New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Boh 
the destruction of the infested leaves seems to be due to these habits 
of this creature. Nevertheless, tne removal of affected leaves at 
the first appearance of injury would undoubtedly greatly reduce the 
numbers of the mite upon the plant. At the best this method of 
fighting the mite is only practicable upon small trees and from this 
experience it is not as effective as a thorough treatment during 
dormant season with a contact spray. 
ORCHARD III: APPLES. 
This orchard is adjacent to Williamson, Wayne County, and con- 
sists largely of Maiden Blush and Baldwin. The trees are about 
forty years of age and have been systematically sprayed for the 
common insects and diseases. Originally the orchard was grown 
in sod but in recent years thorough cultivation has been practiced. 
It is not known how long infestation with the mite has existed, but 
it is believed that the first serious outbreak occurred in 1902 when 
the Station’s attention was first directed to the trouble. 
On August 29 of that year, much of the foliage of a goodly 
number of the trees in the northeast corner of the orchard was well 
marked with the galls, many of which had coalesced, forming large 
dead, brown areas on the leaves. Associated with the work of the 
mite there was much spotting of the leaves by the bordeaux mixture. 
With some trees many leaves had turned yellow and were falling. 
This defoliation, coupled with the russeted appearance of .a goodly 
portion of the leaves still adhering, due to mite and spray injuries, 
gave the trees a very unthrifty appearance. 
In 1903, the state of the trees was less satisfactory than during 
the preceding year. The mite was more widely distributed through 
the orchard and the destruction of the leaves by spraying with 
bordeaux mixture was much more severe. Mite and spray injuries 
frequently occurred on the same leaf and there was the usual russet- 
ing, yellowing and falling of the leaves. While the mite was 
responsible for much of the discoloration of the leaves, the defolia- 
tion of the trees seemed to be due to spray injuries and to the 
unthriftiness of the trees, attributable to unfavorable soil conditions, 
which are not understood, probably poor drainage. By the end of 
the summer nearly every tree showed evidences of infestation, and 
a surprisingly large number of mites found hibernating quarters 
aI 
