458 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



This question has been studied very thor- 

 oughly by Prof. Selby for the last three or 

 four years, and he is of the opinion that, 

 grape rot will always be more difficult to 

 control on sandy, open soil than on the 

 heavy clay soil in the Cleveland region. In 

 Ohio the fruit growers use their sandy, open 

 soils for other purposes than grape culture, 

 and there the rot is less severe on the heavy 

 clay soils. 



There are so many evidences of the good 

 results of careful spraying, according to the 

 recommendations given by Prof. Selby, that 

 no further experimentation along the line of 

 prevention of grape rot will be undertaken 

 at present. He is satisfied that the methods 

 in use at present will control the black rot 

 every time. I may add .that vineyards 

 which were left untreated, or not carefully 

 treated, show either total losses or a very 

 large percentage of rotten grapes. Even 

 the most careless of grape growers in the 

 Cleveland region have come to the conclu- 

 sion that they must get out of the business, 

 or spray according to the formula given 

 them by the Experiment Station, and which 

 I have outlined. By the way. Prof. Selby 

 does not think much of the dust sprayers, 

 and he is a strong believer in the use of the 



liquid Bordeaux as a fungicide, which he 

 considers a fungicide par excellence. 



There is no doubt that the black rot can 

 be kept in check in Ohio, but it remains for 

 us to prove that it can be held in check in 

 Ontario. It appears that one of the best 

 means of preventing this disease is to burn 

 all the " mummy " grapes which would 

 naturally remain on the vines all winter. 

 These are probably the source of the con- 

 tagion for the coming season, and too much 

 care cannot be taken to have all such dis- 

 eased grapes destroyed. 



An . important point that must be taken 

 into consideration by grape growers is that 

 the black rot is a very difficult disease to 

 control, and that two or three sprayings are 

 not sufficient. It takes six or eight spray- 

 ings to keep the disease completely in check 

 and to get perfect grapes. As we know that 

 Bordeaux will discolor the grape when it 

 reaches a certain size, it is well to spray 

 with the soda-Bordeaux or the ammonia- 

 copper-carbonate solution for the last two 

 or three sprayings. It remains for the On- 

 tario growers to show that the black rot 

 can be controlled in their own country un- 

 der slightly different conditions from those 

 obtaining in Ohio. 



ORCHARD FERTILIZERS 



W. H. DEMPSEY, 



I FIND it increasingly difficult to obtain 

 good wood ashes with which to ferti- 

 lize my orchard. Until two years ago I 

 was able to secure 50 to 100 pounds of ashes 

 a week from the lake steamers stopping at 

 Trenton, but since wood has become so 

 dear the steamers have been burning coal, 

 and that source of supply has been cut off. 

 I am now thinking of buying some com- 



You should receive The Horticulturist 

 promptly on or about the first of every month. 

 Do you ? If you don't, let us know. 



TRENTON, ONT. 



mercial fertilizer which I have seen adver- 

 tised in The Horticulturist. 



I use all the stable manure I can secure. 

 The ashes are sown broadcast whenever I 

 can obtain any ; the manure is carted on dur- 

 ing the late winter and early spring and 

 spread thoroughly. Orchards, the same 

 as all other land on which farm crops are 

 raised, require heavy fertilizing to keep 

 them in good condition. 



I enclose $1 for The Horticulturist, which Is 



much improved of late. — (John Mather, Otta- 

 wa, Ont. 



