A TREATISE ON NUT CULTURE. 49 



In preparing the nuts for- bleaching, after they are separated from the hulls, 

 they are spread out on trays and dried in the sun or dry house for a few days 

 until they are dry enough to avoid moulding. 



After thorough drying and bleaching, they are placed in coarse sacks and 

 shipped to all parts of the world. 



- , The almond being so closely allied to the Peach is 



insects ana ij a bl e to be attacked by the same insect pests and 



fungus diseases. The most troublesome of the insects 



are the Red Spider in California and the Peach Tree Borer, the former of 

 which is readily destroyed by spraying in winter with a caustic solution for 

 scale insects and a summer remedy recommended as follows: " Sulphur, three 

 pounds; caustic soda, (ninety-eight per cent.) two pounds; whale oil soap, two 

 pounds; solution in all, one hundred gallons. Directions: Boil the sulphur and 

 caustic soda together in about two gallons of water. When the sulphur 

 becomes dissolved, add the soap and boil until thoroughly dissolved; then add 

 water to make in all one hundred gallons of solution and apply warm." 



The moths of the Peach Tree Borer appear about June or July. The 

 eggs are deposited on the stem of the tree near the surface of the ground, 

 when they soon hatch, and the young bore through the tender bark and girdle 

 the tree. Their presence is generally made known by the juices exuding and 

 forming a gum on the surface. 



As a remedy and prevention there should be thorough and clean cultiva- 

 tion and a careful examination of the trees in the Fall, and with a sharp pointed 

 knife trace out and destroy every insect. 



Tar paper and other protectors are sometimes bound around the butts of the 

 trees in order to prevent a deposit of the eggs. 



Of Diseases ^^ e Shothole Fungus has created the greatest injury. 

 It attacks the foliage and young twigs. The first 



appearance is a yellowish brown spot on the leaf, which soon eats through the 

 leaf and causes it to prematurely fall to the ground, thereby checking the 

 growth of the tree, preventing the maturing of the fruit and formation of the 

 vigorous fruit buds necessary for the next season's crop. The disease is 

 thought to prevail to the greatest extent along the coast counties or sections 

 most liable to heavy fogs. 



As a preventive, Prof. Galloway suggests the application of ammoniacal 

 solution of copper carbonate, as follows: 



Copper carbonate, ... 5 ounces. 



Aqua ammonia, ( 26 degrees, ) . 3 pints. 



Water, . . . . .45 gallons. 



The copper carbonate should be placed in an ordinary wooden pail and just 



