEDER 
Sigourney, Iowa, February 25, 1909. 
The National Nurseryman Pub. Co. 
Dear Sirs: 
Enclosed find $i for subscription, which sickness has delayed. 
I see in papers a good deal of advertising with prices for nui sei v 
stock. I am for honest advertising but when it comes to pi ices for 
nursery stock, there is too much misunderstanding about the 
prices; like as if there is no difference between mail sized or 3 \ear 
old apple trees. 1 know, when farmers say to me that I was bound 
to sell the largest trees cheaper than small ones, because they would 
get too large; I told such, that they would pay us sooner in fruit, 
to let those stand, or sell those with some ground to get a good 
neighbor. After telling them the truth, some of those farmers got to 
be my best customers for about 20 years and did not kick again on 
prices, but stated they were fooled too much from agents before. 
Now prices on postal cards, or in papers, are good for some and 
against others,(like with the rural route mail and others),it leads to 
low prices. Like I have bought from over 50 different nurseries 
and kept a record for home trade here, I have to acknowledge, that 
it makes a difference, what kind of nursery stock anyone needs, for 
what soil and from what soil best? But not the cheapest in price. 
No, good stock helps nurserymen just as well with prices, as it 
helps farmers with their good stock. What is the matter with the 
old good Roman stem apple trees? Scarce in price list. What 
makes dwarf pear trees on quince roots cheaper than quinces and 
standard pear trees? More next. 
A SYSTEM OF CHECKING TOOLS TO EMPLOYEES. 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
We have yours making inquiry with reference to our system of 
checking tools to employees. 
The plan is a very simple one, but works very nicely and we 
think a great saving in the loss of tools, over what we experienced 
before having some system for keeping a check on same. 
We arrange a checking board, by tacking strips of elastic, measur- • 
ing from 24 to 30 inches in length, parallel with each other about 
three and a half or four inches apart. This elastic is tacked to the 
board at intervals of about an inch and a half apart. About one 
half inch below the elastic we nail a little strip about % inch square, 
this makes the system for holding checks which are slipped in be¬ 
hind the elastic between the tacks, one end resting on the little 
strip. One of these pockets is marked for each employee, arranging 
their names alphabetically. When an employee calls for a tool, a 
little check is made out showing the tool taken from the tool room 
by the employee, dated and placed in this man’s pocket in the check¬ 
ing board. At night when he returns the tool, his name is written on 
this little check, and it is given him so that he knows that no check 
is left in the checking board for tools that he has turned in. The 
clerk who does this checking out of the tools, of course keeps an 
inventory of the tools in the shop or tool room and checks them 
over about once every week, always taking into the count the checks 
for the tools that are out as 1 shown by the checking board. Tools 
not returned after a reasonable length of time are charged to 
employee. Since adopting this plan, we have experienced very 
little annoyance from tools being left in the fields or broken and hid; 
in fact the number of thoroughly worn out tools of different descrip¬ 
tion, found on our scrap pile is evidence that we get full value and 
wear out of every tool we use on the place. 
Jacksonville, Fla. The Griffing Bros. Co. 
C. M. Griffing. 
BERCKMAN’S AUSTRIAN LABORERS BUY 
EXPERIENCE. 
The firm of P. J. Berckmans Co. of Augusta, Ga. are large 
employees of Austrian and other foreign labor. 1 hey pay fair 
wages and treat employees considerately. A short time since nine 
of their Austrian laborers were lured away by the attractive story of 
a smooth tongued Austro-American who excited their imagination 
by stories of large wages in California. 
They cast in their lot with him, entrusted him, as business 
manager, with their money and started for California. 
The personally conducted tour halted at Atlanta where the 
“Manager” after completely “skinning” his dupes left them. The 
stricken and remorseful derelicts appealed to the Berckmans who 
forgave and took back a bitnch of sadder and wiser men who are 
now likely to remain contented with good treatment for some time 
to come. The whole story as told in an Augusta paper is exceed- 
ingly interesting as well as instructive. 
