Norwich bulletin., 1916-02-05
PROVE


thing else, and an event which occurs
not only after, but because of some
thing else. The chance happening may
never happen again in that connection,
because it is only happening and
not inherently related to the before
follows cause will always follow it,
step by step and line by line, with
mathematical accuracy. If it doesn't
sometimes seem to, the difficulty is in
our ignorance, not in the event. We
may not always see all the causes at
work. That's our misfortune or our
fault. They're there just the same, and
we have no more excuse for denying
them than we would have for denying
the existence of the Alps because we
can't see them from anywhere in New
London county.
Does all this seem pretty dull and
stupid talk to farmers? I'm moved to
it by a recent bulletin of the New
York Agricultural Experiment station,
which has been investigating the eff
feet of various dressings on pruning
wounds of fruit trees.
For nobody knows how many years
self styled tree experts have been adj
viSing the use of various paints and
other coatings over the wounds made
in orchard pruning, as protection to
the exposed surfaces. 1t has been
the attacks of fungi on the raw cuts,
hindered drying and rot and helped
the healing process. And thousands of
orchardiSts, who wanted to be good to
their trees and to give them every
help possible, have taken for granted
that these assertions were correct and
this advice deserving of obedience.
Some years ago it occurred to the
managers of the New York station to
this painting over of pruning wounds.
So they took a set of trees, apple and
peach, and put them through their
PAGES. Some they left for months and
then painted. Some they pruned and
painted in the spring. In every case
they treated from three to four wounds
on tree and left an equal number on
the same tree untreated, as a check.
They used. in order, the various sub
stances variously recommended by
various experts, i. e. white lead,
white zinc, yellow ochre, coal tar,
shellac and avenarius carboIineum.
The results, after four years watch
ing of the tested trees, are illuminat-
ing. The testers report that in all
cases undressed pruning wounds have
healed more quickly than those whose
surfaces have been protected Shell
lac seemed to do the least harm of any
and ochre and avenarius carbolineum
the most. These last two caused so
much injury that neither should ever
be used On the whole there is
nothing to show in this experiment
that it is worth while to treat wounds,
large or small, of apple trees with any
of the substances in common use. AS
to peaches: THE treatment of peach
tree wounds with any of the sub
stances under experiment caused so
much injury that it may be said that
the wounds of the Sh
be treated with any of them"
New York happens to be one of the
great apple states of the union, and it
was natural that everything connected
with the industry should be of special
interest there But there are quite a
few apple trees in little old Connec-
cut, and more than a few peach trees
The findings of these New York ex-
periments will be of interest to a good
many people in this sister state.
For myself, 1 humbly and contritely
plead guilty to having fallen into the
very error am now preaching
against Because the o-called tree
experts" had advised painting wounds
made by the pruning saw 1 had taken
1t for granted" that they must know
and that I ought to follow their lead.
So I've painted over lots of pruning
wounds. Not all for sometimes I'd
find myself out of paint, and some
times I've been too dunn lazy. I adj
init, frankly, that Pvesnever seen any
good from the practice and that my
enthusiasm for it has gradually cooled
down with the years. I've rather per-
functorily ascribed my apparent fail
ures either to my own inexpertness
or to poor quality of paint. Yet, when
the practice is subjected to a really
acid test, it turns out that the highly
expert faculty of the station with the
very best of paints to use can't find
any value in the practice, but do find
some damage caused by it.
I'm not going to be so mighy modest
and humble about my. own observa-
lions, another timeI
The experime nters admit, merely as
a possibility not yet disproved, that a
longer observation than four years on
very large wounds might, perhaps"
show some prevention of rot due to
the use of paint
Well, I've just been out looking over
my few apple trees. And the very