The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-08-01

of the bloom. This early ana thorough
spraying is the vital point in Melan-
ders recommendations 1t is not a new
nlan to spray before the closing of the
calyx cups, but Melander's idea is to
do this so thoroughly that not one shall
escape To thoroughly do this work
we must spray upward, downward and
horizontally. In order to carry out
these instructions we arranged to use
three strands of hose, two of them
used by men on the ground and one by
a man on top of the spraying tank.
This man on the spraying tank to
spray downward was new feature
with us. We did not use the small
amount of arsenate of lead recommend
ed by Prof. Melander, which is one
pound to fifty gallons of water. We
used about a pound and half to so
gallons. AS there is no danger of burn
ing the foliage with arsenate of lead,
we felt it would be safer to use the
large amount. The cost for the addi-
tional half pound is but a trif1ing sum.
Our readers will be anxious to know
what the results are. To say that we
are delighted is drawing the matter
mildly. Up to as late as July 20
am perfectly satisfied that there was
not one wormy apple in thousand.
I am not sure but l could say one in
ten thousand. For several years past
we have used bands on our trees, but
they have been discarded this year.
That is quite saving in expense, for
these bands must be removed and the
worms under them killed every ten or
twelve days Such work is no small
job in large orchard. What the Sec
ond brood may show in our orchards
remains to be seen, but [ am quite
sure the percentage of wormy fruit can
not be large. In order to do this work
of spraying before the calyx cups
closed, we used two gasoline sprayers
and went over our apple trees in five
days Then to make sure work we
went over the entire orchard again with
one of the sprayers. This we did to
catch the delayed buds. Anyone who
has carefully studied the matter knows
that when an apple tree blooms there
are some buds that do not come out till
some days later. If tree blooms very
heavily, there will be many more of
these delayed buds than where the
of July we gave our trees third
fruit, so as to destroy the second
brood of worms. This third spraying
was thoroughly done. I am confident
that we will have cleaner fruit this
year than we have ever had since the
codling moth made it's appearance in
our orchards. I will have more to say
on this point later.
DR.. J. F. Wallace, Pasco, Wash, I'M
der date of June 26 writes: 81 think
a great deal of the writings of the
horticultural editor. I would be glad
to learn from him what effect potash
had on his Rome Beauty apples. Also
how that crimson clover did in his
orchard? What is your estimate Of the
Niagara Gas Sprayer outfit? Is it
good idea to SOW alfalfa in an orchard
and mulch with it? What apples would
we better plant here?"
AS to the effect of the potash, l
would say that last year the difference
was not perceptible. I shall keep my
eye on that part of my orchard this
year, and if [ notice any improvement
in color | will give the results to our
readers. | used one hundred pounds of
sulphate of potash to forty trees. Those
forty trees are remarkably full this
year; in fact, we had to thin every one
of them thoroughly. Whether the pot
ash had anything to do in the setting
of fruit buds l do not know, but think
it had. However, it was not increased
setting of fruit buds I was aiming at,
but increased color. | believe this
will be noticeable this year.
[ have had no experience In the use
of the Niagara Gas Sprayer, so I am
not able to answer the doctors question
relative to it's efficiency. I know of