WORK FOR THE COMING MONTH.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XVII, Issue 2, 20 August 1918, Page 110

WORK FOR THE COMING MONTH.

THE ORCHARD.

It is well recognized that the carrying-out of fruit-tree spraying and other orchard-work largely depends on special conditions. General information' may be given on the subject, but such advice must be varied more or less to meet the conditions applying. ' How and when such variations should apply must be largely left to the. judgment of the operator. " Local conditions have also to be taken into account, and a readjustment made accordingly. ''' ' ■ - . ■ Although it is impossible to forecast. the weather or to give definite advice to meet unknown conditions, it has. been considered possible to make available something, more definite with regard to local conditions in these monthly notes of advice, and reminder for orchard-work. With this in view Orchard Instructors of Auckland, Hawke’s Bay,(Nelson; Canterbury, and Otago will, for a time at least, contribute brief notes on the work of-the coming month in connection with their respective districts. < ' ■

Special notes for Otago, unfortunately, do not appear in this issue owing to the Instructor of that district having just gone into military camp and his successor not having yet been appointed.

' September is a most important month for the orchardist. With the dormant season over ■ and the ■ advent ■of warmer weather a large amount of work of the greatest consequence requires attention. This includes the finishing-up of any unfinished planting or pruning, the general clearing-up of prunings and rubbish, late winter and early spring sprayings, application of manures, ploughing and digging, and grafting.* —J.- A. Campbell, Assistant Director of the Horticulture Division.

AUCKLAND.

. Orchardists are reminded that the first week or two of September affords their last opportunity for carrying out initial season’s sprayings, as nearly all our varieties of peaches, plums, apricots; and pears, and several varieties of apples, burst their blossom-buds during this month. One spraying, using the correct formula, at this time is worth half a dozen put on at weaker strength later. It is imperative, therefore, that those growers who have not yet completed their pruning operations should do so at the earliest opportunity. When clearing up in the orchard preparatory to commencing cultivation, orchardists (and especially stone-fruit growers) are advised, on account of the prevalence of brownrot and other fungus diseases in the Auckland District,' to destroy all prunings and rubbish by burning. . "

Manuring : Owing to existing war conditions, prices for orchard manures generally have increased considerably since last spring. Nevertheless, every orchardist is aware to what extent soil-depletion takes place annually throughout his orchard, and this must be replaced if production-is to be maintained. Manures should be turned under the surface as soon as possible after application in early spring.

Cultivation : ’ Every effort should be made to complete ploughing before .the end of the month. The heavy growth of Lotus angus'tissimus in early 7 spring in the Auckland District, together with the probability of the surface soil becoming too har'd should dry weather set in early, necessitates the early completion of this work when labour allows. - ■■■' .- J; "■>

Brown-rot : A further series of experiments for the control of brown-rot of stone-fruits is being carried out this season on four orchard blocks at Henderson, the local fruitgrowers’ association co-operating with the Department for this purpose. Self-boiled lime-sulphur will, be tested on these plots this season. Any orchard:s’: requiring information regarding this preparation is advised to communicate with the local Orchard-Instructor. ■ \ ’-.

Spraying : Orchardists troubled with scale and other sucking-insects should have done their oil-spraying by the end of August, and are warned to exercise great care if applying the same now.

Spraying is recommended for the month as follows Peach, nectarine, and plum : Colour bud (when blossom-buds show pink) bordeaux, 8-6-40 ; when three-fourths bloom-petals dropped, ’and again when fruit has bordeaux, 2-3-50, or lime-sulphur, 1-120. • : •

Pear, apple, and . quince : . When buds are swelling bordeaux, 1 .8-6-40 ; cluster-bud (when blooms are showing bordeaux, 6-4-50-. ■ ■ ' - Lemon and orange :' Before, young October growth commencesbordeaux, 5-4-40. . . —J. W. Collard, Orchard Instructor, Auckland.

HAWKE’S BAY

• Peaches : During the last half of July the weather was extremely cold, and if it continues so stone-fruit trees. will bloom much later than-usual. It is possible that at the time these notes appear it will not be too late to spray for leaf-curl and incidentally, brown-rot and other fungus diseases. Bordeaux is the best fungus . preventive, 8-6-40 being the weakest strength that it is advisable to use: If San Jose scale is present, and oil has not been used, it would be better to use lime-sulphur, 1-15. This spray will not control ! curl as well as bordeaux.

' ■ Plums : Spraying of these fruits is much neglected in Hawke's Bay, particularly in regard to English varieties. ■ The latter are often - defoliated by plumrust by the end of January. Preventive measures ’ should: be taken at the time of bud-movement' in the spring. The cluster-bud. period is the best • time to ■commence spraying, using bordeaux, 6-4-50, at this stage. This will also act as .a control against brown-rot .and shot-hole fungus. ' . ■ ■ Cultivation of ■ stone-fruits :. Ploughing of ’ this section of the orchard should be completed as early’ as possible,’ the idea being -to bury the small prunings, : &c., that have been'missed in gathering. .*. Many of these carry ■ disease, particularly brown-rot fungus, and should be covered by the time the trees show activity in the spring. . . • ’

7 Apples : The dormant season offers special advantages for fighting San Jose scale, red mite, and mealy bug. At the present time red-oil emulsion is the best remedy. It is essential in good orchard-management that all apples should be : sprayed with this material at a strength that will do the desired work. Red mite will be the most prevalent of the diseases mentioned and the hardest to kill in the winter-egg stage. Apply oil at a strength, not weaker than 1-10 to prevent the eggs hatching. If the"'trees'show signs of bud-movement the oil must be reduced to 1-15. . The former strength might do injury at this stage. Endeavour to spray sufficiently •early ,to use the stronger strength. As soon .as . the trees commence to develop their fruit-buds into blossoms direct action must, be-, taken against. fungus diseases, of. which black-spot and mildew are the most prevalent’. Trees subject to .blackspot, such as Dougherty, should be sprayed with 7 bordeaux, 6-4-50, when they reach the cluster-bud stage. This application is most important, and should not be neglected if successful control of this disease is expected. Varieties such as Jonathan, .which are subject to mildew and not troubled to any extent with black-spot, would .be better sprayed at this stage with lime-sulphur, 1-25,; or atomic sulphur,. 10 lb. to 12 lb. to 100 gallons. . Do not omit -these sprays.; they are most essential. ' ' ’

Pears : These fruits are subject to the same insect’pests as the apple and should have a similar oil-dressing. A weaker strength may be —say, 1-12 where 1-10 is used on apples. The cluster-bud spraying of pears is most important, and on Nelis, Josephine, P. Barry, and some other . varieties is indispensable. Many growers will recollect the shrivelling-up ■of the blossoms, which

in bad cases made the trees appear as though scorched by fire. My investigations showed that this is readily controlled by bordeaux,. 8-6-40, when applied in cluster-bud. For this particular trouble I think a spray at tight-cluster will give the best results. Pears as a whole are more subject than apples to black-spot, but the treatment is similar. Do not miss the cluster-bud bordeaux spray. ;. . ■ < . '. . —G. Esam, Orchard Instructor, Hastings. .

NELSON

. . . Spraying : During September some of the more important spray applications have to be made, and the importance of the time of application cannot be stressed too much. It is necessary to cover the trees with a protective fungicide before the first flight of winter spores emerge. Experience in this district indicates on apple and pear trees that early September, before the buds start, is usually the best time for applying .the . first' fungus-spray, more particularly for black-spot fungus. For this purpose lime-sulphur, 32 0 , 1-10, is suitable in most cases, but where -black-spot fungus has been troublesome in the past, bordeaux, 8-6-40, should be used. Cultivation : The orchard cover-crop will mature during the month and require turning in. This is an important operation, as a great deal of the value of the cover-crop depends on the work being done well. A chain is of great assistance in thoroughly ploughing in the crop one end should be attached to the head of the plough and the other to the beam, in such a way that a loop drags by the mouldboard and holds the crop while the furrow is being turned. A special attachment for the plough can be purchased which , does this work very well. The amount of injury done to the lower branches of orchard-trees by the plough, and the constantly repeated statement of the need to cut away the lower branches of lateral-bearing trees because of the difficulty of ploughing, requires consideration. A special orchard-plough should be used for the first few turns round the trees, and it should be properly set with the handles to one side. The quietest horse in the team should be chosen for this work, and he should be harnessed with leather traces and " spider ” harness to support them ; a very short spreader is necessary, and to do away with the damaging hooks it is all the better if the traces come round the ends of the swingletree before being fastened. After these few rounds a light double-furrow plough can be used to advantage. Considerable damage is done by deep ploughing in . the • orchard; the finer feeding-roots are not much below 5 in. from , the surface in a well-conditioned orchard, and to cut them away is a big loss. Manuring : Where large crops are being harvested it is reasonable to manure the trees, especially stone-fruits. Chemical manures generally are best applied at the time of the spring ploughing. As the roots of bearing trees fully cover the 18 ft. or 20 ft. of space between the orchard rows, manures may be applied over the whole surface, with a drill or special broadcasting-machine. Heavy-cropping sorts, like Rokewood, Sturmer, and Jonathan, and , most stone-fruit, will require special consideration. ■ - . -

Grafting :.... Most orchards require some attention in this respect. One of the most important factors for success is performing the operation at the right time —namely, after the trees have started into growth. This is usually about the end of September here. Stocks should be prepared by heading them down some few weeks beforehand. —W. C. Hyde, Orchard 1 Instructor, Nelson.

CANTERBURY.

" Oil-spraying for the control of sucking-insects, such as woolly aphis, mussel scale, San Jose scale, red mite, mealy bug, &c., that has not been attended to in August may be continued up till about the middle of September. Pruning and planting, which, owing to the bad weather experienced, will be all behind, may be ; continued, but should be pushed on with as much rapidity as possible. Towards the latter end of the month will be the most suitable time for reworking any unsuitable varieties of apples and pears. There are various, methods of grafting, but rind-grafting will give a good result, and is much quicker than any other method. Trees to be reworked should be at once roughly cut back—say, to within 4 ft. of the ground—and then cut back again to the desired height for working when the operation is to be performed. The scions for grafting, if not already taken off, should be at once cut and heeled in, either . in. sand or soil that is not overwet, in a shady situation.

The critical period is now at hand for the control of fungoid diseases for the season. Stone-fruit trees usually commence blooming in Canterbury about the middle of the month, and it is therefore necessary to carefully watch the several varieties coming to what is called the “ pink ” stage. This is just before the blooms open, when bordeaux should be applied. A second spray of lime-sulphur should be applied when the blossoms have nearly all fallen. Spring spraying of bordeaux for the control of black-spot of apple and pear should be applied when the clusterbuds appear and are showing colour, followed by a summer formula when the fruit has set. Pears and apples do not usually come to bloom in this district until the last week of September.

Thorough cultivation is necessary at this time of the year to prevent the loss of soil-moisture. If the orchard has been ploughed in autumn I would not advise cross-ploughing, but simply disking or cultivating the surface. If no ploughing has taken place I would recommend ploughing at once, so that all growth and rubbish can be turned in before the trees commence to bloom, followed with

light cultivation.

W. J. Courtier,

Orchard Instructor, - Christchurch.

' ■ * For details of grafting methods see special article in Journal for September, 1916,