The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-07
By F. F. ROCKWELL
Author of "Around the Year in the Garden and 'rNIaI<tng a Garden
 of Small Fruits," etc.

It may be true that Hooks are not everything" But when 1t comes to fruit, you can be sure that without good looks you haven't got good quality A neglected, brushy, diseas- ed tree cannot bear good fruit; q ,scabby, wormy apple, or a half-starv- ed peach cannot have the quality it should.
 You may not be able to get quite as high color on your home grown fruits as they do in some of the west ern orchards, but you can get as good | quality-with the added advantage of having 1t stay on the tree until 1t should be picked. Home grown fruit, like home grown vegetables, should be better than you can buy. { To get quality in fruit, however, 1t | Is necessary to take pains to grow it right. If you are not willing to spend a few hours on the trees, better not bother with them at all Without attention the results will be so poor ithat it would be better to devote the space to something else.
 Dwarf trees, which are to be found 1 now on many small places, have both advantages and disadvantages as ;conpared to the standards. In the iflrst place they need better care; they are more likely to overbear; they Ew4nEnot keep to the dwarf shape if all flowed to grow as they please; they IAre5not as hardly and robust most standards, But they yield a great deal sooner. they are very much more easily cared for as all work can be tdone from the ground, and really fine fruit can be produced with more cer- tainty than on large trees.
 After the early spring spraying t(described in a former article) a sec ond spray should be given. The time for this is as soon as the bees stop visiting the blossoms, and before the :Calyces Cleft by the falling petals) have closed
 This spray Is especially to control the CodIin moth, which is the source of ''wormy" fruit. For this arsenate of lead is used. Usually a fungicide is used with it, as prevention against fungus diseases, therefore a combined arsenate of lead and Bordeau spray is generally employed; or a sulphur spray with calcium arsenate may be employed If aphis are present add nicotine sulphate to the spray.
 This spraying should be repeated again in about fourteen days.
 About four weeks later Cor six weeks after the petals fal) repeat this spray again. This is necessary because there is a second brood of the Codlin Moth about seven weeks after the first If there is any sign of diseased foliage, or of fruit rot, an even later spraying of Bordeaux mixture will pay.
 All this applies to apples, pears and quinces- For peaches, plums and cherries, spray with a summer lime ryrNIv .I,,yy- lead, just as the ''shucks," or remains of the blossoms, are ready to fall from the newly formed fruit. Repeat every three or four weeks, up to with In a month of harvest.
 This may seem like a good deal of trouble, but in reality 1t will take only a few minutes to a tree, each time- Of course the spray must be applied with considerable force, es- pecially into the open ca1yces, to be effective. A small compressed air sprayer, or good bucket pump, will gdo the business. Thorough spraying Is the only way to make sure of good fruiti ot5-t tsS.
 Dwarf trees, after the first few years, may have a tendency to set too much fruit. This is bad for the fruit and bad for the tree. But it gives the gardner an opportunity, to have only perfect fruit, because in thinning any specimens that are at all spot ted or blemished may be removed. With dwarf trees thinning is an eas3 task; even with standard trees it is not very difficult work, but mainly a question of getting at it.
 The first object in thinning is to leave only so much fruit as can be well supported by the tree. Many cr1rdanare hri, pinch or cut out a large part of the crop of little apples or peaches which may have set. But it is a mistake not to do it. The tree cannot bring all to perfect maturity anyway. If they are all left on at the beginning, the result is that when about half grown many of them will fall off any way, but those remaining will have been half starved, and can never be as fine as they would have been If they had all the nourishment the tree could give.
 In thinning every care should be taken to keep the fruits that are left as evenly distributed as possible. Take out the weakest specimens from each cluster, leaving the remainder so they will not touch or crowd. The sooner this can be done after the first drop of the fruit the better. As the crop grows, 1t may be necessary to take out more. There is little danger of overdoing the thing Most trees, outside of commercial orchards are not more than half-fed. As a rule, the vegetables and flowers ot the home place get much better at- tention. so far as meals are concerned than the fruit trees.
 A tree that is maturing full cror of fruit. and at the same time pro- ducing a good growth of new wood naturally requires abundant nourish- ment. and plenty of moisture in the soil. This means fertilizing and cul- tivation.