38 FACT NUMBER TWO. 



The water is first thrown upon the under side of the leaf 

 by means of a syringe or other instrument, and the lime, 

 dust or ashes must be faithfully sprinkled on immediately 

 after, and either will destroy the lice and check the ravages 

 of the insect on the leaf. This washing and dusting must be 

 repeated two or three times during the early part of the - 

 season. The new shoots will have fruit, fair and abundant, 

 on the second or third year. Should it turn out that some 

 or all of the six or eight healthy branches, reserved as breath- 

 ers, are really sickly, they must be lopped elf also and burn- 

 ed up while the sap is at the root of the tree : otherwise de- 

 cay soon follows. 



The other object for which the breathing branches should 

 be carefully watched, is, to save them from being broken 

 down by the increased growth of the shoots, and the exces- 

 sive weight of the fruit, acted upon by the wind or the rain. 

 This is done by furnishing props on which the branches 

 may rest until the fruit matures. 



It may also be proper to observe here that the tree fur- 

 nishing the egg plum, bears up against the ravages of these 

 insects much longer than any other kind of plum tree. The 

 reason probably is, the leaves of this tree are much larger 

 and thicker than the leaves of other plum trees, they arc 

 therefore not marred so much but that they remain on the 

 tree and act as breathers through the bearing season. 



The Marilla cherry tree is also visited by insects which 

 produce the Black Bunch similar to that on the plum tree, 

 and it may be cured in the same way if taken in proper 

 season. 



