The true northerner., 1898-12-14
SPRAYING FOR CURL LEAF

PROF. TAFT's INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS
AT THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
While the crop of peaches produced by
the famous peach belt Of Michigan was
fair this year, it would have been much
larger but for the disease known as curl
leaf, which ravaged the orchards early in
the year, doing more or less damage in
all of them and rendering many practic-
ally barren for the year. Because of this
visitation l.. b. Taft, professor of horti-
culture at the Agricultural college, has
been unusually active in his investigation
looking to the discovery of a treatment
that will wipe out this disease He has
made experiments supplemental to those
which have engaged much of his atten-
tion for several years past, and he has
just made statement of great impor-
tance to owners of orchards.
1t has long been known, Prof Taft
says, that this disease is of a fun
gous nature, and experiments conducted
each year since 1892 have satisfied him
that it could be controlled by the use of
fungicides. In the case of nearly all
fungous diseases the recommendation
has been made to spray the trees i'm the
spring Just before the growth starts.
After careful experimenting, however, it
became evident that better results could
be secured from applications made early
in the spring than from those used just
as the buds are opening.
In the spring of 1898 great number
of trees were sprayed in various parts of
the state during the month of March,
and where the work was thoroughly done
the trees showed little or no trace of the
disease, even in the case of varieties which,
when unsprayed, lost practically ali of
their foliage and bore no crop. Others de
layed spraying until the buds were open
ing, and although some benefit could be
detected in these cases many of the leaves
were destroyed and the growth was
severely injured. Fully as good results
have been obtained from spraying in the
fall after the leaves have fallen. and from
the fact that the weather in March and
early April is often unfavorable for spray
ing, as well as because work is more
pressing in the spring, fruit growers
might do well to spray their peach orch
ards in November.
As the result of a large number of
experiments Prof Taft recommends that
the trees be sprayed while they are in a
dormant condition and before the first of
April, ifpossible, with a solution of copper
sulphate in the proportion of one pound
to twenty five gallons of water. This
should be applied so thoroughly as to
wet every part of the tree, for if any of
the twigs or buds are not soaked by the
spraying solution, the leaves that grow
from them will very likely be attacked
by the disease if the weather i'm the
spring is favorable for its development
The past season this one application
gave fully as good results as when Bor-
deaux mixture was applied later, but
when the disease does not appear<hntil
after the buds are open and when its
duration is prolonged, Prof. Taft says it
is probable that a'spraying of Bordeaux
mixture within week after the blossoms
have fallen will have a beneficial effect
against the spreading of the disease as
well as to lessen the injury from t,e
curculio, brown rot and the variousos
spot diseases by which the fruit
tackled.
The statement is made that
of spraying it is probable tht
tenths of the crop of Elbe
was destroyed 10y curl leaf
season, but in large numbe