ORCHARD NOTES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VIII, Issue 300, 21 November 1918, Page 7

ORCHARD NOTES

I (By G. Esain, Orchard Instructor.) SPRAYING. spraying for the control of eocllin moth must be included in the regular spraying routine. Apples, pears, I ami quinces should be sprayed at 1 | intervals of about three weeks with | ! arsenate of lead, two ounces of f paste w one ounce of powder, i to four gallons of water. Kemcml l>er. success follows only regular apf plications. Satisfactory control of a rbis pest is expected in all orchards 'of from one tree upwards. Neglect n to sprny. ami a very large proporta tion of the fruit; will be riddled with 9 eodlm grubs. It is safer to spray 9 the early fast-growing varieties of ! apples at intervals of fourteen clays. A sharp look-out must be kept for black spot on apples and pears. Spray on the first appearance of live j S fungus with Bordeaux, .‘libs bluestone, Iil»s lime, to 50 gallons of! ~ witter, or ]ime sulphur solution, 1 I part ly 100 parts water. | Mildew infected apples should I>e ■ sprayccl with lime sulphur, 1 part j ito JOO parts water, or atomic stil- ! p-iur, S to lOlbs to 100 gallons water. WOOLLY APHIS. i I This pest is well known, fortu- ! ; natcl.v ils ravages in the orchard ' are confined to apple trees. It is now breeding and increasing at a i greaf rate, particularly on the older i parts of the tree. A big effort I ; should be made to keep it off the • young growth. The present time is I a good season to spray for its sum- 1 I o'er control. The foliage of the ■ tree is not too dense, and the affected parts can with more cer--1 ia’nty be reached. Concentrated

nicotine sulphate, known as Black, , Leaf 40, used in the proportion of 1 i I i>art to &00 parts of water, will be found about the most effective spray. ; The addition of 2 to 31bs of soft 1 soap to every 100 gallons of spray I will . increase the penetrating pro- • nertics of the nicotine. Arsenate of lead in the usual proportions can also be combined with this spray, but. soap must not be used along with arsenate of lead. Howler, at this season I do not think it advisable to combine (with arsenate of j lead- Concentrate the spray on the. | annis infected parts, maintaining a high pressure. A good coarse driving stream from the spray nozzle ■ is also essential. THINNING FRUIT. j The ideal of every grower should l>e ‘‘quality” in preference to quan- j niy. Any operation that assists in tho building nn of this ideal shonlrt bo carefully carried out. Thinning plays a prominent part in the production of high-c’ass fruit : this applies equally to apples and pears as ; well as stone fruits. For the pre- ' si-nt confine tho operation to apri-I cots, peaches, nectarines and plums, j Let consider the function of the , iree i'i connection with thinning. I During the summer the energy of; the tree is spent in—(1) the produe-,

tiori of wood growth; (2) the pro- , dticiion of fruit spurs; Ci) the delelopmcnt and maturing of the crop. It is essential that these | three great functions go on in consistant proportion one to the oilier. I Otherwise the normal development' of the tree is disturbed. The development and maturing'of the crop is the heaviest drain on the tree’s resources. This drain is greatest at the. stoning period, therefore any thinning or reduction in crop should , he done if possible before this stage •is reached. Get the idea fixed in your niind that a heavy setting of limit means reta riled wood growth and spur de.veiopmeat, and then tainning will be more consistently and systematically carried out. To sum up. it. can be. said thinning not only induces more high-class fruit, but also is a great- factor in assisting 'ihc normal development of the j 1 binning of stone fruits should bo i ‘•■inaneneed at once, and completed : before the stone hardens. A reliable iiidii-ation cannot be given as to bow much Hpii a tree can normally vairv ; tills can be judged only by expvtii-m-f. It- is a wise policy to thin hard rather than lightly. IVith sione fruit.s quality goes with size, therefore aim at getting good-sized rattier Hi an medium and small h iiiut.s. The former will be more remunerative and give a larger re- 1 Turn j-cr tree. No definite rule can 1 <■:? lai.i down as to the actual method 1 of i iiinmn-,- br-yond saying that, all , pen hes ami uectarints should he ( wi-1) -paced, allots ing, v. here t-’»e ' fuiit. lets set- w-11. a good baud’s spim-.' bet v. ton the fruits. Aim at . leaving the fruit at the base rather than at the tip of the laterals. As ' a pr-went r.c mcnsiire against brown rot tio ITniis should lie left touching , or .it r’lcii a <.b-,t.ancc that they will ' touch when the fruits swell am! ‘ riin’ii. Moisture hohls at the point of cmii.cei of two f/iiits, and it. is } vi'.ry otien here that- infection starts. ! TP \ J.XING YOUXG TRF.IiS. J Much can be done at the present tiau: in -the training of young trees, j growth is now free, and will follow - l«Tina:ic:ii ly tee direction the shoot I now takes. The ymnig shoots are I

uc>’.v fairly firmly fixed a> the bate! aijd the danger of dis’ealgurnnt liy wind is fie.irly past. Tl’jr object of* priming now, or to be. more correct, the removal of surplus wood, is io concentrate (he en-Tg.v of the tree in those par’s 'vhidi are left permanently <0 build up the framework. An example will bring the point out more dearly. Supposing hveirt s'ln’its start on a tree, all in an upright or leading direction. Six of > these shoots are in undesirable posi- j tions, and would be cut out in win - i t.-r pruning. The tree is called upon h to develop and mature these useless ’ shoots. If taken out iti summer the j energy required for (he production 1 of these shoots would have gone : into tlie remaining shoots which 1 would have developed correspond- ; iugly greater growth. Hence it can ; lie seen that the tree can be built , up and developed more quickly by , judicious thinning of surplus shoots 1 tn summer. i; be wiii deal with one-year-old : apple trees first, tnc.-c arc trees ( 1 tnat were planted this spring. They j ’ wiij have made anything from two |! to eigiit shoots. i'nree of these, 11 perhaps four, if (hey are well spacca i arc sitflieien;. to leave the iirst. sea- ;i M.ii. isprwe the rrrus as well as 1 pos-iblf arid endeavour t.i open tno j centre of -lie tree even it it means 1 ciitlmg aw*y the strongest shoots.;. Those'tha., remain wid soon come j alone. Cut. off any spurs or laterals'’ arc <ii.-veiup:tig on the trunk j be ow the head. Two year planted ij <rees treat similarly. On these k force the centre open aymuca asp possible leaving six to eight well;, spaced leaders. Cut away entirely It jatera’i or side -hoots, eoncen- < trating all growth 111 the leading) -.hoots. Cut out all surplus leading! shooting on three and four year I old trees. Do not crowd the ' leaders. A good many lateral or ' rid? shoots will have developed on ( these trees. Do not touch those on the outside of the tree, but strong ones in the centre should be checked } or ent out entirely. A sharp knife t should be used for the work, par- J I r.-'ii;> rd .m apf'des. If h 1? fdiOOtS »«

1 are broken off on these trees it 'leaves a jagged wound which is an invitation to woolly aphis to make a home. Treat pears and plums similarly to apples. The removal of surplus shoots on pears is also a very helpful operation. CURRANT BUSHES. Red and white currants bear fruit on spurs, or two-year-old wood while black currants produce their crop on one-year-old wood. Encourage new growth on black currants but do not- allow the bushes to get dense. Later on when the crop is gathered a good deal more opening up can be done by removing a. goodly portion of the present fruiting or two-year-old wood. Train red and white currants with an open centre. Remove.'surplus leaders and any misplaced side shoots. Suppress strong growing laterals or side shoots, leaving three or four leaves on each.