Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-02-06
SPRAYING. AND ITS VALUE.

The practical value of spraying ss q
means Of increasing both the quantity
aud quality of the fruit no longer ueeds
demonstration. Repeated experiments
have shown that by q comparatively
small outlay of time aud money In this
direction the revenue from an orchard
may be largely increased.
II L., psrhsps, interesting tn note an
Instance a. seen during the season of
i>a3 In an ordinary apple orchard. The
orchard consisted Of about eight acres,
set mostly With Greenlngs. Bsldwins
aud klng., nearly all about twenty years
old, with some tres II an older orchard
interpreted. The Grc.nlngs aud B,ld-
wins generally bear In rotation, so that
th. te.t wss made almost entirely on the
Grrenlngs aud Kings. Two ar three
days after the blossoms had reached ma
turity, the tres, With few exceptions
which showed signs Of fruit, were spray
ed. The preparation used VAS Fafis
grccn MIXED With water, about the
strength used To lii potato beetles, aud
was applied with an ordinary iope
pump having short ho-s aud sprinkler
nozzle attached. The pump gave .uiii-
Client force Ia send the mixture over the
tops of the Highest tr-~s. \ barrel Of
the poison was made each time and
drawn about the orchard on a wagon.
sone~ hat more than third 81 th. or
chard blossomcd, aud the first spraying
occupied halfs day, two men accom-.
panylng the wagon, Que pamplng aud
the other dlr.cting the spray. livery
tire wss thoroughly drenchei, except
some half-dossn left a. an experiment.
No immediate difference wss seen Ia Tia.
appearance of the trees sprayed aud un-
sprayed, except that the leaves of the
spr,ye ed tre-s were not as green a. the
others.
A. soon a.. the fruit Was fairly formed
the spraying MAS repeated. This time
another portion Was omitted. so that
there were tres apparently alike In the
beginning In thrce diyislons-thosc un-
sprayed, those sprayed once aud those
sprayed tsicc. During the summer u
Nas noticed that the unsprsyed fruit
dropped of much more than either of
the Others, bot no particular difference
w.s seen between the trees sprayed once
aud those sprayed twice. \ consid'ss-
ble difference, however, appeared as the
apples grew larger, the perccnisge of
wormy apple. belng much larger ca the
tree. SPRAYED only once, although they
had nearly as many apple. In number a.
the others.
Hut the fnal test came at the time Tor
gathering. The unsprsycd tres, which
should have given four or i've bu.hel.
of fair apples. yielded from half basb.l
to bushel Of wormy fruit. Those
sprayed once did much better. but the
apples lacked la smoothness, aud wefc
very wormy. Amoug thoss sprayed
twice there were trvss With scarcely a
poor az wormy apple on them, aud At
time of barrrling, pile. of ten, hftcen
aud twenty barrels did not .ort out more
than hAlfa bushel. The apple. werc
also of extraordinary sire. Although
r.d apples we're bringing higher pric-.,
these, mostly Grr.nings, sold AZ th"
l,e.t priccs. II I. not too much Ia say
that the few hour. expended In spraying
made several hundred dollars differences
Ia the crop.
4 bsli.ys that u would he worth the
time and material Ia spray the whole
orchard when considerable portion of
Il .ssm. likely to bear. II wss noticed
that worm. crswl lci up the sprayed tree, I
from those near them which had not 1
bc.u sprayed.
There l. on. disadvantage In spraying /.
u hlch may b. mentioned. In a season .
u hen fruit would naturally sct very /.
thickly. the tendency ~ spraying Ia, of
course, % cause all the fruit Ia hang on /
the tree, aud the product l. liable Ia be- /
small. unle.. thinning i rr.orici Ia, aud /
this u generally too tedious for most
farmers. There seem. AZ present no
other Ny ot obyi,tlng this difficulty.
other mixture. be-iies the onc men I
TONED have bsen used, such as London /
purple. etc, bat ran. green seems per-
fcctly satisfactory, aud !. generally the |
cheapest aud most ConNrnlcnt. The /
value IT spraying on orchards other .
than apple seem. little doubtful |
Peaches DO not -c,m To b. affected by u,
aud some pear trees sprayed, although /
bearing well, were nO, materially better .
than the un.pnyed tres. The effects
on plum tire. we're more noticeable. hut /
wsrc not entirely sAtisiactory.-Ncs /
York Tribune.