The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-04-17
Horticulture.
JUST WHAT YOU WANT TO
KNOW ABOUT SPRAYING.

EDITORS PROGRESSIVE FARMER =
Yours Of recent date asking for an
article covering pretty thoroughly
the subject Of spraying to suit North
Carolina conditions, fruits, and sea-
sons received. This is a pretty large
subject for one article. The subject
of spraying for fruit pests is very ex-
tensive. AS a rule spraying must be
treated in detail in relation to par
tioular pests, such, for example, as
the peach tree borer, San Jose scale
or apple scab. [ would advise all
your readers who want information
in this line to send to the Depart
ment of Agriculture, at Raleigh, for
a copy Of the December, 1899, Bul1e-
tin, where the subject is treated in
condensed tabular form. I can here
attempt only a few suggestions,
mostly of a general nature.
Firstly, spraying for fungous dis
eases must always be preventive,
since plant diseases cannot be cured.
Spraying for insect pests is generally
curative-i. e., the spray kills the in
sects. For orchards and vineyards
sprays mixed in water are best, dry
powders are not practicable. But
for field and garden, herbaceous
crops as a rule powders are better
than sprays. In general way orch
ard fruits may be divided into two
classes-pOmaceoUs fruits, like apple
and pear and stone fruits, like peach
and plum. AS a general rule the
same fUngoUs and insect pests attack
all the species of one class, but do not
attack any of the other classes. The
chief fungous pests of pomaceoUs
fruits in North Carolina are the fol
lowing:
1.-Scab, causing the fruit to be
come misshapen and knotty.
2.-Rust, causing the leaves to be-
come covered with brown spots and
soon fall.
3.-Bitter rot, causing the ripe
fruit to become rotten in small round
shallow spots.
4.-Fire blight, causing the twigs
or large limbs to suddenly die and
turn black.
The standard remedy for No. 1
is the Bordeaux mixture, which
consists of 4 pounds blue stone,
1 pounds stone lime and barrel Of
water. The first spraying should be
given before the buds burst to kill
adhering spores before these have a
chance to infect the flower, which is
the beginning of the new fruit. The
second spraying should be given as
soon as the flowers have fallen, and
before the young fruit turns down.
Subsequent sprayings must be timed
with an idea of keeping the foliage
we'll covered with the protecting
fungicide whose presence shows as
a whitish powder on the leaves.
The same treatment given No. is
sufficient for No. 2 and need not be
specially repeated, The rust fun
gus lives during the winter on the
red cedar, causing the "cedar apples" ="
on that tree. All cedars within one
half mile of an orchard should be de-
stroyed.
For pest No. there is no efficient
remedy. Some varieties of apple rot
badly, and these should be dug out
and burned.
No. is our worst disease of the
apple and pear and pear, and is in
durable. Bighted twigs and limbs
should be cut off and burned, always
cutting four inches below the lowest
dead wood.
The chief insect pests Of ponaaceOus
fruits are as follows:
5.-Codling moth or apple worm,
causing wormy fruit, which falls
prematurely.
6.-Canker or measuring worms,
causing damage to flower buds and
later to the leaves.
7.-Oyster shell scale, causing the
young twigs and branches to become
covered with innumerable small yel-
Iowish bugs in summer and long mar
row scales in winter.
8.-Scurfy scale, causing main
trunk and limbs to become covered
with oval whitish scales and young
bugs.
9.-The San Jose scale. This is
two we'll known to need description.