June, 1908 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



123 



Blight on Pear and Apple 



W. T. Macoun, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



SPRAYING with Bordeaux has no ap- 

 parent eftect upon blight, but it is 

 beheved that Hme and sulphur, 

 forming a coating over the bark prevents 

 to some extent the entrance of the bhght 

 germ. The bacillus or germ of the 

 pear or fire bhght finds its way into the 

 tree at the tenderest and least protected 

 points, and it is believed by those who 

 have made a careful study of it that 



is "a solution of corrosive sublimate in 

 water, one part to one thousand." 

 Tablets of convenient size for making the 



"entertained" expresses the need more 

 fully, in such a way as to hold them 

 through good and evil report, and 

 picking while the season lasts. Pick- 

 ing should be done with care and neat- 

 ness. The berries must be pinched off 

 with a short stem without bruising the 



solution may be obtained from the drug f j-^it and the soft and smallest berries dis 



carded or left on the vines. The boxes 

 should be filled a httle over level to 

 allow for settHng and packing; they 

 must be full or nearly so on reaching 

 destination. Pickers should not be al- 

 lowed to take more than eight boxes to 



store. A sponge is carried with which 

 to apply the disinfectant. Corrosive 

 subhmate is a deadly poison, hence 

 should be labelled "Poison." It should 

 not be carried in a metal receptacle. 

 The objection to a carbolic acid solution 



practically all the infection is done by in water is that it must be made very ^he patch at one time, so that the ber- 



insects or birds, and that the disease is 

 not carried to any extent by wind. 

 Insects carrying infection travel to the 

 tips of succulent shoots, and the germs 

 find entrance through the buds at the 

 axils of leaves, and at any point where the 

 bark is broken. The chief sources of 

 infection of bearing trees is through the 

 flowers to which come insects bearing 

 the disease. 



The blight is usually first noticed in 

 the spring on bearing trees when flowers 

 and flower clusters which have been 

 _blighted wither and do not set fruit. 

 3on the fruit spurs are noticeably 

 lected, and also the new wood. The 

 lisease starting at the tip of the shoots 

 isually runs down, although it will run 

 every direction, sometimes passing on 

 the main branches and to the trunk 

 ^f the tree. The disease varies in the 

 ray it spreads. Sometimes only the 

 lowers are affected or the fruit spurs or 

 laller twigs, or patches about a place 

 jn the branches or trunk that have some 

 physiological injury: The germs are 

 3und in a gummy substance or exuda- 

 lion, and this is carried by the insects 

 from one flower or tree to another. 

 These bacteria increase very rapidly 

 3y division, and once the tree is infected 

 ^he disease may soon spread over a large 

 area. 



The best method of controlling this 

 blight is by cutting out the diseased 

 ^arts. To do this thoroughly it is nec- 

 essary to begin in the winter, going 

 ' over the orchard several times to be sure 

 that all the diseased wood has been 

 observed. This should be followed 

 up in the spring and summer, and 

 everything showing a sign of the 

 blight should be cut out not less 

 than six inches beloAvthe affected part 

 or into healthy wood. Where possible 

 it is wise to cut as much as a foot below 

 where there is evidence of the disease. 

 It has been proved by experiment that 



strong to be effective. 



A systematic effort is now being made 

 in California to stamp out this disease, 

 which has recently gained a foothold 

 there. The method adopted is to cut 

 out affected branches and bum them. 

 Where the body of the tree is affected 

 it is rooted out and burned. Fruit- 



ries may come to the packing house 

 fresh and cool. In order to carry out 

 the outhned program it is sometimes 

 necessary to pay a small premium to 

 pickers who comply with the ideal re- 

 quirements. 



"Packages, both small and large, 

 should be clean, neat, and attractive 



A Field of Strawberriet that Yielded Big Returns Last Season 

 Farm of Mr. Robt. C. Shook, Clarkson, Ont. 



growers in the pear districts of Canada 

 should combine in an endeavor to 

 control the blight. Individual efforts 

 are of little avail if neighboring orchards 

 are neglected. 



Harvesting Strawberries 



This account of the methods prac- 

 tised by Mr. W. F. W. Fisher, of Bur- 

 lington, Ontario, one of our most suc- 

 cessful strawberry growers, is well worth 

 careful reading: "The cultivation of 

 strawberries on a large scale," writes 



Mr. Fisher, "involves a great amount 

 infection is carried on the knife or saw, of labor, expense and care through all 

 especially in summer, hence after each its various phases — preparation of land. 



branch is cut the knife should be dis- 

 infected. The disinfectant recommend- 

 ed by Prof. M. B. Waite, who has given 

 this disease careful study and who is 

 confident that it can be controlled by 

 taking proper care in pruning and doing 

 the w(jrk systematically and thoroughly, 



planting, keeping clean, protecting from 

 frost, and so forth; but the climax of 

 interest is reached when it comes to 

 harvesting the crop. Having secured 

 the necessary pickers (which sounds 

 easy), they must be housed and — 

 "treated" I was about to say — but 



as possible. The packer should dump 

 a few boxes occasionally from each 

 picker to see the contents, and should 

 see that berries and crates are kept in 

 the shade until time for shipment. 



"The most satisfactory market is at 

 the home railway station or cannery. 

 Distributing the crop can be done 

 much more inteUigently by large deal- 

 ers than by individual growers, and 

 the area of distribution be thereby 

 largely increased. Varieties that are 

 firm should be selected for long dis- 

 tance shipping, and in no case should 

 berries of different varieties be packed 

 in the same crate. The size of our 

 boxes is fixed by law, and the popular 

 crate appears to be one holding from 

 twenty-four to thirty-six quarts. The 

 large returnable crate is ng less used 

 year by year." 



There is no better mulch than thor- 

 ough cultivation. 



