PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING 83 



took off nearly all the leaves in some cases; and in the case of the apple 

 nearly all the season we had a large amount of apple scab on the leaves, so 

 that most of the trees looked as though they had lost three fourths of their 

 ability, and with small amount of ability, in the case of the apple, together 

 with curl leaf in the case of the peach, they were not able. Besides that, 

 1 think the spring itself, being so unfavorable, gave them a shock and thus 

 . reduced the size; the trees could not recover from that. 



Q: Is there no remcdv for curl-leaf? 



Prof. Taft: I think it is four or five years since it was found that 

 spraying thoroughly would to a large extent prevent it. Twice, I think, 

 we had the poorest result from spraying we ever had, and I attribute that, 

 as I would also the matter of the failure of the crop, in large part to 

 the weakening of the trees from the previous year. They were so weak that 

 they were subject to disease. All of our plants, if they become weakened, 

 are very likely to have disease, and with that tendency it is harder to keep 

 the disease down. Regarding spraying, I would say that, as for all other 

 fungous diseases, the best remedy is Bordeaux mixture; and, although in 

 some cases I have recommended and have generally used a solution of cop- 

 per sulphate for the early spraying, I think that perhaps for curl-leaf it 

 would be best even for the first spraying, and just before the buds open, to 

 use Bordeaux mixture, and if we spray thoroughly and cover every part of 

 the tree we destroy a great part of the fungous growth that is there. I like 

 once at least, and would prefer to spray twice, after the leaves come out, 

 and by doing that thoroughly you can in most cases entirely prevent the 

 disease. This year it was so cold and wet that it was very difficult to 

 spray successfully and we did not quite do that; but yet, where we sprayed, 

 we kept the leaves on the trees to a very large extent; where we did not 

 spray, most of them fell off in several varieties, particularly Elberta, and 

 in case of this disease I would more than anything else insist on thor- 

 ough spraying. If you give the trees a little dash of spray, covering half 

 the twigs, you can not expect to have anj^thing like good' results; but by 

 covering every part of the growth you stop that portion of the disease, and 

 if there are any spores there you destroy them. 



Mr. Hale: Did spraying keep the foliage on Elberta? 



Prof. Taft: Not all of it, no; I could not say anything about the fruit. 

 We did not have any. 



Mr. Slayton: If curl-leaf and the ])oor apple leaves last spring were the 

 cause of the enfeebled buds, made possible by a full crop of fruit the vear 

 before, would spraying prevent curl-leaf at all, or the bad development of 

 the apple leaves? 



Prof. Taft: Well, it would not. possibly, prcA-ent it; I do not claim it 

 would, but I said that you could to a large extent save the foliage. A 

 weakened tree, as I said, is far more likely to have a disease, and it is 

 only ill preventing spread of the disease "to leaves that have not been 

 attacked that you have any result in spraying. It was the worst year I 

 ever saw for good results in spraying. 



Mr. Slayton: I understood that the lieavv crop of fruit the year before 

 caused the enfeebled buds that year, and that was the cause of curl-leaf 

 last spring. 



Prof. Tracy: Then the enfeebled buds will make it less possible to stop 

 the effect of curl-leaf and the other conditions. That is what Prof. Taft 

 said, as I understood. Is it, or is it not, true that the degree of this small 



