The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-10-21
FUNGUS PRUNING
ADVICE CRITICISED

Recommendation by local branch oi
State Experiment Stationl
Attention should now be directed to
wards the control Of apple tree an
thrscnose. Bordeaux, $3.50, is the
standard material to use in its control
and il should be applied as soon as
the APPLES are off The spores become
active after the early fall rains and 1t
IS therefore essential that the trees be
given this protection as soon as possi-
bic.
In last weeks issue of the Glacier
there appeared a very misleading atti-
Gle relative to the control OF so called
fungus or apple scab, and which can
not be too severely criticised. From
the statements contained in this article
il is clearly demonstrated that the
author is wholly ignorant of the first
principles of plant pathology, Of the
life history and habits of the disease in
question and Of the fail spraying oper-
ations that have been in vogue at Hood
River during the past eight or ten
years. Accurate information relative
TO habits and control OF disease are
often hard to understand by the lay
man. and when confused by misstate-
ments of the type in question, the
truth is bound to suffer, 1t IS undoubt-
edIy with the best of intentions that
these articles are published and If ac-
curate they would be Of benefit to
the growers. In the future, therefore.
would it not be best to have these
statements examined by someone ia.
miliar with the subjects discussed be-
fore they are put into print?
Fall spraying with Bordeaux has no
value as a means Of controlling apple
scab, but must be used at this time of
the year to prevent infection by an
thracnose. "prune the diseased limb
and burn il" is a statement made in
last weeks article for the control of
apple scab The author has confused
the diseases, apple scab and anthrac-
nose. Cutting out limbs diseased with
anthracnose is very important and
must be attended to before spraying
in the fall. Apple scab is occasionally
found on the twigs in the northWest-a
single tree was found SO infected in
the Hood River valley this summer
hut this tpye of infection is very rare
and pruning therefore as recommended
is valueless.
Numerous inquiries have recently
been made relative to the control of
wUOIly aphis, an insect which is rapid
" increasing in numbers in many orch
ards in the valley Woolly aphis, where
it occurs in sufficient numbers as to be
considered pest, cannot be eradicated
with a single spray or even two or
three il can be controlled with per-
haps two sprays year, using mlscl-
bic oil spray during the dormant sea
son, preferably in the spring before
the buds burst, followed by the use of
tobacco in combination with some of
the spring or summer applications, de-
pending upon the season at which the
pest becomes numerous IN the orchard.
Where the iufestation is now very Sc
vete it would he well to make fall
ard spring application of the oil, The
materials that are most efficient are
known as miscible oils; crude oil will
give good results, but has not proven
to be as efficient as the more refined
material. There is no local supply on
hand at the present time. This has
been ordered and will be ON hand
shortly,