THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 191 5 



kinds of organic origin are similar in 

 their action to natural manures; they, 

 however, lack the bulkincss, but the sol- 

 uble kinds including those for special 

 purposes have a quicker and totally dif- 

 ferent action. Dried blood, bones of 

 various sizes, wood ashes, ground hoofs, 

 horns and similar organic substances be- 

 long to the former category, and to the 



latter the muriate and nitrate .of potash, 

 nitrate of soda, superphosphate, sulphates 

 of ammonia and iron, and dissolved 

 guano. Up>on their characteristics de- 

 pends the time for application ; as a gen- 

 eral rule fertilizers of slow decomposi- 

 tion are sown during the fall, and the 

 soluble ones in spring when applied to 

 outdoor crops. 



Inspecting for Peach Diseases 



Walter E. Biggar, Chief Fruit Inspector for Ontario 



I WILL endeavor to describe the symp- 

 toms by which we identify diseased 

 trees. We are sometimes asked if 

 the disease Yellows always exhibits it- 

 self in the same form each year? I find 

 it does not. In some cases the first 

 symptoms of disease will be seen in the 

 red spotting of the fruit alone, there be- 

 ing not the slightest evidence of disease 

 in the foliage. The next season, the 

 foliage may show disease first. The red- 

 spotted fruit, if allowed to remain on the 

 tree, will in the course of about two 

 weeks, become as red as blood through 

 the whole flesh of the peach. This is 

 an advanced stage of the disease. 



Sometimes the first sign of Yellows is 

 1. tuft of very slender twigs of a pale, 

 willowy color, with leaves much smaller 

 than would be found on other parts of 

 the tree. These tufts will be found on 

 the large branches usually not very far 

 from the trunk, and in some cases on 

 the trunk of the trees. Another symp- 

 tom of the disease will occasionally be 

 'found in very tiny little buds or shoots 

 •starting out on the main branches usu- 

 ally not far from the trunk. These tiny 

 shoots or .spurs are generally not over 

 an inch in length, with very slender, 

 small, yellow leaves verging to pink at 

 the edge of the leaf, and apparently a 

 second or new growth which generally 

 makes its appearance in July or August. 

 A symptom of disease in trees from 

 two to four years planted, is a notice- 

 able pale yellowing of the foliage in the 

 branches in the centre of the tree first, 

 and then spreading throughout the tree 

 in the course of two or three weeks. 

 In aged trees the disease does not show 

 itself always oni the branches in the 

 centre or body of the tree, but more often 

 on the branches well to the outside or 

 top of the tree. Ordinarily the first 

 symptoms of Yellows and Little Peach 

 are identical, namely, a yellowing of the 

 foliage at the base -of the season's 

 growth which spreads rapidly. The 

 foliage soon begins to curl and cluster, 

 excepting the tips of the branches which 

 remain green and healthy looking until 

 probably the next season after the tree 

 has been affected, when the tips will be- 

 come yellow. 



After the Yellows reaches an advanced 

 stage, it is readily identified from that 



of Little Peach disease. In the case of 

 the Yellows, there is a premature ripen- 

 ing of the fruit, and quite often while 

 the fruit is yet quite green, small swell- 

 ings appear just under the skin of the 

 peach (about one-quarter the size of a 

 wheat grain), causing it to have a lumpy 

 uneven appearance. The majority of 

 Yellows-diseased trees have a peculiar, 



A Northern Spy tree at Bethaiibeck Orchards, 

 Ltd., Waterdown, Out., 36 years planted before 

 prtining. The same tree after pruning- is shown 

 on page 4 in the department heading entitled 

 "The Orchard in Winter." 



bright red blotching on an occasional 

 leaf. It needs a practised eye to dis- 

 tinguish between the blotches and the 

 ordinary red leaves commonly found on 

 the tree in the inspection season. I have 

 never seen this peculiar red leaf on trees 

 affected with Little Peach. 



The effect of Little Peach disease on 

 the fruit is directly opposite to what we 

 find in the fruit of the tree affected with 

 Yellows. The fruit on trees affected 

 with Little Peach will seldom grow to 

 more than one-third the size it would on 

 a healthy tree, and will be about two 

 weeks later in ripeninlg, and will be 

 found lacking in flavor, dry, and slightly 

 bitter in taste. 



The inspector must be able to identify 

 the white-fleshed peaches from the yel- 



low-fleshed by the foliage, as disease 

 does not affect the foliage of the white- 

 fleshed varieties and Elberta in the same 

 way it does the yellow-fleshed peaches. 

 Disease in the Klberta and in most of 

 the white varieties will not be found 

 curling or clustering, and will remain 

 green for a considerable length of time 

 after being diseased. The foliage will 

 be seen to droop and the leaves on the 

 tips of the branches slightly roll, mak- 

 ing the tree have a wilted appearance. 



In determining whether a tree is dis- 

 eased by the fruit, care should be taken 

 not to condemn a tree becau.se the fruit 

 is red just at the pit, for several varieties 

 of peaches are always found highly color- 

 ed near the pit, such as Barnards and 

 Triumphs. 



A PECULIAR CASE 



Last season my attention was drawn 

 to a very uncommon case of disease in 

 a three-year-old orchard, where the dis- 

 ease made its appearance in the tips of 

 the branches and did not extend more 

 than six inches at first. The trees were 

 • lUowed to stand not marked to allow us 

 to watch the development of the disease. 

 In three weeks' time it had spread down- 

 wards into the body of the tree, the foli- 

 .'ige curling and showing a positive case 

 of disease. In my experience as an in- 

 spector, covering a period of twenty 

 years, I have never observed a case 

 similar to this. 



Root-gall will cause the foliage to be- 

 come yellow, and is sometimes mistaken 

 for disease. 



Peach-borers, when working badly in 

 the trees, will cause the foliage to look 

 bad. 



Peach Canker will cause a yellowing 

 of the foliage, but usually will not ex- 

 tend to branches that are not cankered. 



One would naturally suppose disease 

 would more often be found on poor, im- 

 poverished soil than on rich, well-tilled 

 land. This is not the case. Some of 

 the most badly affected orchards I have 

 seen were heavily manured, well drain- 

 ed, and well cultivated. In other cases, 

 neglected orchards were found badly 

 affected. From observation, I am in- 

 clined to believe that disease will be 

 prevalent in orchards standing on soil 

 where there is an excess of lime or where 

 there is a soakage of water coming from 

 a limestone formation into the orchards. 



The most disastrous results from Yel- 

 lows and Little Peach I have seen were 

 in orchards where there was plenty of 

 limestone or where limestone rock was 

 close to the surface soil. The orchard 

 I refer to contained a thousand trees or 

 more, and the entire orchard was wiped 

 out by disease within eight years after 

 it was planted. From experience, 1 

 xvould sav orchards standing near a large 

 bodv of 'water (other conditions being 

 equal) have less disease in them than 



