48 



-were just coming in bearing, were entirely exterminated by 

 the pear blight. It was like a pestilence of the early days. 



"Among the enemies of the fruit tree or shrub we 

 have the insects, which I consider of the greatest import- 

 ance. Then fungus diseases, which are a plant growth work- 

 ing mainly on the outside of the tissues, and which may 

 be comparatively easily handled by means of spraying. 



"And last, the bacterial diseases which work in the in- 

 terior of the plant cells are more difficult to combat. 



"The insects affecting the fruit grower may be divided 

 into two general classes, the leaf-eating and sucking. It is 

 necessary to know which one we must handle in order to 

 determine the best apparatus for spraying the orchard, as 

 one insecticide may demand one form of apparatus, and 

 another another form. 



"For leaf-eating insects, we use, as a rule, some arsen- 

 ical poison which is applied to the foliage. 



The insect eats both the plant tissue and the poison, 

 which taken into the digestive organs kills the insect in 

 this way. 



"The sucking insects, such as the San Jose scale, 

 scurvy bark louse, aphis and others sucking the sap from 

 the tree, must necessarily be destroyed by something either 

 closing the pores or killing by penetration. This in the 

 past, has required a different form of apparatus for applying 

 than the arsenical poisons. 

 , "The first spraying carried on in this country was 

 about 30 years ago, when the potato beetle made its ap- 

 pearance in quantity. 



"There is no one apparatus adapted for all conditions, 

 and it is absolutely necessary for the grower to study the 

 work which he has to do, and then buy the pump and other 

 equipment which will suit his purpose to the greatest ad- 

 vantage. 



"No man should use a power sprayer unless he has 

 a large number of trees, as he is simply making the appa- 

 ratus too expensive, there being many hand pumps which 

 are capable of doing an enormous amount of work in a very 

 short time. There are a large number of barrel pumps on 

 the market, all of which are good, and with care can be 

 jnade to last a number of years. 



"For the smaller fruits, such as currants and goose- 

 berries, the poison may be applied for the leaf-eating in- 



