ORCHARD NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13815, 20 July 1918, Page 8

ORCHARD NOTES

♦ THE CODLIN MOTH. ( I'.y '' I 'l'll li us.'') I '(lining events cast their shadows lie fore, in all work ci ected with farms, orchards ur «■:»r<lt*iiK, we look far ahead, preparing fur llir future. UV considered grafting because if we ■1 c* no! prepare now, lln re \\ ill lie no scions for us when we want them. Meaiitiuie while wc are luisv will) winter work,

pruning, spraying, digging and 111:11111 r—iug, some readers might be interest 'd to learn for tlicinsoh es soinothing about Ihe codlin mot li. If \ our fruit has sii Ifered from codlin yon will have little ililliriilt v in discovering,' liis winter (|iiarters. A mature apple tree is t!i>' most likely, because it usually .ias coarse Hakes of hark raised at the o<\::vs. If you will prise oil this Hake of hark somewhere near the ground and closely examine it you will lind what looks like ii small spider's nest, usually in a small depression; hut they are beautifully cainoullaged ami a more cursory look is not likely to reward the search. (Quinces, pears, and even palings are not disdained by the codlin grub for winter quarters. Under such a piece of bark as just mentioned I have found half a dozen grubs wrapped in their cocoons. Without disturbing the cocoons, take a few and put them in a glass jar, ami tit' over it a piece of paper and prick a U i w small holes in it. Leave it on a shelf till spring and von will obtain a specimen of the moth. They may emerge in September of October. They are small and compact and generally dark gi'ey with a peacock eye on each wing but no colour. If your eyes are sharp you may let one go in the room and watch his Might, and when you have noted it you will readily recognise it in the orchard. There's no dilliculty about the codlin moth's (light. He is nearly as swift as a blue-bottlp and a past-master in the art of getting out of sight, so you may lose him. When tine winter is over we will consider the means of stopping his rcpredations. It can be done, though I believe more spray is wanted on this pest than 011 all the others.

Fungoid Diseases. I want to say a word or two about fungoid diseases. It must be confusing to the reader to hear of so many and various troubles threatening their plants and trees, hut we will simplify at oii'-e by saying that nearly all fungoids are incurable. They are preventable. They are microscopically small and only recognisable to scientific people, or by the harm they do. Their name is legion. They are allied to mushrooms, yeast, cheese making, milk turning sour, and the down that quickly covers forgotten scraps of food. They do wonderful service and great damage.. Where do they come from? They are round us in myriads. They travel underground, too, and winter in dead leaves or fruit or garbage. They atack flowers, fruits, Mid vegetables and at all seasons. Liebig and Pasteur differed in their opinions of fungoids; and the fact is we do not know much about them and are far from having any control over their increase. Our mild Winters are particularly suitable for their culture. So far as we fruit growers are concerned, all we can do is to prevent them by plastering our trees with chemicals, which make the tree so uncongenial as to no longer be a home for fungoids. Peaches suffer severely from fungoids and you may frequently verify this towards the end of winter by striking a sharp blow on a tree when you will notice a shower of buds falling. We know that if we can put either sulphur, Milestone or lime on a tree we can keep away fungoid blights and we can put these chemicals on the trees in full strength during the winter, and the effect will not be lost for a long time. So a peach tree sprayed when the leaves are falling, and again when the buds are swelling, year in and year out, ;s likely to be healthy and yield an improved crop. There are fungoids which attack ami spoil the fruit itself and render summer spraying necessary in many orchards, and I regret to say are spreading, but even one good winter spray has a good effect as a provention. Bordeaux spray is made by melting 101b of bluestone in .'!.') gallons of water and slaking 101b of lime and adding it all but the dregs, making 40 gallons altogether.