NEW FRUITS. 



411 



Bordeaux the spores which aligcht on them 

 are killed and infection prevented. 



The way the tubers become affected is not 

 so clear, but it is probable that the spores, 

 on falling to the ground, are often washed by 

 rains through the soil to the tubers, into 

 which they force an entrance and set up con- 

 ditions which give rise to the rot. In some 

 plantations this year only the uppermost 

 tubers are rotten. This would seem to favor 

 the idea that the rot was produced by spores 

 washed down by rains. 



As the winter spore of this fungus is not 

 known it is supposed by many authorities 

 that the fungus winters over as thread in 

 diseased tubers, and that after planting the 

 tubers the following season the threads 

 grow into the new shoots and into the new 

 leaves. If this is the case, it becomes im- 

 portant to plant "seed" potatoes from the 

 localities where the blight was absent the 

 previous season. 



Some authorities are of the opinion that 

 the fungus winters over as a thick-walled 

 spore in the tissues of the dead leaves and 

 stalks. This supposition is a quite proba- 

 ble one, for many closely related blights 

 winter over in this way, and their winter 

 spores are not difficult to find. But the po- 

 tato blight winter spore has, as yet, not 

 been found, hence the various suppositions 

 as to the method the fungus adopts to sur- 

 vive the winter. If the blight has a winter 

 spore, then all the dead stalks and rotten 

 tubers should be burned. They should never 

 be thrown on the manure heap, for with the 

 application of this manure to potato ground 

 the following year many spores will be dis-. 

 tributed, and ready to infect the new plants. 

 At this juncture it would be advisable to re- 

 move the dead stalks from the ground be- 

 fore digging up the tubers, for it may pre- 

 vent further infection of the tuber and sub- 

 sequent rotting. 



NEW FEUITS 



THE BARTLETT PLUM 



ONE of the most delicious plums that is 

 now on the market is Burbank's 

 Bartlett. A small dish of them will soon 

 fill a room with a delicate aroma, which 

 strongly suggests bananas. In fact, the 

 children insisted that bananas were on the 

 sideboard until they were told to go and 

 take a look and a smell. Now, when they 

 smell bananas, they want Bartlett plums. 

 This plum is about the size of a Tragedy 

 prune, yellowish green when at the right 

 stage to pick and in a day or two will turn 

 a dark, shiny red. The flesh is soft and 

 juicy, deep yellow, and has a decided Bart- 

 lett pear flavor. The skin is very thin and 

 tender, has no sour or astringent taste com- 

 mon to most plums, and cracks if heavy 

 dews fall on it when allowed to ripen fully 



on the trees. It is decidedly a plum for the 

 home orchard, and should be in every one. 

 The tree is not particularly prolific, although 

 it has all it can carry this year. The two 

 previous years the crop may have been 

 light. 



Climax is considered a choice plum from 

 some accounts, but on the sandy soil of the 

 Pomona valley it has proved a failure. It is 

 a fine looking plum, but does not bear with 

 us. We have failed to secure a good speci- 

 men, for what few set have always fallen off 

 before they thoroughly ripened. Shiro is a 

 most wonderful bearer, is a fine looking 

 plum, but lacks flavor with us. It makes a 

 good shipper, for it is firm and a beautiful 

 lemon yellow. In shape almost perfectly 

 round. — Cal. Cultivalor. 



