WINTER MEETING. 303^ 



Spraying- for Peach Kot. 



[The fallowing results are deduced from the experiments made at the Dela- 

 ware Experiment Station, by F. D, Chester, Newark, Delaware.] 



( 1 ) It has been shown positively that the principal source of 

 infection in this disease exists in the decayed fruit which is permitted 

 to remain on the trees after harvest. The labor of removing this 

 infectious material may seem formidable, but I am convinced that no 

 treatment will be effective without it, and I am equally convinced that 

 the labor so spent will jield to the grower a return far greater than its 

 cost. 



I would therefore urge that no mummified fruit be allowed to 

 hang onto the trees through the winter, but that it be removed either 

 at the time of picking or soon after. 



(2) Early in the spring, before the fruit buds begin to swell, spray 

 the trees with a solution containing one pound of copper sulphate to 

 25 gallons of water. 



( 3 ) As soon as the fruit buds just begin to swell, spray the trees 

 with the fungicide again. Follow this by another spraying before the 

 buds open. The object of the preceding applications is to protect the 

 blossoms from the blight mentioned in the account of the experi- 

 ments. 



(4) As soon as the fruit shall have reached full size and begins 

 to show signs of color, make a third application. This should be fol- 

 lowed by two or three other applications at close intervals of five or 

 seven days daring the ripening period. 



It should be noted here, that a heavy rain followed by warm 

 weather may at this vital period cause the peaches to rot rapidly ; 

 hence, due regard should be given this point in regulating the exact 

 time when a spraying should be made. Due attention to this principle 

 may save hundreds of baskets of fruit, and the grower can well afford 

 to make spraying at the right time his first business. 



Is the question asked, " Can peach rot be wiped out of our 

 orchards, even in those containing the early rotting varieties'? Can 

 the work be made as effectual and complete as it has been in the case 

 of grape rot at Mr. Anthony's (see Annual Report, 1891)?" 



Were it not that positiveness of statement is unscientific, I should 

 say that it can. Not by a single year's treatment, but by continued 

 attention for several years to the rules jnst laid down. To demonstrate 



