LABKLS FOK FKUIT TREES. 



43 



safer. This is made by dissolving one pound of hard soap in 

 one gallon of boiling water and adding at once two gallons of 

 kerosene; stir violently with a fox'ce pump for several minutes; 

 dilute with ten to twenty jmrts of water. 



For Fungous Troubles, Bordeaux mixture is most com- 

 monly used. In a barrel holding twenty-five gallons of water 

 dissolve six pounds copper sulphate (blue vitriol) and in 

 another barrel slake four pounds of fresh stone lime with hot 

 water; strain and dilute to twenty-five gallons; then pour the 

 two together and spray. This must be used fresh and not put 

 together imtil needed. 



Spraying" for fungous troubles must begin early in the 

 season before they appear and be kept up at frequent inter- 

 vals. Bordeaux mixture is a preventive, not a cure. If the 

 fruit or leaves are covered with it the fungi cannot find lodge- 

 ment, but when once a foothold' is obtained the spraying will 

 not prove an effective remedy, for most fungi work underneath 

 the surface. The first application of Bordeaux should be made 

 before the buds break in the spring in order to kill all spores 

 which may be on the tree. Spray again before the blossoms 

 open, then after the blossoms fall, and again at frequent 

 intervals thi'oughout the season. Paris green may be added 

 to Bordeaux mixture and sprayed at the same time, and thus 

 two kinds of pests fought at once. The lime in the Bordeaux 

 mixture neuti-alizes any free arsenic there may be in the paris 

 green and prevents its burning the foliage. 



Labels for Fruit Trees.— Apple trees and all fruits should 

 be carefully labelled, that the owner may not forget the names 

 of the kinds, and also tliat any subsequent possessor may 

 know without doubt what varieties he is growing. Most of 

 the confusion in names of fruits and plants results from for- 

 getfulness and guess woi'k. 



names of fruits and plants results from forgetfuluess and guess 

 work. 



The best label that can be used is the triangular zinc, six to 

 eight inches long, one inch wide at one end and tapering to a 

 point at the other, and written upon with a common lead pencil. 

 A name written upon such a piece of zinc, slightly corroded (old 

 zinc is better than new) will last a Ufetime and increase in dis- 

 tinctness from year to year. 



The label is attached to the tree by winding the small end 

 around a small branch. As the branch increases in size the zinc 

 uncoils so as not to cut into it, and when the branch becomes too 

 large to retain it, the laiiel is attached to a smaller one. Any 

 label, however, is liable to become displaced by wind, teams, etc. ; 

 and if perfect securitj' is desired, a plan of the orchard or garden 

 must be made and the names of the varieties recorded in tlieir 

 proper places. As long as the plan is preserved there can be no 

 uncertainty as to the locatiou and names of varieties. 



