68 THE REPORT OF THE N... 19 



the aphis may be CQntrolled by spraying with whale-oil soap. In turnip fields, where the 

 greatest amount of injury is done, a sharp lookout must he kept at the time of thinning for any 

 infested plants, which must then be hoed out and destroyed. 



Fruit Crop.-.'. 



The fruit crops of the province were on the whole satisfactory and remunerative to most 

 "rowers. The plum crop was enormous in all districts and comparatively free from injuiy by 

 ins 'Cts. Fungous diseases were more destructive by far than insect enemies. Peaches in 

 western Ontario were a full crop. Grapes in western counties were very seriously affected by 

 the Black Rot. Apples were a large crop ani the fruit was of excellent quality. In the eastern 

 part of the province they were free from injuries of all kinds, but in western Ontario they were 

 somewhat injured by the Black Spot of the apple {Ftmcladinm) and late in the season to some 

 extent by Codling Moth. The pear crop is reported as good, bu"-. the ravages of the Pear-tree 

 ►Slug {Eriocampa cerasi, Peck) were serious in some places. A few reports were received of 

 injuries by the Pear-tree Psylla {Psyllapyricola, Foerster) ; but the injury by this insect has not 

 been as great as at one time was anticipated. Nevertheless, in some localities, serious damage 

 has be^en done. Prof. Lochhead tells me of one such occurrence in the Grimsby district, where 

 a whole orchard was found to be infested in July and serious harm done to the trees. There 

 is no doubt that this insect is widely spread throughout the Dominion ; thi.s year I have received 

 specimens from two places in the province of Nova Scotia. The effects upon infested trees are 

 a dwarfed and stunted growth and a dirty appearance of the trees caused by the growth of the 

 Sootty Fungus (humago salicina) upon the copious^honey-dew which is emitted by these flea- 

 ^ice in large quantities. When trees are badly attacked, it takes them several years to over- 

 come the injury, and many trees are actually killed outright. The best treatment for trees 

 which are known to be infested, is to spray the trunks during the winter with coal oil emulsion 

 or some other wash to destroy the hibernating insects. As winter approaches, the perfect 

 flea-lice, which in shape very much resemble a minute Cicada, creep beneath the scales of thu 

 rough bark upon pear trees and remain there until the following spring, when they emerge in 

 the warm days of April and lay their eggs upon the young wood. A remedy which has been 

 highly spoken of, is one which has been used by Mr. Henry Lutz, of Youngstown, New York 

 State. In 1896 a large Duchess orchard belonging to him was almost ruined by Pear trte 

 Psylla. In February, 1897, the whole orchard was thoroughly sprayed with a whitewash, and 

 two years afterwards this orchard was almost free from the Psylla. Mr. Lutz explains his plan 

 as follows : "During the cold weather in December we spread a canvas under the trees and then 

 scrape ofl' all the rough bark ; this dislodges many of the torpid insects, which are burnt with 

 the scrapings. We then give the trees a thorough coating of slushy whitewash, made of freshly 

 slaked lime which has been run oil in a putty state, as masons usually make it for plastering. 

 We thin this with skimmed milk, and put it on to the trunks of the trees with a brush ; for 

 those parts of the tree which we cannot reach, we thin down the whitewash with more milk 

 and then give the whole tree a thorough spraying. In this way we destroy a large number 

 of the hibernating Psyllas, and those which are not killed, are so well sealed up that they 

 cannot get out to lay their eggs. We spray again in March to coat the wood and buds, so that 

 the few that are alive-can find no favorable places to lay their eggs The orchard where we 

 experimented contained a thousand trees which were practically worthless ; but, since we began 

 using the lime, it has steadily regained its vigor." Trees sprayed in spring with lime-sulphur- 

 and-salt wash were found by Mr. Joseph Tweddle, of Stoney Creek, to be quite cleared of the 

 eggs of this insect. 



The Apple Aphis(.4j»/Ms mali, Fab.) was reported from several localities, and it was claimed 

 that it had done much injury ; but all of these reports were made at the time the insects were 

 swarming on the trees, and in all cases they soon disappeared. The worst injury which I have 

 noticed from the Apple Aphis, was to young trees in nurseries and to the young green apple 



