FRUITS 213 



in a bearing orchard is not desirable. Tliorougli 

 spraying with Bordeaux mixture gives a large meas- 

 ure of protection from rot, but in very unfavorable 

 seasons, or on rankly growing trees, it cannot be de- 

 pended upon to entirely prevent it. Peach foliage 

 is very susceptible to injury from copper compounds, 

 so that a very weak Bordeaux must be used. Two 

 pounds of copper sulphate and six pounds of lime 

 to a barrel of water is the formula usually recom- 

 mended for peaches. To be effective, spraying must 

 be given early in the spring, as soon as the blossoms 

 fall. In fact, one spraying before the buds open is 

 advisable. Subsequent applications will depend, to 

 some extent, upon the weather. If the weather is 

 wet, more spraying will be required than when dry. 

 Another necessary precaution is to remove all dry, 

 so-called " Qiummied " fruits of last year's crop and 

 destroy them, for it is on these " mummies " that the 

 fungus passes the winter. 



Next in importance to the rot is the curculio, a 

 small beetle which stings the young fruit and deposits 

 an egg which hatches into a small, white, footless 

 grub, that feeds within the tissues of the growing 

 fruit, either destroying it entirely or, if the egg has 

 been laid later in the season, causing it to ripen pre- 

 maturely and, when cut, disclosing the rotting cavity 

 in which the grub is feeding. These wormy peaches 

 are well known by every one who has handled this 

 crop. Adding two ounces of Paris green to the 

 barrel of Bordeaux mixture that is used for the first 

 spraying after the falling of the flowers will kill a 

 certain proportion of the adult beetles, as they feed 



