THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 149 



Leaf-curl is quite common with some varieties, especially in the coast 

 eoniities and also in the interior valleys in wet springs. A Bordeaux 

 or lime-snlfnr spray applied just as the buds begin to open affords com- 

 plete control. In fact, there is very little danger of leaf -curl in the 

 interior valleys on trees that have l)een sprayed, thoroughly, with a 

 strong Bordeaux mixture in December for blight. If a spring spray is 

 used for leaf-curl, it is better to use the lime-sulfur just as the buds are 

 opening a.s this will also control the peach worm or twig borer, which 

 is one of the most serious insect pests of the peach in this State, but 

 easily controlled by this method. 



Probably few orchards in this State are free from the bacterial disease 

 known as crown gall, for which no control is yet known. It is often 

 the cause of considerable loss in the nurseries, and, no doubt, renders 

 thousands of trees unprofitable in the orchards of California. Much of 

 this trouble may be eliminated by selecting seed for nursery stock from 

 vigorous trees known to be free from crown gall as seed from diseased 

 trees will produce crown gall stock. As an example, I will relate a little 

 personal experience: For several years I grew a small quantity of 

 peach stock each season using seed from a near-by vigorous Salway 

 orchard and obtained fully 90 per cent of clean stock. One season I 

 could not get the required amount from this orchard so purchased 

 some from another Salway orcliard in the neighborhood keeping the 

 seed separate and planting side by side in the nursery. The last lot of 

 seed produced 90 per cent of crown gall stock. The first lot 90 per cent 

 of clean stock. Part of the affected lot was budded to Elbertas. and as 

 I needed a few of this variety to .square up an orchard, I selected from 

 this lot 121 of as clean, vigorous and healthy looking June buds from 

 sixteen to twenty inches high as any one could wish for and planted. 

 That season all but a dozen of them made an excellent growth. The 

 following spring two or three did not start and several" more looked 

 feeble. I impressed the "long-back" shovel into service, beginning with 

 the dead ones and continued up one row and down another until the 

 whole 121 trees Avere uprooted and 120 of them showed plain evidence 

 of crown gall. Three years later the orchard from which I obtained 

 the infected pits was uprooted at the age of fourteen years and nearly 

 every tree was affected. 



In the interior valleys the almond mite often attacks the trees in early 

 summer, but a very effective control is secured by dusting the trees with 

 flowers of sulfur. This should be applied as soon as the mites appear, 

 and can be easily and quickly done wdth any good hand-operated sulfur 

 blower if the operator will use it from a wagon. In this way the tops 

 of the trees where most of the mites' are found are easily reached, there 

 is no walking over soft or cloddy ground, and the operator carries his 

 sulfur with him. One man, with a steady team, will easily cover 400 

 full grown trees in ten hours. 



When properly cured the Muir and Lovell will each yield about one 

 pound of dried fruit for five pounds of green, though this will vary in 

 different seasons. AVhile the ]Muir contains less juice and more sugar, 

 the Lovell has the smaller pit and therefore thicker flesh. The Elberta 

 yields about one pound of dried fruit to six or six and one half of green. 



