Daily Kennebec journal., 1914-02-21
Orchard inspecting.

ing of the society should prove in
teresting.
Orchard inspecting.
Because of our lack of sufficient
force. this phase OF work has neces-
sarily been more or less neglected.
AS much time as possible however
was devoted to this inspection which
vas often done in connection with
other work They are also feahzihg'
that in order TO successfully combat
orchard pests of various kinds they
must be more careful and thorough III
their applications and that the work
must be done within d relatively Inn
tied period.
Great quantities of lodse bark have
been carefully removed from old trees
this year and the work Of removing
canker has been more thoroughly and
effectively carried on. More pruning
has been done, especially in opening
I'D the trees so that there is better
aeration, more sunlight and better
shape to the trees,
scab.
while it has been generally be-
lieved that early infections OF scab
have been due to the spores Whlch
come from the leaves under the trees,
we know more through the work Oh
DR.. Morse at the experiment station
that such infection may also be traceu
to those spores which have galnec
foot-hold on the twigs and water
sprouts In great many places sucn
infected twigs were discovered last
summer, mainly on the Mcintosh,
Fameuse and Milding
Experiments have shown that the
dormant spray of lime-sulphur IS very
essential under these conditions ana
that later application without 1t are
not entirely efficient The genera
damage done this year by the seap Is
mot as great as has been the case
in many previous seasons, particularly
that of last year. This may be at
rtibuted TO a great extent TO weather
conditions which were not advantage
ous TO its growth. Trees showing the
largest amount of infection were US
ua1Iv in orchards where the damage
last wear was very great and where
many apples together with the foliage
were left on the ground. trees Witch
were thick and covered with numerous
| and large leaves SalIei0u iS
those we'll pruned.
"Scab was present in some orchafds
where thorough spraying with lime
SULPHUR was done and it has led more
and more definitely to the eenelusloh
| that lime sulphur in itself is not sun
cient and that it must be supplanteu
nv some other. material. that IS, bor
doaux mixture. Bordeaux mixture
causes russeting of fruit and burning
of foliage when applied after the pet
ais fall or later in the season. Con
seouentlv we have recommended the
use of bordeaux at the time the blos-
som buds are showing pink and llfne-
sblph,lr for the dormant spray after
the petals fall and any applications
thereafter
San Jose Scale.
"The appcarance of new areas at
fected with San Jose scale, within the
borders of the state, has been nofed
nv the bureau during the past year.
! A serious infestation has been dis
covered in a previously thriving peach
orchard, owned by H. P. Abbott IN
the town of Eliot. Some u acres were
found dying and the scale was aoun-
dant on both leaves and fruit, as We'll
as on the woody portions OF the trees
In this case, all infested trees We're
ordered burned at once and a careful
watch will be kept on the fruit trees
in that vicinity.
.This infestation would seem to in
dicate that the fruit interests of the
state were seriously threatened by
this destructive pest for there are
several localities in the State where
trees have been killed by this dreaded
scale. A careful review Of the cases
which have come to the observation
of this bureau show that all orchard
lists and nurserymen must be on the
alert for the appearance of this ap-
parently insignificant, little insect.
However. there is an encouraging
factor which needs to be brought TO
the attention of fruit men. So far as
can be determined, all infestation OF
San Jose scale have developed from