i2<S 



Journal of the Department of Agriculture. 



'■ Pruues aiitl apricots are iiiucli more sensitive to Liak than 

 almonds and oranges, and it Avould be interesting to learn wlietlier 

 any of these are dilterentially aftected in Mr. Tayloi's orchard. The 

 grape vine is far more resistant to alkali than even the prune and 

 the apricot, hut lemons and mulberries are affected by one-tentii the 

 quantity thai the grape can endure uniiijuicd.'' 



The foregoing Avould seem to sIioav thai in llip ])resent case Ihe 

 trouble is due to a general lack in plant foods and iu humus-forming 

 organic substances; i)ossibJy also to a lack of irou, which is well 

 known to be essential to the production of chlorophyll. It will be 

 interesting to learn, amongst other things, whether the application 

 of an iron containing fertilizer to the soil has anj- effect on the general 

 health of the trees. 



Of the two accompanying photographs, one was taken in 

 the orchard showing the affected trees, while the other is a view of 

 a branch with voung fruit showing the same condition. 



Kelsev Plum Tii'es. slKivving Chlorosii^ 



rjiriiiAsis IX Pears. 



Our attention was drawn in May last year to a trouble which had 

 been affecting the fruit of a block of some 200 twenty-year-old Bon 

 Chretien pear trees at Somerset West, Cape Province, for the past 

 two or three seasons; the 1919-1920 season was a particularly bad 

 one, as far as this trouble was concerned, as it was estimated that 

 about 15 per cent, of the fruit from these trees was affected. As no 

 specimens were available at the time, it was impossible to tell what 

 the disease was. 



At the beginning of December last I went out to Somerset West 

 to see the trees for myself, and it was only after continued search 

 that I was able to get a couple of young fruits showing typical 

 symptoms. 



