178 PEACH LEAF CURL: ITS NATURE AND TREATMENT. 



difficult and will, at best, be necessarily followed by several summer 

 treatments. There can be little doubt, however, that a thorough 

 winter spraying- will prevent a greater portion of the injury from rust 

 than an}^ single spraying applied at a later date, as it gives a practi- 

 cally clean tree at the opening of the season of growth. Winter 

 sprays for the control of rust must be strong; but summer sprays if 

 strong should be positively neutral and noncorrosive, as peach foliage 

 is exceedingly tender. 



MILDEW OP THE PEACH (Podosphacra oxyacanthsB De H.) . 



Peach mildew is widely distributed in the United States and in 

 Europe. The fungus causing it attacks the leaves, fruit, and tender 

 branches in the early part of the summer. The branches serve for 

 the wintering over of the spores, thus aiding in supplying the source 

 of spring infection. Winter treatment of the trees, with either the 

 copper or sulphur sprays, will largely limit this spring infection, 

 but later treatment with weak sprays will often be necessary for full 

 control. 



BROWN ROT OF THE PEACH {MonUiafructigena'PeTS.). 



Brown rot of the peach has become one of the worst fungous dis- 

 eases of the peach over large portions of the United States. It is 

 quite general throughout most peach-growing sections of the East, 

 and has become well established in the Pacific Northwest. It has been 

 shown bv Erwin F. Smith that the fungus winters over in the diseased 

 branches and in the dried fruit adhering to the tree. These facts 

 point to a thorough winter spraying with active fungicides as one of 

 the first steps required in its treatment. Summer spraj^ings will also 

 be required, and even when thoroughly followed up, the disease will 

 prove hard to control. Too much stress can not be laid, however, 

 upon the necessity of disinfecting the dormant tree as perfectl}^ as 

 possible by thorough winter treatment. 



BLACK SPOT OF THE PEACH {Cladosporium carpophilum Thum. J . 



This disease, which produces black spots upon the peach, is well 

 known in many portions of the United States and in Europe, and in 

 the East and South, especially in Texas, it has become quite trouble- 

 some. In some parts of Europe it has been known as a true epiphy- 

 totic. Whether this Cladosporium infests the branches the writer 

 can not say, but it appears not improbable that such is true, or in any 

 case that the spores probably find winter lodgment upon the tree itself. 

 Black spot has been controlled in Texas by the use of the copper 

 sprays, and there seems no reason to doubt that the winter treatment 

 of the infected trees would largely tend to disinfect them and materi- 

 all}' reduce the summer development of the disease. 



