90 



THE CA.NADIAN H0RTI0ULTDKI8T. 



He had before said that fifty would be 

 a low average number of crows for each 

 farm in some districts, and he was now 

 finally asked, ' What is the aggregate 

 value per year to the farmer of his pro- 

 per quota of these useful birds 1 ' This, 

 we are told in the narrative, evolved 

 the most stai'tling conclusion of all, for 

 it appeared that the farmer was a gainer 

 of £35,000 per year by his fifty crows !" 



What the verdict of the public anent 

 the Sparrow in this country may be, 

 after hearing all the evidence which 

 may be produced is, of course, difficult 

 to foresee at present. For my own 

 part I have nothing against him. He 

 has never disbudded my cherry trees, 

 nor any other of my fruit trees or 

 biishes ; and I am free to acknowledge 

 that I entertain for him a good deal of 

 aifection, especially when I see what a 

 comfortable living the poor little exile 

 obtains by his great energy and per- 

 severance, under adverse circumstances, 

 during our long cold winters. I never 

 yet heard him making any complaints 

 about our climate, nor wish himself 

 " back home again ;" and T must say I 

 fully appreciate his musical talents, 

 although not of a high order. 



In England, however, I regret to 

 hear that he has been convicted, after 

 mature deliberation, of wholesale rob- 

 bery of crops, and that the decree for 

 his destruction, countersigned by Miss 

 Oi'merod, the Entomologist of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, has been promul- 

 gated. They may find it difficult to 

 execute the warrant. 



Thos. Beall. 



Lindsay, February, 1885. 



BLACK KNOT. 

 In your February number we notice 

 an article having the above heading, 

 written by R., from Berlin. I presume 

 Ontario. He traces the cause of the 

 Black Knot to fungoid epidemic. Scien- 

 tists differ widely in opinion in regard to 



the origin of this infection of the plum 

 tree. It is only of late years we have 

 had anything to do with this infection, 

 or, indeed, knew anything about it. 

 After giving it close attention since 

 its first appearance up to the present 

 time, we fail to fall in with the idea 

 that it is a fungus formed on the bark 

 of the plum tree, or even the common 

 red cherry tree, which was so badly 

 affected with it the past year. 



Fungi formed on vegetables, either 

 in a healthy state, or in a state of de- 

 cay, will not produce the efiect that we 

 find resulting from the Black Knot. 

 The fungoid excrescences formed on 

 plants and fruits arising as an ferial 

 epidemic, or from the nature of diflerent 

 soils, either natural or cultivated, in 

 order to produce the fungi, such as 

 the mushrooms and toad stools, have no 

 resemblance whatever to this so-called 

 "fungoid epidemic" (Black Knot). 

 The Black Knot will take all varieties 

 of plums, if you only give it time to do 

 its work completely. This only needs 

 time, and our neighbors to let it alone 

 and not interfere with its ravages ; but 

 it seems to be especially fond of the 

 blue plum, next the common red cherry 

 tree. I hear in some sections of coun- 

 try that a similar knot is appearing 

 on the apple tree, but we cannot vouch 

 for the truth of this statement. We 

 will wait for a further development of 

 this. 



The insect (and an insect it is) whicli 

 causes the Black Knot makes its ap- 

 pearance in June. If you should 

 examine the limb affected closely, you 

 will find a small puncture which has 

 the effect of poisoning the bark ; and 

 around this puncture, this substance 

 begins to grow, and continues until the 

 egg deposited there hatches and begins 

 to live on this growth. When this 

 grub becomes nearly full grown, this 

 ceases to spread, dries up and turns 

 black, hence the term Black Knot. 



