Semi-weekly herald. [volume] (Durango, Colo.) 1907-1917, 1910-02-14
TOLD US HOW TO RAISE FRUIT.

1t was large and Interested crowd
OF fruit growers that met at the
| court house, Monday to attend
| fruit growers institute. given under
the direction of the Colorado Aeri-
cultural college. Addresses upon sub
Jects of great Importance to the fruit
and potato grower were given by rem
| resentatives of the Colorado Asricul
tural college and other experts. CUES.
lions were freely asked by the audi.
ehce and carefully answered by The
different speakers regarding the hes,
method 10 pursue to get the greatest
results.
The first lecture was given by Prof
{ P. Gillette, state entomologist. and
his subject was plant lice and the
| treatment for the same, referring more
especially to the green and woody
al his He gave a very interesting de-
scription of the life habits of the in
sects. The green aphis affects the
leaves more than the other parts of
the tree, feeding on the green tissues.
and they multiply rapidly. Ants arc
generally very active where green
NJ his are abundant and the presence
OF green aphis on the branches is near.
ly always assured where a number of
ants are seen running up and down
the trunk of the tree. The ANS are
not an enemy to the aphis as many
have thought, but are really to some
extent its protector. The reason for
this is that the aphis excrates sweet
ish substance which the ants obtain
from the aphis. Thus the aphis be
comes a sort of COW to the ant and
as such, is taken care of by the ant.
some varieties of ants even going SO
far as to carry the eggs of the aphis
to the ant hill, caring for them through
the winter and replacing them on the
trees in the spring.
The woolly aphis is covered with
white cottony fiber which protects it
Ii may be found either on the trunk
or branches of the tree where 1t feeds
on the sap of the bark, or in the
soil, feeding on the roots of the tree
The aphis do not all remain in the
ground in the winter nor do all live
en- the tree in the summer but some
may be found in both places at any
season, though they do move from one
place to the other at will They change
position more often in the spring and
fall, however.
1 The hfank anhic ic
peach and cherry trees and is very
similar to the green aphis.
The best spraying material for all
kinds of aphis is black leaf, used in
the proportion of one part black leaf
to seventy parts of water II should
be applied with high pressure so that
the mixture may penetrate the cover
ing of the woolly aphids. Dipping the
branches in black leaf does very little
good as high pressure is needed a
II applied very early in the sprin/
before the buds open strong mixture
,,of black leaf, in proportion of one part
black leaf TO thirty 1900 parts of wa
ter may be used, which will kill the
1 iiNt tSSS. IL ustu III llllS SlItuSlu
however, it must be applied early. in
the season before the enemies of the
plant lice appear or it will also kin
them which would be bad policy.
| Kerosene emulsion is Just as good
as black leaf If the water used is not
bard. Otherwise the alkali contained
in the water will separate the oil, thus
making part of the mixture too
strong for the good Of the trees.
| Whale oil soap, in proportion of one
pound TO three gallons of water, will
do nearly as well as black leaf.
Tanglefoot bands are sometimes
used around the trunk of the tree to
catch the aphids as they pass up and
down. This is very good as hundreds
even thousands, may be caught In this
way during the season. But the tan
glefoot should never be applied direct
ly 10 the bark of the tree as 1t will in
time decay the bark underneath the
tanglefent If used at all, band of
cotton should be fastened around the
tree, cover this with a strip of heavy
paper on which smeaf the tanglefoot
With this method the tree is not in.
jured
To get rid of the woolly aphis in
the ground around the tree. the soil
should have been prepared before
planting. The woolly aphis rarely goes
deeper in the ground than ten inches
To kill the aphis at the base of the
tree, dig out hollow that will hold
| about two or three gallons of black
leaf spraying material When this
fluid is thoroughly soaking in the
ground, fill in the hole with fresh earth
from between the rows. or course the
woolly aphis does not coniine itself to
the base of the tree, but feeds on the
roots some distance from the tree.
| There has been found no satisfactory
method of treating It there But a
tree having u loose subsol has the
advantage because the roots strike
deeper and the aphis Is rarely found
deeper than ten inches.