THE BOOK OF THE PEONY 



deaux so that the spores germinate and infect 

 sprayed buds just as readily as unsprayed. Sul- 

 phur in its various forms appears to be equally 

 ineffective in preventing the bud rot form of the 

 malady. 



Eradication measures offer the most promise 

 of success in the control of the Botrytis blight. 

 To be effective, however, they must begin with the 

 careful removal of the old stubs in the Autumn 

 or very early in the Spring and be prosecuted per- 

 sistently throughout the season. To remove the 

 old stubble carefully, remove the soil from the 

 crown, so as not to injure the buds. Cut away 

 the old stalks close to the crown and burn. These 

 old stalks harbor the fungus. Replace the soil 

 removed with fresh, clean soil, preferably sand, 

 or at least top coat with sand. When the shoots 

 begin to appear, inspect them daily and remove 

 by cutting close to the crown any that show wilt- 

 ing. These should be burned. By promptly re- 

 moving these wilting shoots, you prevent the crop 

 of spores that always appears if the dead shoots 

 are left and so greatly reduce the chance of infec- 

 tion of buds and leaves. 



The daily inspection must now include the 



252 



