FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 71 



1st to lOtb. The greater part of the eggs will have been laid and hatched 

 by this time. The application at this time will keep the trees free from 

 borers until the next July when the new brood begins. If a fall applica- 

 tion is not made, it will probably be advisable to make one about June 

 1st, but allow it to remain about the trees for not more than two weeks. 

 Open up the soil by pulling the mound away with a hoe or other con- 

 venient tool. When treated early in summer, another treatment will 

 have to be made in the fall. The soil should not be kept high around the 

 trees during the summer as this will force the borers to enter the trees 

 at a higher point and consequently make them harder to kill. One 

 point which must be remembered is that the soil temperature must be 

 close to 60°F. and it is at this temperature or above from the latter part 

 of May until about October 1st. These of course are average dates. 



The method of application is about as follows. Pull away any grass 

 or rubbish from about the base of the tree. If low, raise the soil level 

 to normal, or if there are indications of borers four or five inches above 

 ground, raise the soil level to that point. Have the soil reasonably 

 smooth and firm. Remove any heavy exudations of gum. Next apply 

 the paradichlorobenzene in a ring about one inch wide and about two 

 inches from the tree, and cover with a mound of dirt four or five inches 

 high and extending about a foot from the tree. This should be firmed 

 with the shovel or spade. 



We know now that paradichlorobenzene will kill nearly all borers 

 with which it comes in contact but we do need a lot of information 

 about using it on young trees and I hope to get some of this information 

 next season but the College does not have available any orchard which 

 can be used for such work. I would be very glad to hear from any 

 grower owning peach trees from three to six years old who would be 

 willing to take a little risk on a few trees for the sake of finding out more 

 about the use of this material on such trees. 



CONTROL OF BROWN ROT ON PEACHES AND PLUMS. 



A common complaint from growers of peaches and plums has been 

 that their fruit will not stand up after harvest so as to get it onto the 

 market in good condition. This trouble is usually due to brown rot. 

 During the last two seasons work to find a practicable remedy has been 

 under way and very promising results have been gotten. The treat- 

 ment has consisted of one or two applications of sulphur dust a short 

 time before harvest. If one application is used it has been made one 

 week to ten days before harvest and if two, the first one was made about 

 one month before harvest. The usual early summer spraying of course 

 was made regardless of the late treatment. The first work along this 

 line was done in 1920 on Lombard plums on the farm of Mr. H. E. Hawley 

 at South Haven. Very good results were secured there and they were 

 given to this society last winter. This year the work was continued 

 at Hart on Mr. George Hawley's farm with peaches and plums and at 

 Fennville on Mr. P. H. Broe's farm with peaches. I shall give here in 

 tabular form the results of the experiments. The general method fol- 

 lowed was to select average samples from dusted and check plots which 

 were entirely free from rot, pack and ship to East Lansing where the 

 fruit was examined at the intervals given, 



