OCR Text |
Show mon than a few years ago. Where there is a considerable orchard it is not safe to neglect it these days. One tree might become badly infested with scale and enough be bred to Infest the entire orchard. Spraying gives a certain cer-tain amount of insurance. The winter spray also helps hold In check such diseases as bitter rot of apple, brown rot of the peach, cherry and plum. Spores of some of these diseases are likely to be left over on mumlfied fruit or on the trees and spraying with a strong concentrated formula will destroy many of the spores aid reduce the danger of the disease. Even where one has but a few trees spraying is apt to be necessary as no one can tell what the season may bring as to insects and diseases. A small spraying outfit is sufficient for a few trees, but where one has a large orchard a power sprayer will be needed. HOfvIE ORCHARD TREES KNOWN AS BOARDERS Some Farmers Could Profitably Pull Up Some of Most Undesirable Unde-sirable Varieties. (By T. O. MORRISON, State Horticultural Horticul-tural Commissioner of Washington.) The home orchard has not been of any particular importance up to the present time in our state so far as supplying sup-plying any great quantity of fruit for the commercial trade is concerned. It has been quite commonly an object of the farmer to plant trees of several varieties, In order to secure for his family and hired help sufficient fruit for the season's supply. Generally these orchards have yielded plentifully, plentiful-ly, and in many cases, after coming Into bearing, have proved to be larger than was necessary. Since they were not intended to produce fruit for the LltlUC, Lxici.tr til c uuv oumc yjt. Ill 11J double the size required to furnish the family fruit supply. It would therefore there-fore seem that some farmers could pi ..tably pull up some of their home orchard, particularly undesirable varieties vari-eties and individual trees that were not paying for their keep. The progressive dairyman carefully tests and weighs the milk from each cow, to find out what cows are the money makers and which ones the "boarders." Why not apply the same principle to the home orchard? For in the home orchard, as well as in some of the commercial orchards, there there are many trees that must necessarily neces-sarily be classed as "boarders." A small home orchard, consisting only of trees necessary for the home fruit supply, sup-ply, neatly planted, pruned, well-cultivated, and carefully sprayed, ought to prove more satisfactory and economical. |