ISO 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



already evident that the public are going to 

 accept it as a good thing. 



Mr. W. N. Hutt did an equally good work 

 in another line which must lead to good 

 results through this western section of the 

 province. It is in fact greatly to be deplored 

 that there are very few new app'.e orchards 

 being planted, and very little care given to 

 the old ones through many sections of the 

 west now-a-days. I think I see in the Fruit 

 Marks Act, and the object lessons which Mr. 

 Hutt is giving in pruning and grafting, a 

 fair promise of a revival in apple culture. 

 I happened to have charge of the Institute 

 meetings in one or two localities here when 

 Mr. Hutt was in the Country, and was told 

 that it would be time wasted to start him 

 talking about pruning apple trees. I took 

 the risk, however, and the result was most 

 gratifying. Mr. Hutt's object lessons in 



pruning are still being talked about, and if 

 they could be supplemented in a number of 

 localities not reached, I know the results 

 must be good. Mr. Creelman I believe, has 

 in view a scheme that will meet this suggest- 

 ion, as soon as he can secure a sufficient 

 staff of practical demonstrations to meet the 

 requirements of the several districts yet un- 

 touched. He cannot get his scheme into 

 operation too soon, and he cannot get any 

 man who will do it fuller justice than Mr. 

 Hutt. If all the other apple growing dis- 

 tricts of Ontario have been as well served as 

 this one has been this year by Mr. Lick and 

 Mr. Hutt, we may look for an early and 

 general revival in the interest taken in apple 

 growing throughout our magnificent prov- 

 ince. 



T. H. Race. 

 Mitchell. 



SOME INSECT ENEMIES AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM.^ 



BY PROF. W. LOCHHEAD, O. A. C. , GUELPH. 



THE POJM-TWIG gall-mite. 



i.N Feb. 27th, I received from Mr. 

 Geo. E. Fisher, Freeman, Ont. , a 

 package of plum twigs which had 

 peculiar rings of small, gall-like 

 growths at the base of nearly all the buds. 

 Mr. Fisher stated in the letter of transmit- 

 tal that the twigs were obtained from an 

 orchard near Queenston, and that the orch- 

 ard was suffering from the injuries sus- 

 tained. 



On cutting open one of the galls, I saw 

 at once that the interior (often with more 

 than one cavity), was filled with a large 



number of minute white mites, which at 

 this season are dormant. Under the mi- 

 croscope they were seen to be elongate- 

 oval, four-legged, and provided with 

 whip-like appendages at the tail end. 

 Unacquainted with this particular form of 

 mite, I applied to Dr. Howard, of Wash- 

 ington, for information, who informed me 

 that the mite was the Plum-Twig Gall- 

 mite of Europe, Eriophyes {Phytopttis) phlceo- 

 coples, and that it had probably been intro- 



*Notes from the Biological Department of the 

 Ontario Agricultural College. 



