REPORTS OF DISTRICT AND LOCAL SOCIETIES. 547 



Mr. Eaman said Mr. Pixley thinks that if home organizations will do 

 as well, buyers should give them the preference. 



Mr. Moreill: The business is to accumulate all the orders of the 

 individual growers and place them where we can buy the cheapest. We 

 first want to know the amount wanted, and the terms on which we want to 



W. A. Smith read the subjoined paper on fungoid diseases of fruit 

 trees : 



There is a close similarity in many cases between diseases of animals and plants. It is 

 becoming more and more apparent every year thai many diseases in the animal econ- 

 omy can be traced to microbes, bacteria, or parasitic insects. It is now claimed with a 

 good show of probability, that the dread pulmonary disease known as consumption, 

 which it is claimed carries off 200,000 victims annually in this country, can be success- 

 fully treated by inoculation, which it is claimed destroys the microbes directly or indi- 

 rectly by cutting off their food supply. There is probably not a single animal in the 

 entire animal economy that is not more or less affected by parasitic insects. The same 

 rule holds true in the vegetable kingdom. Here we find boih the insect and the fungi 

 parasite. These latter contain all the characteristics of plant life, save the root and foli- 

 age, neither of which are essential for their support, since they live and feed upon the 

 juices of other plants. The presence of these parasites is by no means destructive of 

 vegetable growth or life, unless their numbers become excessive or abnormal, which 

 usually occurs when the conditions of healthy vegetable growth are in part cut off; as 

 iin case of severe and long continued drouth we find our tender vegetables, such as 

 cabbage, turnips, etc., in a short time will become a living mass of aphides or plant lice; 

 and the only way to successfully counteract these hosts is by promoting a vigorous, 

 healthy vegetable growth. 



The same is true of the aphides 0/ bark lice on trees. They invariably attack those 

 of low vitality, having been long neglected aDd stunted. Some of these parasites 

 attach themselves to the body of the tree, and some attack the young and tender twigs, 

 and by feeding upon the juices of the tree and twigs, keep them in a low condition. 



From a collection in the British Museum, Francis Walker has described 326 distinct 

 species of these insects, some oviparous, or egg producing, and some viviparous. In the 

 ■spring the females alone make their appearance; the males come in the fall; conse- 

 quently pairing in the spring can not take place. The female is self-fecundated, and 

 multiplies with amazing rapidity. A single female may in her own lifetime be the pro- 

 genitor of 6,000,000,000 of her species. They usually assume the color of the plant, 

 twig, or tree upon which they feast, and are therefore liable to escape observation. 

 Some years ago the orange trees of California became seriously affected with these 

 scales. The orange groves were threatened with destruction, and no application for 

 their removal proved effectual. A scientist versed in entomology was dispatched to 

 Australia, where it was claimed the same insect was preying upon the orange trees of 

 that country, and where it was supposed to emanate from, to study its life, habits, and 

 character in the supposed home of its nativity. Upon arriving there he found but few 

 of these scales on their trees. By a careful study and close observation he soon dis- 

 covered a friendly parasite that did the work for them. He succeeded in collecting a 

 number of these insects and transplanted them to California where they were liberated, 

 and every condition being favorable they soon multiplied and did the work for them 

 ■which the combined ingenuity of the horticulturists of this country could not do, and 

 their trees were saved. 



Among the many diseases incident to vegetable life and growth that the fruitgrower 

 lias to deal with may be mentioned the family of rusts, or fungi, that affect the straw- 

 berry, the raspberry and the blackberry. These fungi seem to affect some varieties 

 more than others. They are also more destructive on some soils and in some seasons 

 than others. About the only practical remedy is the removal of the affected plants, 

 good culture, and occasional renewals. As a rule we do not renew often enough. 



Powdery Mildew. — This disease affects many of our trees in the foliage, also vines, 

 plants, and fruits. The plum, cherry, quince, apple, peach, and some deciduous plants 

 and shrubs are affected by it. One can not easily mistake this fungi, for it has a white, 

 velvety, powdery appearance. Grape vines and fruit are sometimes covered with it. 

 This fungus seems to thrive even better in a dry, hot season than in a wet one. 



Downy mildew, or leaf rust blight, affects many of our trees in the foliage, as well as 

 the grape. The Delaware has been subject to this disease for many years. The leaves 

 are covered with a rusty coat, and often drop long before the fruit is mature. The 

 plum is very much subject to this leaf blight. 



