278 Peach-Growing 



Course of development of little-leaf. 



As described by Smith and Smith ^ the development of 

 the trouble is substantially as follows: "Little-leaf" is 

 characterized by the development of spindling, yellow, 

 sickly looking shoots on the new growth, with small, narrow, 

 yellow leaves. The leaves along the shoots drop off during 

 the summer, leaving tufts at the ends. The fruit fails to 

 develop, shrivels and drops, and is worse on trees from three 

 to seven years old, and on the lighter, drier soils, this fea- 

 ture showing itself by the more pronounced occurrence of 

 the disease on trees standing in sandy streaks or slight 

 elevations in the orchard. Therefore, as might be expected, 

 it occurs mostly following unusually dry seasons, on trees 

 standing in light soil or one underlaid with a coarse, sandy 

 subsoil. Trees on a fairly heavy subsoil, or those which have 

 received abundant irrigation throughout the preceding 

 season, are mostly or entirely free from the trouble even in 

 the worst affected localities. 



Methods of control. 



In most cases, regular irrigation during the summer shows 

 a marked effect in controlling this trouble. Such irrigation 

 should be given particularly in the latter part of the season, 

 after the crop is off, and especially when the rains are late 

 in commencing. 



Other diseases 



While other diseases besides these discussed may occur 

 locally, or even widely disseminated, they are of little eco- 

 nomic importance in most cases or are controlled by the 



1 Cal. Exp. Sta. Bull. 218. 



