Plant Sanitation in Fruit Plantations. F. T. Brooks. 261 



reason in the fruit-growing industry for placing spraying, 

 pruning, and sanitary measures in the hands of a separate labour 

 unit controlled by a man with special knowledge. 



Although particular stress has been laid upon certain sanitary 

 measures in controlling some of the diseases that attack fruit 

 plantations, other measures such as winter washing, and grease 

 banding, are of equal importance in diminishing the activities 

 of certain pests, but these subjects have often been dealt with 

 and there is no time for their consideration now. Of primary 

 importance too in the well-bemg of fruit gardens are adequate 

 drainage, sufficiently wide spacing of the trees to allow of the 

 free circulation of light and air, and reasonably good cultivation 

 of the soil. On the last topic one word may be ventured. It is 

 known that rapidly acting nitrogenous manures induce a 

 succulent type of growth which readily falls a prey to fungoid 

 disease, while on the other hand slow-acting manures such as 

 basic slag and shoddy tend to promote growth in the trees, 

 which rapidly ripens and is less susceptible to parasitic attack. 



It may be asked whether the sanitary measures dealt with 

 in this paper are economically sound. The universal test of 

 every commercial operation is the question whether it pays or 

 not.- It may be urged that in the long run greater profits will 

 be made where diseases are allowed to run their course in view 

 of the cost of the operations briefly described in this paper. But 

 he would be a bold man to-day who ventured to assert this, 

 and all who have seen plantations of ' Victoria ' plums rendered 

 completely derelict by neglect of silver-leaf disease will agree 

 in stating that sanitary measures in fruit gardens are worth 

 while and serve as the best means of insurance for the future. 

 Progressive fruit-growers have long recognised this, but their 

 efforts towards cleanliness in their plantations are sometimes 

 partly discounted by apathy on the part of their neighbours. 

 Those growers, for instance, who neglect silver-leaf disease are 

 a menace not only to themselves, but to their fellow cultivators. 

 The time has come when a person who allows trees killed by 

 silver-leaf disease to remain standing and be the means of 

 propagating the insidious fungus which causes it, wdll be looked 

 upon as committing a nuisance for which there must be pains 

 and penalties. Public opinion amongst fruit growers, however, 

 can do more good towards introducing proper treatment for 

 the troubles occasioned by disease than all the legislation in the 

 world. It is a pleasure to note that a healthy public opinion in 

 this respect is rapidly developing amongst fruit growers. 



With silver-leaf disease, measures of plant sanitation can 

 alone be used at present as a means of control. These measures 

 are simple and easy to carry out, and I am convinced after much 



