182 FKUIT-GROWING 



know that the disease has appeared. The 

 brown rot is a disease of the fruit, causing it to 

 rot just at ripening time. Sometimes it be- 

 comes so thoroughly established in the orchard 

 that it attacks the stems of the fruit shortly 

 after the trees bloom. In such cases the crop is 

 lost almost before it is formed. I have seen 

 trees that were so badly infected in this way 

 that the owners never secured any returns. 

 We once leased an apple orchard in which stood 

 a single sweet cherry tree. The owner did not 

 know even the color of the fruit, never having 

 seen a ripe cherry on the tree. We sprayed it 

 and that year picked sixty gallons of perfect 

 cherries. 



Shot-hole fungus does not attack the fruit 

 directly but injures the foliage to such an 

 extent that the tree is unable to ripen its crop. 

 Its first appearance is noticed when the leaves 

 begin to turn yellow early in summer. Portions 

 of the leaf frequently fall out, leaving holes 

 such as might be caused by firing through the 

 tree with a shotgun — hence the name. Ulti- 

 mately the affected foliage falls from the tree, 

 leaving the fruit to get along as well as it can. 

 When we realize that all of the elaborate juices 

 that go to fill the skin of any fruit, must first 

 pass through the laboratory of the leaf we can 

 realize the importance of keeping these struc- 

 tures in a healthy condition. It is for this rea- 



