THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 179 



THE LABOR QUESTION. 



It is usually easy to obtain plenty of help as the apricots ripen in 

 July and the bo3-s and girls from high schools are glad of the oppor 

 tunity to camp out for a few weeks and earn some money during their 

 school vacation. It is well tc provide plenty of help, as this class of 

 people does not object to resting off once in a while if necessary, and 

 one then has a reserve of help if hot weather necessitates rushing the 

 work to prevent the fruit getting too ripe. It is common to estimate 

 one girl pitter for each 150 boxes of green fruit. Being all piece 

 work it does not cost the grower any more to provide plenty of help, 

 except the cost of camp equipment, most of which is usually provided 

 by the grower. 



No matter what crop a man raises he should first learn the essential 

 requirements of that particular crop. lie should then diligently and 

 continuously study to find v.hicli one of these essential requirements 

 is not up to its best state and is acting as a crop limiter. To maintain 

 all these essential requirements at their maximum condition at a 

 minimum of cost is to be an efficient farmer. 



OAK FUNGUS OR ARMILLARIA MELLEA IN CONNEC- 

 TION WITH NURSERY STOCK. 



By W. T. HoRNE, Assistant Professor of Plant Patliolog>', University of California. 



The author has alread}^ contributed from time to time articles 

 upon the oak fungus disease. The first of these appeared in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Thirty-seventh Fruit Growers' Convention, held at 

 Pomona in 1910. Later an article was given to the Monthly Bulletin, 

 Volume 1. No. 6, and the second article appeared in the Monthly 

 Bulletin, Volume 3, No. 7, July, 1914, and was the substance of aii 

 addrass delivered at the Forty-fourth Fruit Growers' Convention held 

 at Davis, last June. In all of these articles it has been my endeavor 

 to give such facts to the fruit growers as might be useful to them and 

 to give them a report of the work which is being done and suggestions 

 as to the best methods of dealing with this troublesome disease. As 

 yet a complete and economical solution has not been suggested for all 

 conditions, but in the last article, published in the Monthly Bulletin 

 of laf^t July, the ditch method for controlling the spread of the disease 

 was recommended and discussed. We consider this method to be appli- 

 cable for moderately shallow rooted plants, but it is not promising 

 for our larger growing deciduous fruit trees and w^alnuts. 



There is one very important phase of the subject which has never 

 received sufficient attention, and I desire to discuss this matter. 



WHY SMALL NURSERIES ARE PARTICULARLY LIABLE TO 

 ARMILLARIA TROUBLE. 



Armillaria spots have come to be of exceedingly frequent occurrence 

 throughout the best fruit growing sections of the State, especially in 

 the valleys of central and northern California. No sufficient data are at 

 hand to give an estimate of the percentage of orchards affected nor of 

 the percentage of acreage destroyed by this disease, but it would prob- 



