The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-04-15

Jllh hOl IL PoPSA
sued on time. Sometimes delays are
unavoidable but promptness is n
of the cardinal virtues. Under the
present management The Ranch will
come out on time unless something
unavoidable happens. There are many
subjects that | treat in my department
that have in them the element of time
illness. 1t is very annoying to me, n
must be to many of our readers, to
have something prepared that does
not reach our readers till after the
time for such work to be done. The
time to do the best and most effective
spraying for the destruction of the
cooling moth is when the calyx cups
are open, but how annoying to have
an article giving directions for this
spraying appear two to four weeks
after the calyx cups have closed.
Many other illustrations could be CIV
en-. 1t is my desire to treat OF many
phases of fruit growing with this ele-
ment of timelineSS reckOned in.
By the time this issue of The Ranch
reaches our readers, the time for do
ing the first spraying for the cooling
moth will be near at hand in most OF
the orchards in the Northwest. Prof.
Ball, of the Utah Experiment Station,
and our own Melander, of the Wash
ington Experiment Station, have Civ
en- a great deal of valuable instruc-
ton about this first spraying. When
apples are in full bloom, the calyx
cups stand open but within ten days
afterthatthey are closed up. While they
are open is the time to fill them with
our spray material; after they are
closed, it cannot be done. The lar
va of the codling moth is a very shy
little insect and Immediately seeks a
hiding place. This closed calyx cup
affords the best hiding place for the
newly Matched worm"
The first brood of larvae begins to
appear in two to four weeks after
the boom has fallen, and actual count
ing shows that a much larger per cent
of this first brood enters at the bios
som end than of those belonging to
the second brood. The reason for
this difference is obvious. When the
first brood appears these closed calyx
cups afford almost the only hiding
places, but later in the season, the
leaves and the increased size OF the
apples present many hiding places.
By having these cups filled with pol
son we may kill nearly all the first
brood and that is the best way to
keep down the next brood. Each
larva of the first brood that escapes
may become the progenitor OF 20 to
so in the second. Both the professors
named above declare that If this first
spraying is thoroughly done, no other
sprayings will be needed. Some OF
our leading horticulturists do not full
ly agree with these professors, but
think that a second, and may be a
third spraying, should be resorted to.
I confess myself somewhat at sea on
this point of one spraying being
enough. l intend to experiment
again this year and may be convert
ed to the Corresponding theory" l
confess that | am very willing to be
converted. But whether we fully
agree with these able men on this
one point or not, there is no ques-
ton about the relative Importance OF
this first spraying.
The reason why some have been
others have not been to so great a
degree, is doubtless owing to the fact
that in the one case the spraying was
very thoroughly done and in the other
case it was not. Spraying a small
orchard of a few hundred trees is a
very different thing from spraying
large orchards containing thousands
of trees. Last year we bought an
other gasoline spraying outfit, so that
by using both of our outfits, we could
take time to do the work successful
ly and get over our large orchard be-
fore the calyx cups closed. We were
not entirely successful, but We will
try again.
For several years We have used