84 



the petals fall: (3) A week or ten days later; and (4) About forty to fifty 

 days after the shedding of the petals, and at intervals of two weeks thereafter, 

 until, in all. .seven or eight applications have been made. 



It is true, of course, that the number of ai)i)lications required and the 

 dates on which they should be made depend to a considerable extent upon the 

 season, but the treatment should always begin before the infection period, 

 which may occur as early as forty to fifty days after the fruit has set. 



In a dry or cool season the intervals between the later sprayings may 

 be lengthened, thus reducing the number of applications required, provided 

 the fruit is first thoroughly coated, which will necessitate at least two appli- 

 cations. 



On the other hand, in a hot. humid season it will probalily be necessary 

 to shorten the intervals and iucrea.se the total number of applications. 



Should, for any reason, the treatment be dela.ved until after it is discov- 

 ered that infection has taken place, the trees should be thoroughly sprayed 

 twice in rajiid succession with an interval of only a few days, in order to coat 

 the fruit thoroughly as quickly as possible. With one application alone it 

 is diflleult to coat the fruits sufficiently to protect against bitter-rot. and the 

 second application, which adheres better than the first, on accomit of the 

 presence of the previous coating, and also reaches parts of the fruit not 

 touched before, is necessary for thorough protection. — f". S. Bulhlin. Xo. OS. 



Brown Rot (MoniJia- fructhicna) 



Affects all kinds of stone fruits. Warm, moist weather at the time the 

 fruit is about full-grown, will almost certainly develop the disease to a very 

 large extent in districts subject to its attacks, when niea.sures of a iireventive 

 nature have been neglected, and cause the loss of a large portion of the crop. 



The asli-coloured velvety coating, or mould, seen on plums infected with 

 the disease, shows the final or fruiting stage of development. If examined 

 with the pocket lens, this mould will be seen to consist of numerous tufts of 

 minute thread-like pro.iections, and if further examined under a compound 

 microscope, it will be seen that each of these " minute threads " is composed 

 of a number of small oval bodies, joined end to end, like a string of beads. 

 These bead-like bodies are the spores of the fungus, and each infected fruit is 

 capable of i)roducing them in thousands. 



These .spores may remain unchanged for a great length of time. or. on the 

 other hand, they may. ^^•hen conditions are favouralile. germinate and grow so 

 rapidly that infected fruit soon bec<mies capable of producing fresh crops of 

 spores. Through the agency of winds, insects, etc.. spores are distributed 

 widely, and when one of them lodges on a fruit sufficiently soft, and when 

 moisture is present, it starts the di.sease again, sending out a germinating tube 

 which penetrates the skin of the fruit; here it grows rapidl.\', branching 

 through the inilp in all directions, forming a dense mass of mycelium, which 

 absorbs tlie contents of the cells of the fruit, disorganising the tissues and 

 causing the so-called " brown-rot." 



Infected fruit first turns brown in spots, which gradually enlarge, until 

 the whole fruit becomes brown and rotten, and in its turn becomes covered 

 with fruiting spores. 



