CURE WANTED FOR THE PLUM ROT 



PROF. W. LOCHHEAD, ONT. AGRI. COI.LEGE, GUELPH. 



I am troubled a good deal with plum rot, and 

 as yet have been unable to find a cure for it. 

 Can you give me a remedy ? — (Philip Austin, 

 Arkona, Ont. 



On account of the fact that the plum 

 rot or brown rot can thrive on many hosts, 

 such as the plum, peach, cherry, apple, 

 raspberry, blackberry, etc., it is difficult to 

 outline a treatment which will be effective. 

 There are two lines of treatment which 

 should be tollowed, one as important as the 

 other. 



First, gather and burn all the mummy 

 plums which usually remain on the tree in 



One Method of Preparing the Lime Sulphur Wash — No. 1. 



where insecticides are used, and w*here the 

 curculio is not so abundant, the brown rc<t 

 is not severe. 



There seems to oe some connection be- 

 tween the abundance of curculio and that 



of the rot, and no doubt the curculio is an 

 ■f 



agent in the spread of the disease. Thin- 

 ning the friiit is also an important aid in 

 controlling the disease. As with many 

 other diseases, co-operation among the fruit 

 growers is essential for the control of the 

 plum rot, for it is not fair to the wide-awake 

 careful fruit grower to have an orchard 

 near by which is un- 

 tended and the mum- 

 mified plums allowed 

 to remain all winter 

 and become a source 

 of infestation to the 

 best orchards of the 

 district. 



WHAT THE DOMINION 



HORTICULTURIST 



SAYS. 



The above question 

 by Mr. Austin was 

 also submitted to 

 Mr. W. T. Macoun, 



In some sections where the San Jose Scale has made its appearance fruit growers have united to q£ thc Central Can- 

 fight the pest. One grower agrees to prepare the spraying mixture for the others, who buy it from him 



at a fixed price. The method here shown is a commoa one. The wash is prepared in barrels and boiled ^(J^ Experimental 



by steam from a threshing engine. This photograph was taken near Burlington, where Mr. C. J. Davis " 



prepares the mixture for seme 15 growers. Farm for aUSWCr 



a dry hard condition all winter. It has 

 been proven that these mummified fruits 

 serve to carry this fungus over the winter 

 and that they retain their power to give off 

 in the spring the spores which will continue 

 the disease the following season. 



WHEN TO SPRAY. 



Second, spray thoroughly with Bordeaux 

 mixture. The spraying should be made 

 before the buds open, again just before 

 blossoming, and after blossoming, and the 

 fourth spraying when tne fruit is three- 

 quarters grown. It has been found that 



who has replied as follows : 



This disease does great injury every 

 year to the peach and plum crop. It is not 

 ' as easily controlled as the apple spot, but 

 thorough spraying has been found very ef- 

 fectual. The ripe rot spreads by means of 

 spores, which germinate early in the spring 

 and penetrate the twigs from the leaves and 

 flower buds on which they alight. In or- 

 der to destroy as many of the spores as pos- 

 sible, all diseased fruit should be gathered 

 and burned, whether it is on the ground or 

 on the tree. This fruit harbors mvriads 



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