NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



i6i 



A Disease of the Cherry Tree was noticed 



early last summer in the cherry orchards of 



Kent, Eng-land. Caruthers, the consulting 



botanist, says it is a leaf disease, affecting 



the fruit also, which it renders unfit for 



market. In the autumn and winter diseased 



trees are readily detected by their holding 



their leaves like trees cut down in summer 



foliage. The growth of the wood is stunted 



owing to the death of the leaves. He says : 



Sections through the leaf stalk show also a very 

 luxuriant growth of the mycelium which is con- 

 fined to the cortical tissue. It is very irregular in 

 form and pushes its way between the cells. It 

 does not extend beyond the petiole, stopping short 

 at the point where the large cortical cells of the 

 petiole are in contact with the small round compact 

 cells of the twig into which the fungus does not 

 penetrate. 



Fig. 2043. Fragment of Leaf of Cherry Tree 

 showing groups of parasitic fungi. 



The disease has been spreading rapidly in Kent 

 during the last few years. The varieties of cherry 

 trjes that have been reported as specially liable 

 are Waterloo, Bigarreau, Napoleon, Blackhearts, 

 and Eltons; Governor Woods have not as yet 

 suffered much and English and Flemish reds 

 and May Dukes have not been attacked, though 

 odd trees of other varieties, such as Bigarreau, 

 growing among them have been diseased. In 

 one orchard the disease attacked Waterloo first, 

 soon spreading to other kinds, while at another 

 place this variety had not been affected until last 

 year and then only the leaves had suffered ; 

 the fruit had not been damaged. 



The only remedy proposed in the old 

 country is the gathering and burning of the 



leaves. In Canada, no doubt, spraying 

 with Bordeaux would be proposed. 



Cherry cultivation is just coming to the 

 front in Ontario, and we hope this disease 

 may not cross the Atlantic. 



Uniform P.\ckages for Fruit. — The 

 recommendations of our Committee on Uni- 

 form Packages have been made into an Act 

 to amend the Weights and Measures Act, 

 under the direction of onr member for 

 Wentworth. Mr. E. D. Smith writes that 

 he is having the Bill prepared in both French 

 and English, and that it will be shortly 

 brought in for discussion. The following is 

 a copy. 



1. Every box of berries or currants offered for 

 sale in Canada shall be plainly marked on the side 

 of the box, in black letters at least half an inch 

 square, with the word "Short," unless it contains 

 when level-full as nearly exactly as practicable : — 



(a) at least four-fifths of a quart, or 

 (d) two-fifths of a quart. 



2. Every basket of fruit offered for sale in Can- 

 ada, unless stamped on the side or cover, plainly 

 in black letters at least three-quarters of an inch 

 deep and wide, with the word "Quart," in full, 

 preceded with the minimum number of quarts, 

 omitting fractions, which the basket will hold when 

 level-full, shall contain, when level-full, one or 

 other of the following quantities : — 



(a) fifteen quarts or more ; 



{b) eleven quarts, and be five and three-quarter 

 inches deep, perpendicularly, inside measurement, 

 as nearly exactly as practicable ; 



(c) six and two-thirds quarts, and be four and 

 five-eighths inches deep, perpendicularly, inside 

 measurement, as nearly exactly as practicable ; or 



(d) two and two-fifths quarts, as nearly exactly 

 as practicable. 



3. Every person who neglects to comply with 

 any provision of this Act and any person who sells 

 or offers for sale any fruit in contravention of the 

 foregoing provisions of this Act, shall be liable, on 

 summary conviction, to a fine of not less than 

 twenty-five cents for each basket so sold or offered 

 for sale, and the fine shall go to the informant. 



4. This Act shall come into effect on the first day 

 of February, 1902. 



Lecturers to Affiliated Societies. — 

 Mr. G. C. Creelman, Superintendent of 

 Farmers' Institute, paid us a visit recently 

 to discuss plans for the carrying out of the 

 lectures before our affiliated Horticultural 

 Societies. The Department of Agriculture 



