136 The Connecticut Pomological Society 



most serious disease in Missouri, parts of Kansas, southern 

 Illinois and Canada this past season. It is caused by a fungus. 

 It is a fungus that does most of its work in the summer^ 

 although it does occur earlier in the season. It is a difficult 

 disease to spray. It is encouraged by dry, hot weather rather 

 than by cold, moist weather as the scab is. The bitter rot is 

 caused by a fungus very similar to the black -rot fungus. The 

 bitter rot is on that same general type. The black rot, of 

 course, as is generally known, is one of the easiest diseases to 

 prevent by spraying. 



Through New York and New England many of our fine 

 old apple trees become affected with a disease on the body 

 and main limbs looking something like the pear blight, but it 

 is not the pear blight. A little white fungus appears. It is 

 one of the higher fungi. It very quickly appears, and it was 

 supposed to be the cause of the disease, but it is now thought 

 probably to be more like the bitter rot of the apple. 



Apple canker occurs in some of its forms in the nursery. 

 Nearly all that type of diseases can be prevented by winter 

 spraying. Very likely it would be a wise thing, anyway. In 

 order to show the wonderful efifect of spraying upon some of 

 these diseases it is only necessary to show you the views of 

 some trees that were sprayed for the pear-leaf blight. Trees 

 which had only been sprayed twice retained their foliage, while 

 those which have no such care sometimes lose their foliage by 

 the middle of July. The pear-leaf blight forms one of the 

 best means of illustration of the effect of spraying, as it shows 

 one of the finest examples of the prevention of injury where 

 the spraying is well done. It is one of the most effective 

 remedies in use for the treatment of fungous diseases, and, by 

 the way, I want to say that we look to Connecticut for some 

 of the best experiments which have been carried on in the 

 treatment of these troubles. I was going to say a few words 

 about the theory of spraying, but I am afraid that is one of 

 the things which is so familiar to you in Connecticut that it 

 has become stale. It is a thing which I suppose has been 

 drummed into you so much that it has become a "chestnut," 

 but, at the risk of boring you perhaps, I can show you some 

 views of different forms or types of spraying apparatus. The 



