Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-08-26

summer the director plans to visit the
farms chosen for the demonstration
work at least once In two weeks. There
Is vast difference between going into q
section and delivering lecture and send
ing man who every two weeks must
must face his own work in an orchard.
II 1t is worth while for the United
States TO train large body of men to
discover agricultural truths, isn't u
worth while to take these discovered
truths out and put them at work? We
need plan to do this. Lectures and
bulletins spread the truth but this extern
sion work puts 1t at work; vast dif-
ference.
The University of Maine became inter-
ested in this farm demonstration work
about four years ago. 1t was unable to
cover the entire state therefore four
counties, Oxford, Cumberland, Kennebec
and Washington, were selected for the
work. The General Education Board
furnish funds to pay the bills but it Is
hoped it will prove 80 successful that the
people of Maine will ask the legislature
to furnish funds necessary to extend it
to all the Maine counties.
This work in the south where 1t has
been longest in practice shows results
that we cannot afford to overlook. Pre-
vious to this work in its boarders the
State of Louisiana alone was purchasing
sixty million bushels of corn from out
side whereas last year they had eighty
million bushels to sell.
Already we are getting results beyond
the demonstration farm itself. Our
plan is to make it an object lesson to
the farmers. The object is to educate
all the farmers; to set scientific farming
up and at work in community in such
a way that it shall spread from orchard
to orchard and from farm to farm. Un-
less it accomplishes this the work Is not
worth while. II it fails to take the agri-
cultural truths that have been discovered
and actually put them at work ON the
farm, do not hesitate to say that 1t Is
failure.
An adjournment was here taken for
dinner and picnic parties were scattered
about the lawns and fields surrounding
the we'll kept buildings Of the Case Farm.
Mr.. Case had generously provided hot
coffee for the multitude and transpor-
tation and a very nice dinner at the farm
house for the speakers and reporters.
1t was Ia fine social time with ideal
weather and an ideal place and every
body was given the most cordial welcome
by the host.
At one O'Clock the exercises in the
big barn were resumed and Prof. Darrow
Assistant Horticultural at the College
of Agriculture was introduced as the
first speaker. Prof. Darrow said that be
had been accused of being "a crank on
fruits" and that he would be obliged to
plead guilty to the accusation. Some
one in the audience had told the Pro-
lessor that they had put out an orchard
of a hundred Ben Davis trees which
prompted him to tell the story of the
expert who declared that he could tell
the variety of any apple by
the taste and smell. Various varieties
having been identified by the expert in
this way the plan was conceived to cut
an apple shaped object out of cork and
saturate it with the juice as far as pos
sible of a Ben Davis. 1t was then
passed to the expert, who after long
examination with much smelling and
tasting announced: Eyes, that is Ben
Davis. but it's the best Ben Davis | ever
aten' :.
Prof Darrow then gave an extended
address upon the subject of spraying,
giving the formulsr of the different
kinds of sprays and much valuable
information that was OF too
much detail for the newspaper reporters
to grasp and retain and If the farmers
did 80 they have more retentive memo
ries than the writer. The Professor
showed that the results OF spraying
were most beneficial; that of thirty
orchards selected for a test, OF which
ope-half were sprayed and the other left
unsprayed, the sprayed orchards netted
An income of SIPS per acre as against
sSl per acre in those unsprayed.
He divided the orchard pests into
three groups, the chewing group, like
/ be caterpillar, etc., which are sprayed
with arsenates. The sucking group,
like plant lice, etc, to be sprayed with
contact insecticides, and the fungus
group, like black rot or canker, to be
sprayed with fungicides. These, he
could be combined 30 as to con-
troll the pests with less number OF ap.
plications than would otherwise be
necessary. He advocated the first spray
ing Just before the leaves come out
Just as the buds begin to swell; the
second before the buds open but just as
they are showing pink; third just as
the petals fall and generally fourth two
or three weeks after the third; some
times fifth spraying four or five weeks
after the fourth.
Here the Professor went on to define
the different orchard pests: The cod
ding moth, bud moth, apple maggot or
railroad worm, plant lice, tent cater
piller, blister mite, apps tree oorer, ETC.,
and the diseases of apples such as s?nle
scab, which bs declared caused more
loss on the price of apples than any
other fungus giving formulas for the
various sprays needed.
Prof. barrow also spoke briefly on
the culture and treatment of raspber-
RES The red raspberry requires medi'
um loan soil reteutive of moisture;
northern moist slope he pronounced
best; plant about three by ak feet apart;
harvest the berries in pint rather than
quart baskets and ship in crates to pre-
vent settling and jamming the fruit:
The treatment of black raspberres and
blackberries were also discussed briefly.
Prof. Yeaton was the next speaker and
gave a very interesting talk on orchard:
ing. Referring to the Ben Davis story OF
former speaker, he said: II you
already have an orchard OF this variety
let it alone, for "there are always fools
enough to buy the Ben Davis" The
most important thing in orcharding said
Prof. Yeaton is the selection of a loca-
ton. II you are forty miles from
market or shipping point you have
disadvantage that you can never over.
or make it pay. Look also to the soil
for good soil is great factor toward
success. We have got to use scientific
methods and produce more apples to
the acre rather than look for more price
per barrel. Most soil will produce fair
crop of apples without fertilizers If 1t
has cultivation, but fertilization with