b 



May. 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



123 



the limb to get at the rotten parts. 

 Having cleaned the holes out thorough- 

 ly, the insides were disinfected with a 

 ^solution of formalin, and a mixture oc 

 "two to one sand and cement put in. 

 The mixture was made just wet enough 

 enable it to be worked with a stick 

 j;o all parts of the hole. To hold this in 

 jlace until set, thin boards were tacked 

 icross the holes. Tar paper, or several 

 thicknesses of brown paper, or even 

 lewspapers tied over the hole with 

 'twine, will answer the same purpose 

 After a few hours, the boards were 

 taken off and the concrete faced with a 

 mixture of fine sand and concrete 

 (1 :1) applied with a brush. The latter 

 operation was not necessary, but made 

 the work look neater. The third illus- 

 tration shows the work finished. 



This particular case was a fairiy bad 

 one. Often the rot extends only tliree 

 or four inches from the surface, when 

 little cutting will be required and the 



concrete can be put in without the us(, 

 of forms. 



As regards tools, I find that two 

 gouges, one a'bout a half-inch and the 

 other one and a half inches, and one 

 chisel about one inch, are the most con 

 venient cutting tools. Gouges and 

 chisels with curved shanks are very 

 handy in some places, but are expen- 

 sive unless you have a lot of trees. In 

 buying gouges for this work, be care- 

 ful to have the bevel on the inside. A 

 brace and a small bit, or a small auger, 

 are sometimes useful to find the direc- 

 tion in which the rot runs, as it is often 

 expedient to open up the side of the 

 tree away from the wound or source of 

 trouble. 



This work can be undertaken suc- 

 cessfully by anyone who can handle a 

 chisel, and the life of the tree will hi 

 prolonged for some years. If your 

 orchard is young, and this rotting has 

 not started, you will find painting 

 cheaper and much easier. 



Spraying Cherry and Pear Trees 



E; F. Palmer, Assistant Director, Fruit Branch, Toronto, Ont 



PROBABLY e-very reader of The 

 Canadian Horticulturist realizes 

 the importance and value of 

 I spraying the apple orchard to control 

 ! the codling worm, apple scab, and simi- 

 lar pests, but possibly not all give to 

 their cherries and pears the same atten- 

 tion. Yet spraying these fruits is as 

 essential to success as spraying the 

 apple. Spraying ordinarily will con- 

 trol the brown rot which annually 

 causes great loss to cherry growers, 

 especially those with sweet varieties. 

 Shot-hole fungus on cherries in some 

 3-ears and in certain localities is so bad 



vVwund.s cl*^Miur(i i>ut, ready lor liUiny. — N(j. Z. 



as to almost defoliate the trees. The 

 cherry fruit-fly, of whidh we are just 

 now hearing so much, infests some 

 otherwise good orohards so badly that 

 the fruit cannot be picked. Frof. L. 

 Caesar, Provincial Entomologist, esti- 

 mates that the loss to cherry growers 

 from the cherry fruit-fly a'lone must 

 amount to thousands of dollars each 

 year, though less some years than 

 others. The pear slug is equally as 

 troublesome on the cherry as on the 

 pear. The total loss from these and 

 other less important insect pests and 

 diseases of the cherry and pear must 

 amount to many thousands of dollars 

 each year, yet each insect pest and dis- 

 ease can, with the exception of the 

 pear blight, he effectually controlled 

 i)y proper spraying, and thus many 

 thousands of doillars saved to the cherry 

 growers of Ontario. 



Spraying the Cherry. 

 Of the insects attacking the cherry, 

 the Cherry Fruit-fly is perhaps of the 

 most importance. The adult insects 

 are two-winged flies, about two-thirds 

 the size of the house-fly, and with the 

 wings conspicuously marked with dark 

 erossbands. These flies lay eggs just 

 under the skin of the cherry, and the 

 larvae which hatch are full grown by 

 the time the cherry is ripe. We are 

 told that "What the eye does not see- 

 the heart shall not grieve," but when 

 wormy cherries are shipped on to the 

 market and the consuming public get 

 ,1 taste of them, the market for good 

 cherries is injured. People are afraid 

 to buy them, hecause it is almost im- 

 r,ossihle to tell whether a cherry is 

 wormy or not until it is opened. 

 Wormy cherries, too, are subject to 



The wounds filled with concrete. — No. 3. 



brown rot, and help to spread this dis- 

 ease to sound fruit. 



Spraying to Control the Cherry 

 Fruit-Fly : From experimental results 

 obtained in the Niagara district. Prof. 

 L. Caesar recommends the following : 

 Spray with two or three pounds arsen- 

 ate of lead (paste) to forty gallons 

 water, sweetened hy the addition of 

 one gallon of cheap molasses. The mo- 

 lasses should not be added to the water 

 until the day the mixture is to be ap- 

 plied, because it will soon ferment in 

 liot weather and cause the arsenate of 

 lead to be precipitated in a lumpy con- 

 dition. Spray first as soon as the flies 

 begin to appear, which, in the Niagara 

 district, will he about the end of the 

 first week in June, and in colder dis- 

 tricts a few days later. This will be 

 about the time the early Riehmonds are 

 showing the first signs of a red blush. 

 Spray again ten or twelve days later, 

 or just before the Montmorency cher 

 ries begin to color. None of the early 

 varieties .should be sprayed at this 

 second application because of the dan- 

 ger of the spray remaining on until 

 picking time. 



When applying the spray the trees 

 should he given a moderately thorough 

 application, so that nearly every leaf 

 will lie lightly covered. Varieties like 

 Early Riclvmond and early sweet 

 cherries are almost exempt from attack 

 by the fruit-fly. The later sour and 

 sweet varieties, especiaWy Montmor- 

 ency and Morello, are all attacked. 

 The treatment advocated will effectu- 

 ally control this pest. The adult flies 

 suck up the poison spray from the 

 leaves and die hefore laying their eggs. 

 The cost of spraying is small, Prof. 



