of all dead wood, and such cross branches as are 

 cutting or chafing each other. It is well to re- 

 member in cutting stone fruit trees, such as plums 

 and peaches, that the less cutting done with a knife 

 the better, as they are very Hable to bleed and lose 

 a quantity of sap. It is as necessary with a plum or 

 peach to get a well shaped tree, as with apple and 

 pear. 



Should an intending fruit grower read any insect PESTS 

 large proportion of the numerous books on the mar- and diseases. 

 ket, deahng with injurious insects and diseases, he 

 will most likely get such a shock that he will give 

 up his fruit growing intentions altogether. But if 

 pests and diseases are rightly considered, they are 

 easy to overcome, and they also serve the purpose 

 of keeping the fruit grower in a state of mental 

 alertness ! In this country fruit trees should be 

 sprayed three or four times yearly — when they are 

 in blossom, when the fruit is ripe, and once or 

 twice during the dry seasons. Pests injurious to 

 fruit trees may be divided into four classes: — (i) 

 insects that eat or chew their food, which includes 

 the whole tribe of beetles, worms and caterpillars. 

 These can be destroyed by spraying with an arseni- 

 cal mixture. Paris Green is generally employed 

 for this purpose. (2) Insects that suck their food, 

 as plant lice and scale, which are destroyed by 

 kerosine or resin washes. (3) Parasitic fungoid 

 diseases, such as canker, mildew of the grape, or 

 apple scab. When any of these show themselves, 

 the trees should at once be sprayed with one of the 

 many fungicidal mixtures on the market. And (4) 

 lastly, there are bacterial diseases, or what may be 

 known as conditional troubles. Such diseases are 

 seen in the withering up of the fohage, and the 

 drying up of part of the tree. There is no specific 

 treatment for troubles of this sort, except cutting 

 away dead or diseased parts and burning them. 

 The old adage, "Prevention is better than cure,** 

 goes a long way in fruit growing. Insects follow 

 on the heels of disease, and disease soon comes 

 after injury done to the trees by insects. The 

 causes of disease and injury should therefore be 

 permanently removed as far as possible, and then 

 spraying will keep disease in check and maintain 

 the trees in healthy condition. The chief causes of 



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