Transactions of the Maine State Pomological Society: For the Year 1895, Including the Proceedings of the Winter Meeting, Held in Presque Isle, January 8th and 9th, 1896 (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from Transactions of the Maine State Pomological Society: For the Year 1895, Including the Proceedings of the Winter Meeting, Held in Presque Isle, January 8th and 9th, 1896

Herewith the Secretary submits his annual report. It is to a large degree formal, but during a year's work and a study of conditions and results there are matters that seem to commend it to the careful perusal of the fruit growers of Maine.

The Fruit Crop.

For the past ten or a dozen years there has been no general failure in the apple crop in Maine. Localities, for reasons as yet unknown, have had light crops, while others have had heavy crops. The 1895 crop was probably the smallest in all these years, and the failure was more general than in any other year during the time. The crop was very light, and worse than all, the quality was inferior. The cause of the short crop has been quite freely discussed, but no general conclusion seems to be reached. Among the causes noticed by the Secretary, a few may deserve a place in this report. Our leading varieties have borne fruit for several successive years, heavy crops in some cases. Except in rare instances the orchards have received no special attention in the way of dressing or care, and many of the trees suffering from the effects of the scab fungus in 1894 were unable to develop fruit buds for a crop in 1895. The orchards that received the best treatment bore the most fruit, but even this was inferior to the product of oi dinary j-ears. Some have claimed that it was the frost in the spring that caused the failure in the crop. This could not be the case, for as already stated, few if any fruit buds were developed the year before. This deserves special notice as it brings into prominence the fact that a spring frost rarely, if ever affects the apple blossoms in Maine. In this respect we have the most favorable climatic conditions for apple growing. The quality of the fruit was inferior in consequence of the scab, the codling worm and the trypeta pomonella. The results reached in spraying emphasize its importance, and it is not far away when successful fruit growers in the State will spray their trees to destroy the scab and codling worm. The spread of the trypeta is a cause of alarm among fruit growers, since no effective, practicable remedy is known. With its life history so well known it is hoped that our experiment station may be able to discover some effective means of holding the destructive pest in check.

The prices have been low, although choice lots have sold readily.

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