342 FRUIT AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



and best. This excellent wash, however, must not be ap- 

 plied by means of a copper spraying machine, or with one 

 containing copper parts, because the lime-sulphur chemi- 

 cals react with copper, and hence seriously injures the 

 machine. If, however, the machine Joe made of tinned 

 copper or some other resistant alloy, then it may be safely 

 used for lime-sulphur washes. 



Spring Spraying. As soon as any foliage or bloom 

 appears on fruit trees, insect pests appear. At this time 

 the grower should be frequently amongst his trees with 

 a magnifying glass to detect his enemies. Amongst the 

 first to appear on all trees are the mother-queen Aphides, 

 which, although thinly scattered, breed with remarkable 

 rapidity, and soon produce a serious attack. Various 

 minute caterpillars arrive almost as soon, and the Apple 

 Sucker is to be found amongst the bloom buds of Apple 

 trees before they open. The spring spraying is directed 

 against these pests, and also against fungoid diseases, 

 particularly Apple and Pear Scab, and Brown Rot on 

 Plums, Apples, and Pears. As soon as the bloom has 

 fallen, Apple trees often need spraying again to kill 

 Codlin Moth caterpillars and the larvae of the Apple Saw- 

 fly, both of which bore into the fruit and cause the fami- 

 liar maggoty Apples. 



The materials to use are ar senate of lead for cater- 

 pillars; tobacco extract or nicotine for sucking pests like 

 Aphides, Apple Sucker, and Red Spider; and Bordeaux 

 mixture for fungoid diseases. The arsenate should be 

 obtained in the form of paste, of which 4lb. is used in 

 ico gallons of water. The tobacco extract is used at the 

 rate of lolb. per 100 gallons of water. Bordeaux mix- 

 ture can now be obtained in the form of paste, made from 

 the Woburn recipe, and this is generally accepted as 

 better than home-made mixtures, because less liable to 

 scorch the foliage, and moreover keeps well. It is used 

 at the rate of 81b. in 100 gallons of water, or 61b. when 

 the foliage is young and tender. 



Spraying should be done just before the bloom buds 



