lo Sept.. 19 io.] Orcltani and Garden Notes. 607 



Spraying. 



The peach aphis will have now made its appearance in orchards which 

 were not sprayed with the red oil emulsion in the winter. The tobacco 

 solution will now be required, and this may be sprayed on as strongly 

 as the grower wishes. If possible, the spraying should be repeated quickly 

 after the first operation, .so as to kill any aphides previously protected by 

 the others, or any that may have only been weakened by the first operation. 



The time has also arrived when spraying is needful for the prevention 

 of all fungus diseases, such as .shothole or scab, black .spot, leaf rust, 

 leaf curl, &c. In the case of these pests, " prevention is better than cure "^ 

 is the invariable rule ; and to delay beyond the correct period the applica- 

 tion of the necessary sprays, is to court disaster. For black spot of apple 

 and pear, the spraying should be performed as soon as the earliest flowers 

 are opening. For shothole or scab, the time to spray is before the flower 

 petals expand; and the spraying may be repeated, if necessary, after the 

 fruit has set. 



For rust and leaf curl the spray should be applied before any sign of 

 trouble appears on the foliage ; thus, if the fungus were present during 

 the previous season, it will be necessarv to sprav early to combat it success- 

 fully. 



The basis of all successful fungicides is sulphate of copper or blue- 

 stone. Bordeaux mixture, a mixture of bluestone, lime, and water, known 

 as the 6 — 4 — 40 formula, is used ; the materials and quantities being 

 6 lbs. of bluestone, 4 lbs. of lime, and 40 gallons of water. 



Another spray, and in some locations equally as successful in its 

 results as the Bordeaux mixture, is the copper-soda spray ; the proportions 

 being 6 lbs. of bluestone, 8 lbs. washing soda, and 50 gallons of water. 

 In each case, the materials should be separately dissolved, and then evenly 

 and simultaneously mixed in a third vessel. 



At the Woburn Fruit Farm, previously mentioned, extensive experi- 

 ments have this year been concluded in the use of fungicides, and the 

 report has just been issued. In addition to the ordinary copper sprays, a 

 new departure in fungicides was tried, in the form of Bordeaux paste. 

 This fungicide was invented by Mr. Spencer Pickering, the manager of 

 the farm, and is now sold on the market as Woburn Bordeaux paste. 

 The paste, so far, has proved very successful, and the report just issued 

 considers that the relative efficiency of this paste to the ordinary Bordeaux 

 mixture is as 12 to i. If this be the case, then we have one of the most 

 valuable mixtures possible as a fungicide. Still, the use of this paste is 

 as yet in its infancy, and Mr. Pickering himself says that — 



it is only by the extended e.xperience of fruit-growers — using it throughout a number 

 of years, and under varied conditions, that satisfactory evidence will be obtained 

 as to its working, and whether the proportions recommended will require modification. 



Other makes of Bordeaux paste are now placed for sale on the market, 

 but until they all are experimented with, it will be impossible to state 

 their value. They are all to be tried in the Burnley orchards during the 

 coming season. Another result recorded from Woburn, and this has been 

 a practice among some Victorian orchardists for many years, is that 

 nicotine or tobacco liquid may be mixed with Bordeaux mixture and Bor- 

 deaux paste without detriment. Thus it is valuable to unite these for the 

 late peach aphides. 



General. 

 Grafting should be carried out at once, whether for young trees or for 

 re-working over old ones. In connection with this work, it is wise to cut 



