2 14 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



PLUMS ROTTING. 



Sir,— The plums in my orchanl are rotting wholesale (June 17). Is there any remedy ? 



SiuscKiBER at Whtoiia. 



The fungus (Monilia Fructigena) which causes this rot does not show itself 

 until actually forming its mischievous spores, and then it develops so rapidly 

 that little can be done to destroy it. The application of flowers of sulphur is of 

 some use, and the spraying with the Bordeaux mixture, or the ammoniacal car- 

 bonate of copper, will do still more to check the evil. Prof. Scribner thinks that 

 if the fruit were sprayed before infection, with either of the above, the disease 

 might possibly be prevented. Spraying the trees, before the foliage appears, with 

 a strong solution of sulphate of copper, say, one pound to twenty-five gallons of 

 water, will be an excellent preventive. Gathering and burning all affected fruit 

 is also helpful. 



This same fungus affects peaches and cherries, and this year seems certain 

 to clear off" the trees what little of the latter fruit has escaped the blight. It first 

 appears as a grayish white patch on one side of the fruit. These patches are 

 made up of little tufts, making the surface somewhat uneven. The mycelium 

 (corresponding to roots) of the fungus penetrates among the cells of the fruit, and 

 turns the flesh brown. A single aff"ected plum may produce thousands of spores, 

 and each of these may infect healthy fruit. All that is needed is a high tem- 

 perature and moisture, and such spores will immediately send down a germ 

 tube through the skin and produce rot. 



As the fungus lives over winter in the rotted fruit, the needfulness of their 

 destruction is evident, and since the twigs of aff"ected fruit may also carry the 

 disease over, the advantage of an early spraying with the sulphate of copper is 

 also manifest. 



RASPl'.KRRY CANE BORER. 



SiR,_My raspberry bushes are attacked by a borer which appears to enter at the joint 

 and tlien work in the pith. In some cases it enters near tlie top, and in others, near the 

 root, and completely kills the cane. This is done apparently in the spring. Last year 

 was the first I saw of it. Some of the canes came out in leaf and then withered down. 

 This year those that were attacked did not leaf out at all. The ones that were atlected 

 last year I dug out, planting in otheis in their places, and I liud tlie newly planted ones 

 affected in the same way. The new canes came out all right but soon became very sickly, 

 and tlie foliage soon turned very yellow. I have not seen it before around liere. but 

 now several gardens are affected the same as mine. The variety of raspberry which I 

 gr<jw is the the Cuthbert. I <lo not find any reference to tliis borer in the annual report 

 of your Association. Can you tell me if the Bame trouble is found in other places, and 

 what is the remedy ? 



Rout. PniiM'KN, J'ark/iiU, Otit. 



This is the raspberry cane borer and it is fully described by Prof. Saunders 

 n his "Insects Injurious to Fruits." It is injurious both to the rasjjberry and 

 blackberry. 'Ihe (jnly remedy is occasionally going over the rasi)l)erry plaiita- 



