DOUBTFUL FRUITS. 67 



MR. BEDFORD. Are these imported plums early enough to escape 

 the frost in the fall? And how is the Cheney in that respect with you ? 



MR. A. P. STEVENSON. The Cheney is one of the very earliest 

 plums we have. 



MR. BEDFORD. Every year the fruit of the De Sota has been in- 

 jured by early frost at the Brandon farm. The Rockwood, the Weaver 

 and others are too late. The Cheney is one of the earliest. 



When Professor Saunders and I visited Mr. Stevenson's farm we 

 found everything- in good condition. Mr. Stevenson knew the name of 

 everything on the place. He has a good plan of keeping account of 

 all he has. He knows where each tree is, when it was planted and all 

 about it and the same with everything else. 



Mr. Stevenson was asked what he did to get rid of the Aphis, and 

 he said in reply, that he had never given the Aphis much attention. 



MR. BEDFORD. Have you tried tobacco for it ? We have been 

 very successful with it at Brandon. We take about twenty-five pounds 

 of waste tobacco from the cigar factories, soak it and spray the trees 

 with the juice, and that has been our best remedy for the Aphis on the 

 plum trees. 



MR. D. D. ENGLAND. I found the difficulty to be that the Aphis 

 were under the leaf and spraying did very little good. The most satis- 

 factory way was burning some tobacco stems in a pan under the tree. 

 We put a canvas over the tree to keep the smoke in and this killed 

 every one as far as we could see. That was the only plan with which 

 we had success. I never tried spraying. 



MR. WHEI/I<AMS. I think this is a very important point as this in- 

 sect is very injurious to fruit. I tried kerosene emulsion, even making 

 three applications with very little effect, even though the mixture was 

 strong enough to damage the leaves. I am glad to hear of something 

 as satisfactory as Mr. Bedford gives. I think this Aphis does more 

 harm to fruit bushes than any other insect we have. 



PROF. BAIRD. I agree with Mr. Whellams. Emulsion injures the 

 trees. I applied it to the under side of the leaves thoroughly. I used 

 it too strong in one case and hurt the leaves and yet the Aphis seemed 

 to flourish. 



MR. BEDFORD. In British Columbia they use this tobacco applica- 

 tion very largely and find it very successful. I have used it and find it 

 far more successful than anything else that I have tried. 



MR. D. D. ENGLAND. I have tried it too. It does not matter how 

 strong you put it on, it does not injure the leaves, but sometimes it 

 injures the roots. 



MR. McKAY. I may say that you can grow tobacco with less ex- 

 pense than you can buy it and it does as much good. 



