Fire Blight. 279 



wash again brought to the boiling point. The wash is now ready for use. It 

 should then be emptied into the spraying barrel, being strained through common 

 wire screening, and if possible applied while hot to the trees. 



"To prepare the wash satisfactorily it is necessary to have a suitable outfit. 

 In making plans for such, one should remember that the kind of plant, with 

 reference to the use of kettle or steam to prepare the wash, location in regard 

 to an abundant supply of water, and the number of handy contrivances for hand- 

 ling water, and the wash, have much to do with the ease and cost with 

 which this spray can be made and applied. If possible, use steam to prepare 

 the wash. The outlay for a suitable plant need not be large, espec ally if the 

 orchardist possesses mechanical ingenuity, for by using parts of old spraying 

 apparatus and second-hand machinery, one may provide a very satisfactory outfit 

 with comparatively little expense. The following brief descriptions will serve 

 as a guide for the erection of an outfit adapted to individual circumstances. 



"Two iron caldrons of sixty gallons capacity will make an outfit at a smsill 

 outlay. It is not the most convenient arrangement but will answer very well 

 the purpose of the owner of a small orchard, who would hardly find it profitable 

 to erect a more elaborate plant. With such an outfit one can prepare in a day 

 from three to four hundred gallons of wash, which will be sufficient to treat 

 about two hundred and fifty trees of the size of seven-year old peach trees, 

 employing one man to prepare the wash, one to hold the nozzle, and another to 

 operate the pump. The cost for caldrons, spray pump, and barrel will be from 

 twenty to thirty dollars." 



Calcothion. — This is a ready prepared lime, salt, and sulphur wash, made and 

 sold by the Adler Color & Chemical Works, New York, N. Y. We used it on 

 small trees where it was applied by brushes with excellent results. It is likely 

 to be rather lumpy for spraying purposes. 



These lime-sulphur combinations burn the skin, and so should be sprayed 

 with gloves on the operator. "An application of vaseline to exposed parts will 



neutralize stray spatterings.' 



FIRE BLIGHT. 



By Jj. F. IlENDERSox, Botanist, University of Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station. 



A BACTERIAL DISEASE OF THE PEAK AND THE APPLE. 



Spring is now upon us. — the time when the careful horticulturist must be 

 preparing to combat those many ills incident to fruit culture, whether of an insect 

 or of a fungous nature. Of all these probably the fire blight is the worst and 

 most to be dreaded. 



The name "fire blight" Is the proper one to use : it should not be called 

 "pear blight" for two reasons. In the first place it is liable to be confused 

 with the pear-leaf blight, a disease which attacks the leaf of the pear, and inci- 

 dentally injures the fruit. In the next place this disease is not limited to the- 

 pear ; it is fast becoming too common on the apple as well, in our State. Nay. 

 in many states it attacks all of the pomaceous fruits, such as pear, apple, quince, 

 crab and hawthorn. Three years ago this disease was unknown to the writer 

 in the southern part of the State : today, there is hardly an orchard in certain 

 districts which does not show some blight, and in many it is very serious. In 

 Northern Idaho it has been in our pear orchards for over ten years, but luckily 

 it has hardly ever attacked the apple. From the devastation this disease is 

 causing in the Southern Idaho apple orchards, we cannot expect that the north- 

 ern portions of the State will be long exempt. 



