■70L. T.XTTI
MAYl  1908
	
INDIANAPOLIS,   MAY 2, 1908.
NO. 18
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THE QUESTION OP SPRAYING
Requires Skill and Judgment.
1st Premium.—Spraying our fruit trsees
lias come to be an absolute necessity, a
great deal more so than in early days when
there was more timber and plenty of birds.
The woods are gone and the birds are
scarce, consequently inserts of all kinds
are here and we must rsesort to other
means to get rid of them. Then too we
have so much competition that we must
produce a good article to secure a profit.
This is true in fruit growing as well as
other business. And the only insurance
we can employ is the use of improved insecticides and fungicides, of which the following Ls one of the very best. Add four
ounces London purple or Paris green to
50 gallons of dilnted Bordeaux mixture.
This is a safe application and is very effective on, apples and pears for insects aud
scab, and on plums for curculio and leaf
or fruit disease.
Paris green. This insecticide needs no
description, but special care should be
taken that only pure Paris green be used.
Cherry, each and plum trees cannot be
sprayed with Paris green without injury
to foliage. Would advise for general use
Paris green, arsenate of lead and hellebore
for chewing insects, and kerosene and
water for sucking insects. Eleven ounces
acetate of lead, 4 ounces arsenate of soda,
150 gallons of water. This insecticide
has the advantage over Paris green that
when used in large quantities it will not
injure the foliage of peach, cherry and
plum.
Kerosene emulsion, to be used when the
insects are in large numbers and the foliage is known not to be easily injured by
it: One-half pound common bar soap, 2
gallons common kerosene. Cut the soap
in thin shavings and dissolve in about 2
gallons hot water. While still hot pour
in the kerosene, and pump it back and
forth until a thick cream-like substance is
formed. Before using add water enough
lo make from 10 to 20 gallons; use the
strongest emulsion for those trees that we
know will not be injured by it. After the
fruit is well formed it is often disfigured
by adhesion of Bordeaux mixture, more especially the plum, cherry, peach and
grape, so that in place of this I would advise copper sulphate 2 to 4 ounces to 50
gallons of water. This is as strong as
can generally be used. It must be remembered, however, that the solution will
be washed off by very hard rain, and to
keep the solution on the foliage or fruit
'luring frequent rains sometimes requires
spraying every day.
Xow as to the proper time to spray. We
will take apples first First application
when the buds are swelling; use Bordeaux
mixture; then again just before blossoms
"Pen use Bordeaux and Paris green; then
"gain when blossoms have fallen use Bor-
''eaux and Paris green; then again when
blossoms have fallen use Bordeaux and
Paris green; then again from 8 to 12 days
"iter use Bordeaux and Paris green; then
m about 10 to 14 days later use Bordeaux
only.
Peaches. As the first buds swell use
Bordeaux; then when fruit has set, Bordeaux; then when the fruit is about half
Krown, Bordeaux; then from 6 to 10 days
""ter, a weak solution of copper sulphate;
,18* the same solution again in 10 or   12
'lays.
. PJars - -Asa-{ssjliti are swelling, Bordeaux;
just before blossoms open, Bordeaux,
kerosene and water; after blossoms have
fallen, Bordeaux and Paris green; in 8 to
12 days repeat; 10 to 20 days later, a week
solution of copper sulphate.
Cherries. As buds are breaking, Bordeaux; when aphis appears, kerosene emulsion; when fruit has set, Bordeaux; if
slugs appear, dust leaves with air slaked
lime; then in 10 to 14 days, Bordeaux; 10
to 20 days, a weak solution of copper sulphate.
forded a protection which the orchards required I would not attempt to say, but it
is generally believed that the thinning of
the trees has caused a scarcity of the birds
which are the natural enemies of the insects that infest the fruit trees and which
for a time threatened their usefulness.
It has been said that there is a remedy
for every evil, but what the remedy might
be in this case it was necessary to prove by
experiment, and this has in a large nieas-
use been accomplished. However, the
good that may be accomplished by spray-
Farm Home of J. Plymire, Tipton County.
Grapes. For fungous diseases and
rose bugs: Wlien buds swell, Bordeaux;
just before flowers unfold repeat, with
Paris greeu added; when fruit has set
repeat; 2 to 4 weeks later, Bordeaux only;
then a little later a weak solution of copper sulphate.
Quince. When blossom buds appear,
Bordeaux; when fruit sets, repeat; 10 to
20 days later repeat; then again in abont
that time.
This I think includes about all the average fruit trees. In conclusion will say,
under no consideration spray while trees
are in full bloom, as bees are necessary for
the production of fruit the same as for
clover seed, and it is greatly to our loss to
kill them. Also do not spray with too
strong a solution. Neither should we spray
ripening fruit. Study the enemies and
fight them intelligently. In order to spray
.successfully we must have some knowledge, skill and judgment or quite often
our spraying will do more harm than good.
C. B.
Worth all it Costs.
2d Premium.—Spraying has come to be
regarded as one of the essentials in the
successful production of fruit. There
was a time when fruit of nearly all kinds
was grown in this locality without effort,
and when spraying was a matter unheard
of and unknown. But within the last
generation conditions have changed, and it
appears that this change has come about
simultaneously with the destruction of the
forests.       Whether or not the forests af-
ing is not universally understood, as many
who have but a small orchard have not
thought it worth while to adopt this practice.
To spray iutelligeutly it is necessary to
know the purpose of spraying and the nature of the enemy we have to combat. Solutions that are used to prevent fungous
diseases do not avail against the attack
of insects, and what will destroy some insects will not destroy others. For those
insects that eat the foliage, Paris green or
London purple is generally used, while for
sucking insects kerosene emulsion is generally applied as this kills by contact. This
is made by taking two gallons of kerosene
and one-half pound of hard soap shaved
fine. The soap should be dissolved in
one gallon of boiling water and the kerosene added to the hot water. This should
then be thoroughly mixed, and to this may
be added 10 gallons of water which will
make a 15 per cent oil emulsion.
Paris green I prefer to use with Bordeaux mixture. The mixture is the remedy for fungus diseases, and by adding the
Paris green one spraying may be made to
serve both purposes. What is known as
the 5-5-50 formula is the one most generally used, I think, at present. This is
composed of copper sulphate five pounds,
lime five pounds, and water to make 50
gallons. The copper sulphate should be
dissolved in four gallons of water, and the
lime slaked in the same quantity. This
should then be strained and water added
to make 25 gallons of each. It should
then be stirred,   poured together and thor
oughly mixed. With four ounces of
Paris green added to this we have both a
fungicide and an insecticide. The first application should be made just before the
blossoms open, the next about the time
they fall, and a third 10 days later. Tha
l'aris green may be omitted from the first
but should be added to the others. It is
very important that the lime be fresh,
otherwise the foliage may be injured. And
the mixture should be made fresh for each
application.
Mold, leaf blotch, apple scab, bitter rot
and other fungous diseases can in most
cases be prevented by applying Bordeaux
mixture every 10 days or two weeks, from
the time the buds open till six o reight applications have been made. For peach
trees a 3-0-50 formula of Bordeaux mixture is generally used, since the foliage
is more likely to be injured than that of
other trees.
The kind of sprayer to be used depends
on conditions. Where one is a large grower of fruit it is necessary to be properly
equipped that the spraying may be done
expeditiously, but for a small family orchard this expense is not necessary. The
object is to throw a fine spray and have it
penetrate to all parts of the foliage, and
the force that is required to do this depends on the size of the trees. This year
_we expect to use a**man-power" machine.
With the necessary extension rod to get
the hose up into the tree good work can
be done with this, and for small operations it is usually more satisfactory than
the horse power outfits.
If we expect to raise fruit continually it
appears that we must spray; and don't
wait till some fungous disease appears, but
spray as a preventive. Keep the trees
thrifty and free of disease, and they will
do the rest. J. H.
No. 635, May 9.—Tell how to organize
and maintain a farmers' telephone company.
No. 630, May 16.—Name some good
"catch crops," and tell how to handle
them.
No. 637, May 23.—Explain your crop rotation plan, and show where the profit
comes in.
INCREASE  FOR    AGRICULTURE.
The agricultural appropriation bill as
passed by the House of Representatives
amounted to $11,508,908. The Senate
committee increased this by $133,340. One
of the principal increases made is an addition of $75,000 for the erection of more
buildings in different parts of the country
for weather stations. An increase of $85,-
000 is made for the Bureau of Chemistry.
Of this, $10,000 is to enable the Department of Agriculture to establish a model
plant in Washington to demonstrate methods of making denatured alcohol. The
rest of the increase, amounting to $75,000,
is to carry out the pure food law. The
salary of the solicitor of the department is
increased from $3,500 to $4,000 and the
chief clerk is allowed $500 extra salary
as custodian of the building.
Twenty self-supporting Chicago women
bave formed an organization to be known
ns the Art Craft Colony, their object being to take up and settle upon Government
irrigated lands in the West. The women express confidence in their ability to
successfully "farm" the irrigated lands
without the aid of men. They will probably limit themselves mainly to poultry-
keeping and fruit-growing.