There was an interesting article, in Mother Earth News I think, by a fellow who keeps free range chickens and sheep in his orchard.  The birds and sheep effectively took care of the insects and vegetation under the trees.

He said he discontinued chem sprays completely after introducing these bio controls in his orchard.  Seemed like a much sounder and cheaper (!) idea than chem sprays.  And definitely safer for the bees!

The author was on the west coast so perhaps fungus was not a serious issue.  This site recommends sulfur sprays for scab:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:YUsN0ul6-CIJ:www.ames.com/organicapples.html+controling+fungus+organic+orchards&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Now that I think of it, my parents did keep a few chickens in the backyard orchard in the old country for the great eggs.  We also had nest boxes in the fruit trees for chickadees and such.  There was always plenty of good fruit from various trees with an occasional worm.  No one ever sprayed those trees.

Waldemar 

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