WINTER MEETING. 201 



The plum rot is another disease that demands more attention. Very 

 few varieties are absolutely proof against it. In case of some varie- 

 ties, like the Lombard, susceptability to rot is the only drawback to 

 their profitable culture. These diseases are destructive to profits, not 

 only on account of the fruit which they actually destroy or render of 

 small, poor quality, but also on account of often compelling the grower 

 to find a market or use for his sound fruit, at a time when prices are 

 low. During the past autumn great quantities of apples were sold at 

 a very low price, taken east to cold storage^ and are now being shipped 

 back and sold for four times the price paid in autumn. In many cases 

 these apples might have been held for better prices had it not been 

 that the presence of the spores (seeds) of bitter rot, rendered their 

 keeping uncertain except under favorable conditions of cold storage. 



Realizing the importance of these problems, a great many growers 

 have vigorously adopted spraying. Perhaps never in the history of 

 horticulture has a new measure been so rapidly and so generally 

 adopted in so short a time as spraying in the past few years. The 

 results have generally borne the cultivator out in his taking the trou- 

 ble to spray. In fact, it may be stated that spraying has become an 

 established part of horticultural operations. 



There are, however, a number of plant diseases for which we have 

 no established remedies. Frequently remedies that are generally effi- 

 cacious fail in the hands of some careful cultivator. These facts, 

 together with the fact that the nature of a fungus renders spraying at 

 just the right time essential, necessitates an understanding of the life 

 history of a fungus disease. It may be of interest to describe what a 

 fungus is and how it grows, and how spraying checks its growth. This 

 will be following more closely the subject assigned me, " Fungus 

 Growths." 



The fungi (singular fungus) are a low class of plants which have 

 no green foliage and which feed upon organic matter. They are not 

 capable of assimilating inorganic matter from the soil, as are ordinary 

 flowering plants. There are a great many kinds of fungi, from the 

 large toadstools, mushrooms and puff-balls, which feed upon decaying 

 organic matter in the soil, to the liny blights, rots, rusts, scabs, smuts 

 and mildews that feed upon the juices of living, cultivated plants, and 

 are so small that their shape and manner of growth can only be made 

 out by the aid of the microscope. Even these minute forms that cause 

 disease in cultivated plants differ as much from each other as do the 

 various kinds of weeds that infest our fields. 



The manner in which a fungus propagates, or reproduces itself, 

 must be known before we can successfully check it by spraying. We 



