284 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



December, 191 4. 



Young Orchard Land, Well Located, in a British Columbia Valley 



—Photo by E. LecldeEwing, Okanagan Landing, B.C. 



a canker on one of the main limbs near 

 the trunk. While the disease is present 

 everywhere in the peach regions of On- 

 tario it seems to be much more severe 

 in some orchards than in others, and it 

 is usually found at its worst on poorly- 

 drained or wet land. Peaches on sandy 

 hillsides, where both air and soil drain- 

 age are good, are relatively free from 

 the disease. 



Before entering into the question of 

 cause, I should like to dismiss with a 

 few words a popular misunderstanding 

 regarding cankers. There is a tendency 

 among less observant peach growers to 

 attribute them to the work of borer lar- 

 vae, which one often finds buried in the 

 gum and dead bark, and which eat out 

 the soft fresh tissue at the edges. But 

 though these "grubs" are very fre- 

 quently associated with cankers and play 

 a part in enlarging them, they have no- 

 thing to do with causing the canker in 

 the first place. The}- are not found in 

 all cankers by any mc;ans, and are usu- 

 ally absent entirely from the early stages 

 of every canker, so that despite a wide- 

 spread belief to the contrary we must 

 endeavor to find the cause elsewhere. 



Judging from the manner in which 

 many other well-known cankers arise, 

 one would be inclined at the beginning 

 to suppose that peach cankers are the 

 work of fungi. Cankers of a similar 

 nature, but without gum, of course, are 

 to be met with in apple, oak, poplar, 

 sumach, and numerous other wild and 

 cultivated .trees, and so many of these, 

 like the Black Rot Canker of the apple, 

 have been shown to be the work of some 

 particular fungus. There is a strong 

 probability that peach cankers are like- 

 wise caused by fungi as well. The ex- 

 perimental work that has already been 

 done supports this view. Jehle, of New 

 York, succeeded in producing cankers 

 by inoculating peach limbs with the 



Brown Rot fungus. Prof. L. Caesar and 

 Mr. H. T. Gussow, the Dominion botan- 

 ist, did similar experiments with Brown 

 Rot, but found that though gum was 

 copiously produced the wounds healed 

 afterward without an extension of the 

 canker. In the New York Report for 

 1900 there is a record of the inoculation 

 of peach limbs with another fungus found 

 universally on the dead and dying limbs 



of peaches, and gum exudations result- 

 ed in each case. In addition to these, 

 the writer has made numerous observa- 

 tions which tend to show that the can- 

 kers are caused by fungi. In a few 

 instances cankers may arise from 

 wounds, borer holes, frost cracks, and 

 gum blisters. The vast majority start 

 around the bases of dead twigs. Some- 

 times the.se twigs are seen to have been 

 killed by Brown Rot, and many in- 

 stances occur where a mummice peach 

 remains on the tree and at the base of 

 its dead spur or stalk a canker has be- 

 gun. 



In numberless other cases there was 

 no evidence of the Brown Rot, but the 

 dead twig sticking out of the canker was 

 covered with the minute pistules of the 

 common Cytospora previously mention- 

 ed. Even in the exceptions mentioned, 

 where borer holes, cuts, etc., give rise 

 to cankers, there is strong evidence that 

 this last mentioned fungus has invaded 

 the tissues about three places, and has 

 caused the cankers. The results of these 

 observations were not conclusive, but 

 served to strengthen the suspicion that 

 either the Brown Rot or the Cytospora 

 or both were closely associated with can- 

 ker formation. 



(To he continued) 



T 



The Apple, the National Dish of Canada 



HE suggestion advanced in the 

 November issue of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist that a concerted 



effort should be put forth by all interest- 

 ed in the advancement of horticulture in 

 Canada to have "The Apple" recogniz- 

 ed as the "National Dish" of Canada, 

 has met with a most gratifying response. 

 In order that the ball might, be set roll- 

 ing The Canadian Horticulturist wrote 

 some weeks ago to a number of promi- 

 nent people and asked them what they 

 thought of the suggestion, and if they 

 would be willing to help the movement. 

 .VIl have expressed their approval and 

 have taken steps to promote the sug- 

 gestion . 



The Dominion Fruit Commissioner, 

 Mr. D. Johnson, of Ottawa, replied: "I 

 will be glad to do everything possible to 

 bring about the desired results, and 

 be pleased 'if you could urge a number 

 of fruit growers' associations, not only 

 the provincial associations, but strong 

 local associations as well, to take this 

 matter up, and send copies of the resolu- 

 tions both to the Minister of Agriculture 

 and myself. Hon. Mr. Burrell is very 

 alive to such things, and if we have the 

 resolutions we will then know if it is the 

 wish of the country that something 

 should be done along this line." 



President Robt. Thompson, of the 

 Ontario Fruit Growers' Association, 

 wrote that he favored the suggestion, 

 and would bring the matter before the 



memljers of the Ontario Fruit Growers' 

 Association at their annual convention in 

 November. Mr. Thompson did this, 

 mentioning it in his annual address. The 

 suggestion was most favorably received, 

 and a strong resolution endorsing the 

 proposal was passed, a report of which 

 is published elsewhere in this issue. 



Mr. J. H. Bennett, the President of 

 the Ontario Horticultural Association, 

 also favored the proposal in his address 

 to the members of that association at 

 their convention in November, and they 

 also passed a resolution favoring the 

 idea . 



President T. G. Bunting, of the Pomo- 

 logical Society of the Province of Que- 

 bec, writes The Canadian Horticulturist 

 that he is much in favor of having the 

 apple recognized as Canada's national 

 dish, and that he will mention it at the 

 annual meeting of the Quebec Pomologi- 

 cal Society to be held this month. 



CABINET APPROVAL 



Hon. Geo. E. Foster, Dominion Min- 

 ister of Trade and Commerce, who has 

 done so much to adverti.se and popular- 

 ize the use of the apple this year in 

 Canada, is also favorable to the move- 

 ment. In a letter to The Candian Horti- 

 culturist, Hon. Mr. Foster said: "In so 

 far as it is your desire to establish the 

 apple jjermanently as the favorite fruit of 

 Canada, and induce our people to con- 

 sider the advisability, both from the sani- 

 tary and patriotic point of view, of rais- 



