l82 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



August, 191 1 



ites for the crop and the evident condi- 

 tion of the soil to supply them. 



Thorough cultiv.-ition is practised un- 

 til the crop is well filled out, then it is 

 totally discontinued except in an ex- 

 tremely dry season when a brush with the 

 straight-tooth harrow may be necessary 

 for a proper retention of moisture for 

 finishing up the sample. This permits 

 of the wood becoming ripe and hard as 

 it should be to withstand the cold of 

 winter. 



Peaches are given only one spraying 

 and this of lime-sulphur so thorousjlily 

 applied that every particle of wood left 

 on the trees after pruning is completely 

 coated. Mr. Rittenhouse aims at doing 

 this during March. 



Of course, one obvious condition is al- 

 ways understood to form a part in all the 

 requirements for profitable peach culture 

 — one must have peach-producing soil on 

 which to plant in a peach-producing cli- 

 mate, the two being inseparable if best 

 results are to be realized. 



One may have the right soil in the 

 right climate, plant only the very best 

 varieties for profit, thoroughly feed, 

 prune, thin, cultivate, etc., and yet lose 

 his total remuneration therefor because 

 of just one neglect or failure — that of 

 leaving out the thorough spraying. 



The Raspberry Twig Girdlcr 



Prof. C.J.9. BethnBe, O.A.C., Gnelph Ont. 



"I am sending you a beetle that has at- 

 tacked our raspberry plants. I never saw 

 it before this year or saw the plants in- 

 jured in this way. About five or six inches 

 from the end of the sucker are two girdles 

 and then the end dies. So far I can dis- 

 cover no further damage, and in every case 

 it is the suckers which are attacked, not 

 the fruit-bearing canes. These beetles do 

 not seem to work very quickly, nor are there 

 great numbers of them, though they are 

 difficult to find and capture unless actually 

 at work. Can you tell me what they are, 

 and if there is any remedy? — H. I. G. Fer- 

 gus. 



The insect referred to is called the 

 Raspberry Twig Girdler and has been a 

 familiar insect for a long time. The 

 beetle which is long and slender, with 

 black wing covers and yellow thorax, is 

 called the Oberea bipunctata. It bites a 

 girdle around the twig six inches or .so 

 from the extremity, and then it turns 

 around and bites another girdle at the 

 distance of its own length from the first. 

 Between the two it makes a little hole 

 and inserts in it an egg ; from this there 

 soon hatches out a yellowish maggot, 

 which bores down through the stem and 

 feeds on the pith. The effect of the gir- 

 dles is to cause an almost immediate 

 wilting of the twig so that the injury is 

 readily observed. 



The only effective remedy is to cut off 

 the affected twigs two or three inches 

 below the lower girdle and then to burn 

 them at once so as to prevent the mag- 

 gots attaining to maturity and providing 

 for an attack next year. Like many 



other insects, it has its periods of abun- 

 dance. Last year was a very favorable 

 one for it, its attacks having been not- 

 iced in many widely scattered parts of 

 Ontario. 



of the plant. Spraying is useless. Re- 

 move and burn all affected plants. They 

 are of no value, and a great nuisance to 

 all healthy plants. 



Orange Rust 



E.M. Slrufht, MtcDtuld Callcfc, Qm. 



Some sections have been badly struck 

 with orange rust this year. Where prev- 

 alent it is the worst enemy of the black- 

 berry and raspberry. It is widely dis- 

 tributed and is known in localities all 

 over the continent. 



In early spring the under sides of the 

 leaves of blackberries and raspberries 

 often present a red or orange color. In 



Cannot Do Without It 



We do not know what we would 

 do without The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist, and it gets better with 

 every issue. — W. P. Powe & Son, 

 Sunnyside Gardens, Cainsville, 

 Ont. 



every case it will be found that plants so 

 attacked are much retarded in growth. 

 The leaves are distorted, tend to curl, 

 and take on a languid appearance. 



Another stage of the same disease is 

 often overlooked by the casual observer. 

 It precedes the red rust by some weeks, 

 and appears on the upper side of the 

 leaves, and may be found about the time 

 the leaves unfold. 



When a plant is once attacked no- 

 thing may be done to save it. The my- 

 celium is within the tissue, and lives 

 there from year to year during the life 



BUckbtny Leaf, udertide coTcrcd with nit. 



Reasons (or Pruning 



To give proper form to the tree. 



To remove all dead branches and limbs 

 that cross each other. 



To thin out the top, .so that the tree 

 can be readily sprayed, and the fruit easi- 

 ly picked. 



Prune when the tree is dormant to in- 

 crea.se wood growth and thus renovate 

 the tree by inducing it to bud and new 

 wood growth. 



Pruning Cedars and Raspberries 



Prof. W.S. Blair, Mtcdoiald Collc|e, QoebK 



When is the proper time for pruning or 

 clipping a cedar hedge, and the proper time 

 for cutting back red and black raspberries.'' 

 Last year after the berries were all picked 

 I took out all old wood and all new except 

 four or five canes. The canes were cut back 

 to about four feet. I cleaned the ground 

 up generally. This was done about August 

 15th. Several of the hills later showed dead 

 canes turned dark as if blighted. Was it 

 caused by the pruning, or should I have 

 left them .-ilone until spring.' vSeveral of my 

 black cap berries are completely gone — no 

 life left. What is the cause?— H. W., Whit- 

 by, Ont, 



Mv experience goes to show that it 

 matters little when cedar hedge is prun- 

 ed in so far as vigor of the hedge is con- 

 cerned. The aim should be to have a 

 good looking well trimmed hedge for the 

 longest possible time and in order to ac- 

 complish this I have followed trimming 

 about the middle to the last of June and 

 again the last of July or early in August. 

 The June pruning is made principally 

 to shorten shoots that are making ex- 

 cessive growth. 



The killing of the raspberry canes may 

 have been due to sun injury, .Anthracnose, 

 or to root-gall. Where a thick growth 

 has surrounded canes during the early 

 season the canes are as a result sus- 

 ceptible to injury from exposure to di- 

 rect sunlight. Bright sun for a day or 

 so following the pruning out may cause 

 the injury, on the other hand a few days 

 dark weather following the pruning may 

 result in a gradual hardening of the tis- 

 sue and no injury result. 



The pruning out has a tendency to less- 

 en liability to Anthracnose, although it 

 may have been well established by thedate 

 mentioned, and the thinning out has re- 

 sulted in a more rapid drying out of the 

 cane ; the Anthracnose checking the sap 

 flow through the plant. Whether or not 

 Anthracnose is present would be indicat- 

 ed by irregular black blotches along the 

 cane in some cases completely encircling 

 them. 



Whether or not root gall is the cause 

 of the trouble with your black cap ber- 

 ries could be determined by digging up 

 the dead plants. If it is it will be indi- 

 cated by knotty growths on the root. 



