THE PEACH AND THE NECTARINE ] 337 



shape, the twigs cease to grow, or make irregular and 

 twisted growth, and the punctures of the insects favour 

 infection with peach leaf curl. Moreover the honey dew 

 exuded by the Aphis besides attracting hordes of ants 

 which assist in the destruction of the remaining fruit, soon 

 besmears all the foliage and favours the growth of the 

 sooty fungi which contribute to give to the tree a very 

 ugly appearance. The Aphis of the peach is small and 

 of a light green colour, and the winged insect lays its eggs 

 close to the buds of the twigs or at the extremity of the 

 twigs among the small tufts of sickly twisted leaves, 

 which seem to be glued to the twig and remain on the 

 tree for a considerable part of winter. Dusting the affected 

 trees with Schloesing's precipitated sulphur containing 

 nicotine, or spraying with a ten per cent, watery solution 

 of a mixture made of nitrobenzine i part, amylic alcohol 

 or fusel oil 3 parts and soft soap 2 parts, is useful to check 

 the disease in its early stages. In winter the sickly 

 extremities of the twigs should be trimmed back, all 

 tufts of dry leaves plucked off those twigs which are 

 apparently healthy, and the whole tree thoroughly white- 

 washed with fresh slacked lime, repeating the operation 

 after the interval of fifteen days to make sure that all 

 the hybernating eggs of the Aphis have been destroyed. 

 This cheap and energetic treatment will be found to give 

 very good results. 



Erinosis of the peach, due to the species of Phytopus 

 is a rare disease of the foliage in early spring and has no 

 practical importance; so also is the injury caused by the 

 larva of Psylla Persicae Fb. the peach flea, which 

 occasionally attacks the foliage of young trees. Lecanium 

 Persicae L. the peach scale, attacks the peach in Italy and 

 other continental countries, but is not present in our 

 orchards, but Aspidiot^^s Hedera? is a frequent source of 

 trouble on our peach and nectarine trees growing in 

 shaded situations, and a winter treatment with sulphur 

 limewash may become necessary. A small brown species 



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