32 



prevent spotting, but the solution should be applied to the fruit a 

 week or ten days before picking. The spraying should be done 

 thoroughly and care should be exercised to get the mixture on the 

 fruit. The amount, if at all apparent, will be so small that it will 

 not interfere with its selling quality. Bordeaux mixture can not 

 be used to good advantage on lemons, because it adheres very 

 tenaciously to the fruit, and so reduces its selling value. 



TREATMENT OF LIME TREES. 



During the past year experiments performed by Mr. M. S. Bur- 

 bank, of Cocoanut Grove, Fla., at the Red Mill fruit farm, with a 

 view to protecting lime trees from the attacks of this fungus, 

 brought out some interesting results. One tree under observation 

 had been producing limes for a number of years in a most prolific 

 manner, but during the three years preceding 1 902 the crop had 

 been a total failure, owing to the attacks of CoUetotrichiun gloeospo- 

 rioides. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture* was begun in Septem- 

 ber, 1902, and was continued at intervals as thought advisable, 

 and in less than a year the disease had been almost entirely 

 subdued and the tree bore a heavy crop of fruit. Other trees were 

 also treated, as well as trees in other groves, with good results. 



THE EFFECT OF PRUNING. 



In a small orchard, or in the case of an isolated tree, especially 

 in a young orchard, much good can be done by cutting out 

 diseased twigs and picking off the diseased leaves. Where this 

 is practiced with thoroughness the disease can be reduced to a 

 point where it does only a small amount of damage, or it may be 

 eradicated ; but pruning and picking must be done at frequent 

 intervals and very thoroughly. This would probably be an 

 effective method of keeping the fungus under control in the case 

 of small orange and pomelo orchards. 



Where pruning is practised the weak limbs are taken out. The 

 spurs that have dropped their leaves are also cut out, and in this 

 way much of the hold-over wither-tip is removed. All wood that 

 has withered is also taken away. This pruning reduces in a large 

 measure the number of spores left in the grove and hence greatly 

 diminishes the extent of the infection. 



CULTIVATION AND FERTILIZATION. 



Thorough cultivation and fertilization are among the effective 

 ways of keeping the fungus from becoming established in an or- 

 chard. A properly cultivated and well-fertilized tree will produce 



* Bordeaux mixture may be prepared by dissolving 6 pounds of copper sulphate 

 (blue stone) in 25 gallons of water. If the powdered copper sulphate be used, it 

 may be dissolved in an hour or so by suspending it in a feed sack just under the 

 surface of the water. In another vessel, siake 4 or 5 pounds of lime in a small 

 quantity of water. When slaked, dilute to 25 gallons. Strain through coarse 

 sacking into a 50-gallon barrel, to lemove all the matter that might clog 

 the nozzle of the spraying mach)iie. Pour the copper-sulphate solution into the 

 lime solution, stirring the mixture vigorously during the process and for two or 

 three minutes afterward. Durii g the stirring the paddle should be made to go 

 back and forth. Use the mixture at uuce. 



