536 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



PEACH AND PLUM ROT, AND HOW TO CONTROL IT. 



By L. G. YOUNGS, North East, Pa. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: With your and the As- 

 sociation's permission, I Avill talie my place on the floor 

 instead of going on the platform. I am a little bit cross-CA^ed in 

 my hearing, and consequently I will talk down here where I can 

 hear you. Also because I am a little lenuthy for this world and I 

 don't think I would add auything to my paper if I were to take my 

 place on •the platform. 



Your Secretary has given me some idea of your troubles and while 

 I am not able to diagnose your case, perhaps your case and mine 

 haA'e run on parallel lines and my suggeslions may be of some little 

 help to vou. This is all I ask for and it is all I can hope or pray 

 for. ' . - 



I have come at the request of your Secretary to tell you some- . 

 thing of the methods we pursue to control peach and plum rot over 

 in the region of Lake Erie. Now my observation leads me to be- 

 lieve that most trees come from the nurseries comparatively free 

 from spores of IMonilla or fruit rot. If this is the case it behooves 

 us growers to keep them in this condition, if we can. 



This world of ours swarms with organisms of higher or lower 

 order. The modern surgeon sterilizes his instruments. By this 

 antiseptic method he is better able to prevent rather than cure 

 disease. What carbolic acid and chloride of lime are to the surgeon 

 and doctor, sulphate and carbonate of copper are to the modern 

 fruit grower. 



Now we commence operations in our orchards by first removing 

 the mummies from the trees. This can be done easiest after a rain 

 with a padded mallet or stick. W'e do it usually in the fall or win- 

 ter. W^e are now ready for our spring campaign of spraying, which 

 we commence before the buds are materially swollen by spraying 

 our trees with a strong bordeaux, 25 to 30 lbs. of copper sulphate 

 to two hundred gallons of water. We use a ground lime at this 

 time called Cream of Lime. This is largely used to make the solu- 

 tion adhere to the trees and as it dries we are enabled to see how 

 thoroughly we have covered the limbs and bodies of the trees. We 

 do not use lime at this time to render the spray harmless to vegeta- 

 tion, because there is nothing to injure. We are thorough with this 

 spraying. This is the important spraying. If we can thoroughly 

 sterilize the trees at this time we have laid the foundation for 

 a successful crop of fruit so far as is in our power and on this hangs 

 the law and all the prophets. All our orchards are sprayed at this 

 time: Plum, peach, cherry, apple and quince. Also our goose- 

 berry, currants and last but not least our grapes are sprayed about 

 this time and usually in the order named. This spraying renders 

 the peach practically immune from leaf-curl and the gooseberry 

 largely immune from milldew. 



