REPORTS OF DISTRICT AND LOCAL SOCIETIES. 549 



number of applications might in a great measure depend upon the probable amount of 

 rot that is likely to develop, which may be judged from previous years, and also from 

 the state and condition of the weather. Erequent showers soon after spraying wash the 

 solution from the vines and fruit and make a repetition necessary. When the rot is 

 •once established in the vineyard, the only remedy then is hand picking the affected 

 berries or specimens and destroying them. Where the fruit is much affected this is a 

 tedious and laborious task, and even if well done leaves the fruit in an imperfect and 

 unmarketable condition. The downy mildew, or leaf rust blight, has affected the foli- 

 age of the Delaware grape for many years, and often destroyed the crop by the prema- 

 ture shedding of the leaves. 



Fire blight of the pear. — This disease may be said to be peculiar to the pear, as 

 yellows is to the peach, and the cause of the one is about as great a mystery as the other. 

 It is claimed by scientists that the microscope will reveal microbes, bacteria, or para- 

 sitic fungi in the diseased wood of the blighted tree; but whether this fungus is the 

 •cause or the effect of the changed condition in the sap of the tree, is a question that is 

 not fully established. Neither is there any known remedy or preventive; remedy there 

 •could not be, since the tree or parts of the tree affected by the disease are absoluteZy 

 dead when we first see it. In a few days the tree passes from an apparently healthy, 

 vigorous state to a partial or utter prostration. The parts affected shrink and discolor, 

 the leaves turn black but do not drop, and the fruit, if any, shrinks and shrivels up. 

 Whether the disease is communicated from tree to tree by fungus spores or some other 

 agency, it is evident that the parts affected are dead and only an encumbrance upon 

 the remaining healthy parts of the tree, and should therefore be removed as soon as 

 •convenient, by cutting back from the affected parts five or six inches and destroying by 

 fire. In this way trees that are not too badly affected may be preserved for years and 

 continue to bear profitable crops. A very general impression prevails that pear trees, 

 standing in sod and neglected, are not subject to blight; but this is a fatal mistake; 

 they do blight, and I tnink fully as often as those that are cultivated; what is worse, 

 they bear no fruit worth naming. No doubt many young pear orchards are ruined by 

 over-bearing. The trees becoming enfeebled and exhausted become an easy prey to the 

 destroying blight. Where fruit trees are allowed to stand in sod without cultivation 

 they may be made highly productive by heavy and thorough mulching to prevent the 

 tree being robbed of moisture and nourishment during the growing and fruiting 

 season. Otherwise good culture should be the rule with an occasional application of 

 ashes or bone meal, or both. 



The apple is king among fruits, and as such demands our best efforts for its preserva- 

 tion and improvement. While the apple is pre-eminently the king of all fruits, and the 

 tree is among the most hardy, vigorous, productive, and widely disseminated of all our 

 large fruits, it is not without its enemies and diseases. There are insects, parasitic and 

 others, that prey upon it, and various fungi that feed upon the foliage and fruit. The 

 twig blight, though not common, sometimes affects our apple trees. The quince is 

 more commonly affected in this way than the apple. The twig blight seems more like 

 the work of an insect than a fungi. Next to the codlin moth and apple maggot 

 insects, the apple has no more serious nor destructive enemy than the fungi known as 

 the apple scab. It is a peculiar circumstance, at least in many locations, that certain 

 varieties of apple are far more affected by scab than others. With us the Early Har- 

 vest, Yellow Bellfiower, Red Canada, and Spy are particularly subject to scab. The 

 amount of drainage and loss sustained by the orchardist in consequence of scabby fruit 

 is almost beyond our calculation; 75 per cent, or more of the entire crop is affected more 

 or less by this fungi. A large proportion is rendered fit only for cider, and in many 

 cases not 10 per cent is entirely free; and only those that are free will pass for strictly 

 No. 1 fruit. 



The insect enemies of our fruits we have been fighting for years, and latterly with 

 good results. It now behooves us to look after the fungi. Of these there are more 

 than 50 distinct species preying upon our fruits; but, being so nearly allied in general 

 characteristics, one to the other, the same application of fungicide will be effectual 

 in mott cases. The scab is a fungus, a true vegetable growth, that feeds upon the juices 

 of the apple and thus prevents a full and complete development of the fruit. These 

 fungi grow, mature, and send oul innumerable spores, which, falling upon other speci- 

 mens, take root when the conditions are favorable. When these spores have once 

 fastened themselves upon the fruit and sent their feeders through the epidermis or 

 outer covering of the fruit, no application of fungicide will be available. The applica- 

 tion must be a preventive and not a remedy, and must therefore be used before the 

 fungi makes its appearance. Upon this, as on many other subjects, we are almost 

 entirely dependent upon our experimental stations for critical and accurate results. 

 They have already accomplished a grand work for the farmers and horticulturists of 

 the country. 



