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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Remedy for Black Knot 



H. S. PEART, B.S.A., O.A.C., GUELPH, ONT. 



Will turpentine and sulphur mixed painted 

 On growing black knot on plum trees prevent 

 further growth and kill the spoils ? Can a bet- 

 ter mixture be suggested ? — (W. C. Archibald & 

 Sons, Wolfville, N. S. 



Black knot is a fungous disease, the na- 

 ture of wliicli has been thoroughly under- 

 stood for many years. The spores of the 

 disease are carried 'by the wind in early sum- 

 mer. Spraying the trees with Bordeaux 

 mixture in spring and early summer will 

 prevent fresh infection. Once the disease 

 is established there is no certain remedy ex- 

 cept cutting out and burning the knots. 

 Turpentine does not dissolve the sulphur, 

 hence the mixture is no better than turpen- 

 tine alone. 



The use of such substances as turpentine 

 and crude petroleum are not to be com- 

 mended, as they nearly always injure the 

 tree. United effort on the part of the plum 

 and cherry growers in cutting out and burn- 

 ing knots as they appear and spraying with 

 Bordeaux mixture early in the summer will 

 soon rid a section of the disease. 



Thinninc: and Propping 



PROF. H. L. HUTT, O.A.C., GUELPH, ONT. 



■\A''hat is the best method of thinning fruit ? 

 Is there any serviceable implement made for 

 thinning purposes ? WTiat is the manner in 

 which trees are best propped ? — (L. B. Pang- 

 nnan, Salmon Arm, B. C. 



There are two general methods of thin- 

 ning fruit, first by regulating the number of 

 fruit spurs and consequently the amount of 

 fruit by pruning, and second, by removing 

 the extra amount of fruit as soon as it is 

 sufficiently formed to judge of its charac- 

 ter. Various devices have been suggested 

 for this purpose, but none of them are as 

 good as going over the fruit and picking it 

 by hand in the usual way. By this means 

 judgment may be used in the removal of 

 the fruit,and care can be taken to avoid the 

 breaking off of the fruit spurs. 



Fruit trees should not be allowed to bear 

 so heavily that they require propping. If 

 allowed to grow -more than the branches 

 can sustain it is more or less of a drain on 

 the vitality of the tree, apart from the 

 danger of the limbs being broken by the 

 heavy weight of the crop. Propping, how- 

 ever, is much more common than judicious 

 thinning, and where it is resorted to we 

 know of no better plan than placing crutched 

 poles underneath the branches to support 

 the weight. I know of no special kind of 

 supports being used other than this placing 

 of poles underneath the branches, although 

 I have seen light ropes or wire used in large 

 trees to tie up a drooping branch to strong 

 limbs in the centre of the tree, but this 

 method is not so satisfactory as supports 

 from beneath, and where wire or rope is 

 used the 'branches often break off at the 

 point of support. 



Cultivating the Spy Orchard 



W. T. MACOUN, HORTICULTURIST, C. E. F., 

 OTTAWA. 



In raising Spys is it best to cultivate the or- 

 chard and sow cover crops, or to let the orchard 

 be in sod and use barnyard manure ? The soil 

 is a sandy loam. — (A. J. L. 



Cultivating an orchard of Northern Spys 

 or leaving it in sod will depend very much 

 on the character of the soil and the amount 

 of moisttire. Trees growing in good soil 

 where they never suft'er from drought, even 

 if the soil is left uncultivated, will usually 

 produce fine fruit, providing the fertility is 

 kept up by the application of barnyard 

 manure to the sod. If the soil is poor and 

 there is any danger of drought it is much the 

 best practice to cultivate the orchard and 

 sow a cover crop in the month of July both 

 for protection in w'inter and for improving 

 the fertility of the land. 



I oelieve the bandaging of trees with bur- 

 lap, if properly attended to throughout the 

 season, will almost exterminate the moth. — 

 (G. C. Caston, Craighurst, Ont. 



