QUESTION AND ANSWER DEPARTMENT 



II 



Gum on Peach Trees 



Kindly give some information respecting 

 lie cause of gum on peach trees and the 

 lemedies. — A. W., Lincoln Co., Ont. 



There are two great causes of gum 

 Exudations on peach trees : First, the 

 liny black beetle known as the shot-hole 

 l)orer or pin borer (Scolytus rugulosus) ; 

 Bcond, the fungous disease known as 

 brown rot (Sclerotinia fructigena). Other 

 fungi may cause a certain amount of the 

 fum ; for instance, the disease known as 

 ?'die back" (Valasa leucostoma) causes 



certain amount of gumming, but brown 

 tot is almost without doubt the chief fun- 

 jus in producing this effect. 



If the gum is produced by the shot- 

 ^oie borer, it will be possible, on remov- 

 ing the gum to see the hole made by the 

 in.sect. If the bark is cut with a knife 

 it will help in making clear whether an 

 insect has been at work. If, however, 

 on removing the gum and using, if 

 necessary, the knife, there is no sign of 

 the work of an insect, the gum may in 

 most cases be attributed to the brown rot. 

 The brown rot spores may enter through 

 any kind of wound, or through frost or 

 winter cracks. It can also in long contin- 

 ued moist weather enter directly through 

 a lenticel, as I have proved by actual 

 experiment. 



The very wet spring of last year was 

 largely responsible for the unusual viru- 

 lence of the brown rot fungus on peach 

 trees. It is seldom that there is one- 

 twentieth part of the gum masses pro- 

 duced by this disease that were to be seen 

 last year. The chief cause of infection 

 is clearly the numerous diseased and 

 mummy peaches and plums that are left 

 on the trees over winter and scatter 

 spores in the spring for a considerable 

 time. The following treatment is recom- 

 mended : 



1. Carefully prune the trees to allow 

 plenty of air, circulation and light 



2. Remove and, if possible, burn all old 

 mummy peaches and plums in. the orch- 

 ard. If they cannot be burned, see that 

 they are plowed down as they will other- 

 wise produce spores. 



3. Spray with full strength home-made 

 lime-sulphur just before buds open ; or 

 good strong Bordeaux mixture (5-5-40) 

 may be used instead at this date. 



4. Spray again as soon as blossoms 

 have fallen, using home-made lime-sul- 

 phur and repeating the spraying every 

 ten or twelve days as long as it is safe 

 to do so without danger of spoiling 

 the fruit through the mixture remaining 

 on the pubescence. The home-made 

 lime-sulphur should be of the strength 



of five pounds of fresh stone lime, five 

 pounds of sulphur and forty gallons of 

 water. To make it, put the five pounds 

 of lime into a barrel, make a thick paste 

 of the sulphur with a little water, pour 

 it over* the lime and add just as much 

 water as is necessary for rapid and thor- 

 ough slaking of the lime. As soon as 

 boiling ceases, dilute to forty gallons 

 with cold water and apply at once. 



5. Thinning the fruit helps to prevent 

 rot. Moreover, it stands to reason that 

 the sooner one can pick and burn rotten 

 fruit each year, the less danger there 

 will be of infection. — L. Caesar, Ontario 

 Agricultural College. 



Colors of Pyrethrums 



What colors of pyrethrums are obtainable 

 in Ontario?— A. M. T., Hastings Co., Ont. 



Almost all of our Ontario seed firms 

 advertise seed of Pyrethrum hybridum, 

 the tall flowering variety. I have pur- 

 chased seed at different times from differ- 

 ent seedsmen in Ontario and have se- 

 cured quite a variety of colors in these 

 flowers. To be quite sure of the colors, 

 however, it would be better to purchase 

 plants of the colors required, as the 

 plants from seed are sometimes unreliable 

 as to quality and color. Most of our 

 seedsmen quote plants of pyrethrum in 

 their catalogues. The colors are found 

 in various shades from pure white to 

 pale pink and crimson chiefly. The fol- 

 lowing seed firms among others advertise 

 Pyrethrum hyhridum seeds : John A.' 

 Bruce & Co. , Hamilton ; W. Rennie & 

 Co., J. A. Simmers and Steele, Briggs 

 8i Co., Toronto; Dupuy and Fergu.son, 

 and W. Ewing ^ Co., Montreal. — Wm. 

 Hunt, Ontario Agricultural College. 



Fuchsias and Begonias 



How should fuchsias be treated after they 

 have been in the cellar all winter? What 

 should bo done with begonias? Should they 

 be repotted?— Mrs. H. B. Ottawa, Ont. 



Fuchsias will be benefitted by being in 

 a cool cellar for part of the winter, being 

 a deciduous plant, but not all winter. 

 They should not be allowed to get dust 

 dry, nor wet, but between the two, to get 

 the best results. If the plants are put 

 into the cellar in the fall, they will be 

 wanting to start growth about Christmas 

 time. When growth has begun, they 

 should be trimmed in the way desired by 

 the owner. The half of the soil should 

 be removed from the roots, the roots 

 partly trimmed bark, when the plants 

 may be repotted into smaller pots than 

 the ones from which they were taken and 

 removed to larger pots as soon as the 



83 



present ones are full of roots, each time 

 two sizes of a pot larger than the one 

 before. The soil to use should be de- 

 cayed fibrous turf or sods, one-half ; the 

 other half may be composed of leaf 

 mould, sharp lake sand, a sprinkle of 

 bone meal and a sprinkle of wood ashes. 

 Mix together thoroughly. Most plants 

 will grow in such a soil. 



I cannot give a correct answer to the 

 begonia question as there is no mention 

 made as to what kind or variety or type 

 of begonia is meant. If tuberous, they 

 will now be making a move after resting 

 all winter in a dry warm place in a box of 

 dry sand. They must be potted in a soil 

 similar to that recommended for fuch- 

 sias. The flowering and rex begonias 

 may be repotted the same way as di- 

 rected for fuchsias, the only difference 

 being to add a little more leaf mould to 

 the compost. I would advise in the 

 case of the flowering and rex be- 

 gonias, that they be not disturbed until 

 the warm weather comes, except by par- 

 ties owning greenhouses, and then they 

 should be plunged in heat at the roots to 

 give them a good start. — Roderick Cam- 

 eron, Toronto. 



Moving Perennials 



Would it be all right to lift perennials 

 with the clay around them frozen or half 

 frozen, pack them in boxes and ship them 

 to other places? As I am moving, I would 

 like to take my best perennials with me. — 

 R. P. Dunnville, Ont. 



All perennials are very easily moved 

 while in a dormant or resting state. It 

 is not necessary to leave the soil on the 

 roots. Shake the soil from them and 

 make the clumps as light as possible, 

 then wrap them up in damp moss, straw 

 or other such material. Over all wrap a 

 piece of old sacking or cloth of any kind 

 to hold the material about the roots. 

 They may then be shipped any place. — 

 Roderick Cameron, Toronto. 



Formalin for Potato Scab 



What are the proper proportions of for- 

 maldehyde and water for curing scab on 

 potatoes?— J. W., St. John, N. B. 



Formalin is the commercial article that 

 is used as a fungicide. It is a forty per 

 cent, solution of formaldehyde. The fol- 

 lowing are the proportions that are used 

 for potato scab: (a) Formalin, one-half 

 pint ; water, twenty-one gallons ; im- 

 merse for twenty minutes ; or (b) For- 

 malin, one half pint; water five gal- 

 lons ; sprinkle and stir until thoroughly 

 moistened. 



In landscape architecture, the lawn is 

 next in importance to the house. 



