452 Journal ot* tUb t)EPARtMtJNT op Agriculture. 



The cliaige ior a tree with dimensions difterent than those recorded 

 should be estimated frtini the ( harges set down for the trees Avith tlie 

 nearest measurement >. Ihe cyanide should always l>e carefully 

 wei'o'hed and tlie iicid iitid w;iI<m corefully measured. 



Tivic for T ii'((1 int'iit . — Tiic ireatment siiould be canied out in the 

 absence of sunlight and preferably at nig-ht. It should be stopped if 

 the wind is strong- enough io sway the covers, but there is no need to 

 stop on account of dew until the covers become too heavy to handle. 



The covers are remarkably more gas-tight in dami' air, even 

 \\ hen the damjniess is hardly perceptible, than they are in very dry 

 air ())■ ill sunliglil, and tins is one leasoii why trees ai(> more injured 

 ou some nights than on others. The late summer and fall mionths is 

 the best time of year for the treatment, and the use of s])ecially heavy 

 dosog'e had, as a rule, best be restricted to those months. Little 

 damage is done io blossoms; but in its hrst few months fruits are 

 injured more leadily than tlsey are later, and the least desirable time 

 for fumigatio]! is considered to be the period from the setting' of the 

 l)lossom until the fruit is about the size of a fowl's egg'. Injury to 

 fruit generally takes the form of serious spotting- and seenrs most 

 likely to occur just after irrigation or a heavy rain. Heat accentuates 

 the risk of injuring the tree. Fumigation in sunlight, or even having 

 the covers over the trees in surdight, is likely to be highly damaging 

 to foliage and fruit. It is said the gas is ai>t to do }nuch injuiy to 

 trees sprayed with bordeaux urixture within several months. 



Effect on flic Scale. — AVhen generated in tiie ordinal v way the gas 

 acts best high in the tree. Scale on branches near the ground is most 

 likely to escape, and for this reason it is a good practice to precede 

 fumigation by trimming away any blanches that rest on the ground 

 or that would be pressed to the ground by the cover. Scale on the 

 fruit is much more likely to survive than scale on the twigs or foliage. 



It is not easy to tell within a week or two after fumigation whether 

 or not the trinited s( ale h.is been destroyed. The scales do not fall 

 oft' at once, but rejuain attached io the tree by the thread-like sticking 

 apparatus through which the saj) is drawn in life, and they hang there 

 un1il torn away by wind. rain, oi' other means. The detid scales soon 

 dry up, however, and iua,\- be told from Hac scales by a difference; in 

 colour and b>- being mncli more easily rubbed off. Moreover, live 

 scales wlien broken as with the hnger-nail or knife-point exude a drop 

 of oily-l(joking matter, the bodj- contents. 



Handling of Export Fruit. 



()n the 17th .March last a number of prominent frtiit growers. 

 together with Mr. Tribolet, Chief, Division of Horticulture, visited 

 the Capetown Docks, where the important question of the handling 

 of export fruit at the docks was discussed with Sir William Hoy and 

 other officials of the Railways and Harbours Administration. The 

 system at present in operation is rendered cumbersome on account 

 of the approach Io the cold stores being very inconvenient. The 

 meeting discussed the matter at the cold stores, wliere the needed 

 alterations were pointed out. and fruit growers will be pleased to 

 learn that Sir William Hoy undertook to take in hand at once the 

 necessary improvements. 



