CHAPTER VI. 



Pests and Diseases of Fruit Trees. 



old-fashioned gardener is, even now, quite 

 convinced that all plant diseases are inevitable 

 and incurable. This type of gardener merely 

 shrugs his shoulders and remarks, " Oh ! It's 

 the blight," when disease of any kind mani- 

 fests itself. He does not trouble to discover 

 the cause of the disease, and he either pulls up 

 the plants which are attacked, and casts them 

 on the rubbish heap, or else he merely goes his way 

 and allows the crop to be destroyed. 



Although there are still some plant diseases for 

 which there are no known remedies, it is a fact that 

 such diseases are under the close observation of some 

 of our foremost scientists, and it is quite likely that 

 the proper remedies may be discovered at any 

 moment ; but with respect to the maj ority of plant 

 diseases, the records of world-wide experiments 

 prove that crops may be saved and harvested in 

 good condition, in spite of diseases, if proper pre- 

 cautions are taken. 



The spread of horticultural education is gradually 

 sweeping away the ignorance and apathy of the 

 people on matters of this kind, and a hopeful sign 

 is the fact that the average schoolboy can now 

 distinguish between the damage caused by insects 

 and that caused by fungus diseases, and he will also 

 be able to give the common name of the pest instead 

 of using the indefinite term " blight," which was 



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