Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-07-03

WEAKENED " PARAsITEs.
MANY TREES WINTER KILLED
Orchards Afflicted with canksr and
othsr pissasss Should 10 Treated BY
Cutting Out Dsoaysd Portion and
Disinfsetant Applied - Methods Of
Treatment.

Special to Times Republican.
Ames, July Ben Davis and Gano
apple trees are dying In such large
numbers thruout Iowa this season that
the Iowa agricultural experiment sta
ton horticulturists. s. A. Beach and
Laurenx Greene. recently made thor
ough investigation Of the districts
most affected. They have just COM
pleted their preliminary report in
which they say that injury and death
of these fruit trees il due to num-
Der OF factors. chief OF which are can
kers and blight caused by various
parasitic diseases; the early fall freeze
of October. 1909; the late spring freeze
Of April, 1910: the dry season Of the
summer of 1910 followed by the cold
winter with comparatively light snow.
and the extreme drouth and heavy
crop production of 1911.
'All of these factors tended to
weaken the vitality of the trees" say
Messrs. Beach and Greene. land par
ticularly Of the older and less vigorous
ones, rendering them less able to with
stand the unusual and continued low
temperatures Of last winter. Those
orchards which had been well cared
for are showing less injury than neg
lected orchards and their trees are re-
more rapidly. Also. the
younger and more vigorous trees are
more rapidly; they were,
also less injured"
Weakened Tress Winter Killed.
IN general. those trees which were
previously weakened by disease or me-
chanfcal injury are showing the most
winter killing. This was especially
true in Fremont, Pottawattamie. Mills.
Iowa, Polk and Page counties, south OF
the Rock Island railway. where no case
of injury found was traceable to winter
killing alone. Here the blister canker'
or Illinois canker was the most COM
mon cause of injury and 1t Is con-.
sidered by the experiment station as q
very serious menace to Iowa orchards.
In recent bulletin issued by the sta
ton on new fungous growths In Iowa,
No. 131, there is a description Of this
disease. In Harrison and Woodbury.
counties, severe cold is the chief cause
Of trouble.
where orchards are afflicted with
canker or other disease. the diseased
wood should be cut out" advises Prof.
s.. A. Beach THAT should be done at
once. The cuts should extend back
well Into the healthy bark and wood.
The wounds should be thoroughly
cleaned and disinfected with any good
dtdnfecfant ~ formalin, Corrosive sub.
Innate copper sniphate. bordeaux mix
sture. or limo sulphur. and then covered
with paint. Directions for making
these mixtures are given in Bulletin
1877 which may be had without cost by
writing to the Iowa experiment station
at Ames for 1t.
Where the trees have been weak
ened. provide them with generous
and continuous supply Of food and the
soil mixtures necessary to make the
food available to the tree. This can
be done best by breaking up the sod
and keeping the soil well titled SO as
to form dust mulch at least three
inches deep. Whenever possible, apply
manure, especially where the slope is
too steep for cultivation. This will add
fertility and help to conserve moisture.
Such treatment will bring many trees
back into good condition and while it
may not produce results this season.
its beneficial effects will continue for a
good many years later"