Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-04-26
BORTICULTURIsTs.
Reports Concerning the Effects of the
Long Rains.


SAN Francisco, April 25th-A meeting
OF the State Horticultural Society was held
this afternoon, Professor Hilgard presiding
and nineteen members present.
The subject OF fruit prospects through
out the State was taken up and discussed
II seemed to be the general opinion that
fruits with what are designated as soft roofs
would be seriously damaged by the heavy
rains. As soft-rooted fruits, there were
mentioned peaches, apricots. cherries and
biackberries. d1ooted fruits, such as
pears, plums and ounces were not liable to
suffer. One speaker called attention 10 the
tact that in some localities hundreds of
trees had died from sour sap, the smell in
the orchards being as bad as that Of vine
gar factory. The opinion OF the orchardists
present was that this occurred mainly
where there was heavy clay subsoil un-
derneath the loan.
One grower stated that when the last
heavy rains fell the majority of the trees in
his cherry orchard were in bloom. Those
trees will bear but little fruit this year,
while trees that bloomed earlier and those
that bloomed later will be covered with
fruit. He believed this was caused by the
rain washing the pollen Off SO that the
blossoms were not fertiliZed.
Mr. Hatch mentioned the fact that a
number of his peach trees looked as if they
were going to be trouble with curled leaf,
but did not have energy enough to curl,
The Society will make Cherries the
principal subject for discussion at the next
N Meeting, and "The Marketing of Small
Fruits as the subsidiary subject.
Leonard Coutes read a paper on "The
Summer Spraying of Deciduous Fruit
Trees He gave several washes for vari-
Gus truit-tree pests, but qualified them with
the statement that under various crcum-
stances it might be advisable to modify
them to greater or less extent. For scale
he had advised the following wash to be
applied early in May:
Dissolve thirty pounds of whale-oil soap
in sixty gallons of water. Boil three
pounds of American concentrated lye with
six pounds of sulphur and two gallons of
water. Mix the two, allowing them to boil
half an hour. Add ninety gallons of water
and apply while warm.
The resin wash used for the scale was de-
scribed as follows: Ten pounds of caustic
soda, ten pounds potash, forty pounds
tallow and forty pounds resin. Dissolve
the potash and soda in water. Dissolve
the tallow and resin together and add it to
| the potash and soda, stirring them well to-
gether. Leave standing about two hours
and then fill up slowly with water, stirring
all the time. This should make fifty gal
Ions of the mixture. Use the following
day one pound of the mixture to gallon
of water.
For the red spider he advised washing
the trees with q weak soap-wash and then
Immediately powder with dry sulphur
(sublime) blown into the trees with bel
lows. This should be applied during the
month of May.
If caterpillars, saw.hy worms, peach
moth or any other leaf-eating insect is
present with the scale, Mr.. Coates advises
adding half an ounce of paris green to the
sulphide of soda wash This wash must
| De kept thoroughly stirred all the time 1t is
being used. If there is no scale, then in
corporate the paris green with some fungi
eide.
For the shot-hole fungus which is now
spreading over the State, the speaker sd-
| vised the Bordeaux mixture. In winter it
| is composed as follows: Six pounds of
sulphate of copper TO sixteen gallons of
water four pounds of fresh lime to six
! gallons of water. This must be diluted so
| that it will not impair the foliage, and the
paris green must never be used in stronger
proportions IN summer than one ounce TO
200 gallons of water peach trees especially
are liable to injury if it is too strong. Sui
phur, though good for most fungoid dis
eases, does not seem to reach this one. For
peach moth alone the first wash should be
applied as soon es the buds are opening.
Mr.. Hatch said that he had used paris
green on cherry trees without injurious
| effect