490 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 242. 



the Mississippi Valley, the evils referred to are the more in- 

 stantly pressing ; but it is quite plain, from what Professor 

 Bailey tells us, that in our most favorable localities on the 

 eastern slope, where at first the finest fruit was grown without 

 even ordinary care, it is now impossible to grow it regularly in 

 marketable quality without resorting to the constant use of 

 fungicide as well as insecticide spraying. 



I certainly do not desire to take upon myself the role of op- 

 position to the use of either fungicide or insecticide spraying. 

 I am using both in my own gardens and orchards ; but the use 

 of them, and the necessity for that use, only make me the 

 more anxious to obtain and test any and all varieties of fruit- 

 trees and plants, adapted to our locality, which show exceptional 

 resisting power against any and all the ills to which orchards 

 and gardens are heir. Having attained this, the heavier por- 

 tion of the task is completed, and we have only to concern 

 ourselves with the details of the work. But so long- as we have 

 to contend with fundamentally unsound material our task be- 

 comes so difficult as to greatly discourage its prosecution. 



Newport, vt. ^^ T. H. Hoskins. 



The Apple-scab Again. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have recently made a trip through southern Michi- 

 gan, where the apple-crop is probably the smallest ever known. 

 Everywhere the trees present a sorry appearance. The foliage 

 is small and curled and brown, and even at a distance of half a 

 mile the orchards appear to have been scorched with fire. 

 Many trees are so badly affected that they have hardly cast a 

 shade all summer. In some orchards I notice green tips on 

 the branches, marking the renewed vigor produced by the 

 late rains. Everywhere the apple-growers are discouraged, 

 and they are wondering if the trees can survive such injuries. 

 These are the same troubles as those which overran western 

 New York in 1890, and which caused such widespread alarm. 

 But in 1891 the New York orchards gave a fair crop of fine 

 apples, and here is some consolation for the Michigan people. 

 But the injury must seriously shock the trees, and, aside from 

 the loss of this year's crop, the mischief must be considerable. 



All this serious leaf-trouble is to be laid to fungi, which were 

 enabled to develop with fatal rapidity in the wetness of last 

 spring. It is probable that these fungi even caused much of 

 the dropping of the little fruits themselves. It is evident that 

 most of the dropping of the flowers is wholly natural, and to be 

 expected, for, as a rule, only one fruit sets in a cluster of flow- 

 ers. In most tree-fruits the fruitage is necessarily much 

 smaller than the full bloom. Later on the drought came, and 

 the injury added to the troubles from the rains and the fungi 

 was complete. The orchards in the older part of Michigan 

 now present a sad appearance. In northern Michigan, in the 

 Traverse region, the apples are unusually good this year, and I 

 am told that the rains did not begin there until after the fruits 

 were well set. 



The chief fungus concerned in this scourge appears to be 

 the fusicladium, or scab-fungus, which causes the familiar 

 black scab-like spots on the fruit, as well as a blight or mildew 

 of the foliage. The scab-fungus injury upon the leaves usually 

 appears as grayish or gray-brown blotches, appearing to rest 

 upon the surface, and not completely killing the tissue beneath 

 it. But there is another injury of the leaves characterized by 

 a complete dying of the tissue, so that the leaves become win- 

 ter-brown in patches or along the edges. This injury is possi- 

 bly due to a Phyllostieta. Professor Beach, of the New York 

 State Experiment Station, tells me that still a third fungus ap- 

 pears to be concerned in this Apple-leaf blighting. The oc- 

 currence of two or more fungi in these scourges has been 

 mentioned several times by recent writers, but the exact part 

 which each plays in the destruction of fruit and foliage has not 

 been determined. It seems to be generally agreed that the 

 scab-fungus is the most mischievous. 



In connection with the discussions now running in Garden 

 AND Forest concerning the relation of certain varieties of 

 Apples to the scab, it may be worth while to make a record of the 

 behavior of the blight in my father's orchard in south-western 

 Michigan. Some of the varieties here recorded are repre- 

 sented by a single tree in the orchard, but the most important 

 varieties are in good number, especially Rhode Island Green- 

 ing, Baldwin, Stark, Northern Spy, Esopus, Spitzenburg, Golden 

 Russet, Talman Sweet and Swaar. I have thrown the varie- 

 ties into three categories as well as I can : i. Those very badly 

 injured, which for weeks have hardly cast a shade, and in 

 which none of the leaves have reached normal size, the trees 

 presenting no green color. 2. Those much injured, in which 

 some of the leaves reach normal size and the trees present a 



somewhat green appearance, but none of the leaves are free 

 from conspicuous injury. 3. Those litfle injured, in which all 

 the leaves attain normal size and the tree looks full, but all the 

 leaves are marked by scab. I found no varieties which I could 

 put into a fourth class, to be characterized by no injury what- 

 ever. It remains to be said that all varieties without distinc- 

 tion, save, possibly, a few trees of Flower of Genesee, failed 

 entirely to produce fruit, although they all blossomed full. 



1. Varieties very badly injured : Baldwin, Belmont, Bunker 

 Hill, Chenango, Early Harvest, Esopus Spitzenburg, Golden 

 Russet, Grimes' Golden, Jonathan, Newtown Pippin, Nicka- 

 jack. Northern Spy, Rambo, Rhode Island Greening, Paw Paw, 

 Siberian Crab, Stark, Summer Queen, Surprise, Swaar, Tomp- 

 kins King, Westfield, Seek-no-further, Williams, Yellow Belle- 

 fleur. 



2. Varieties much injured : Beehouse, Fall Jenneting, Fall 

 Pippin, Holland Pippin, Stark, Stode's Birmingham, Swaar, 

 Talman Sweet, Transcendent Crab. » 



3. Varieties little injured : Baldwin, Cabashea, Cloth of Gold, 

 Cogswell, Egg-top, Flower of Genesee, Northern Spy, Red 

 Astrachan, Red Canada, Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury 

 Russet, Sweet Bough, Transcendent Crab, Twenty Ounce. 



It will be observed that some varieties occur in two lists. 

 The Baldwin, Northern Spy and Rhode Island Greening, for 

 instance, occur in the worst and best lists, yet the trees, so far 

 as could be seen, were equally exposed to untoward circum- 

 stances. Some Baldwins were almost defoliated, and none of 

 the leaves had reached more than half-size, while others in the 

 same orchard might have been passed by the casual observer 

 for trees in perfect health. Some young and vigorous Bald- 

 win-grafts were scarcely injured. "The blight appears to afl'ect 

 the various varieties differently. The foliage of Beehouse and 

 Sweet Bough, for instance, presents a thick and conspicuously 

 curled appearance, much like the leaves of Snowballs which 

 are attacked by aphides. 



At the recent meeting of the American Horticultural Society 

 in Chicago several persons spoke of the comparative immu- 

 nity from scab of some of the hardier Russian Apples, and it 

 seemed to be a prevailing opinion that a more or less immune 

 race of Apples can be bred from them. I hope that this 

 prophecy may come to pass. It is an interesting field, but I 

 cannot rest my faith entirely upon it for ultimate and perma- 

 nent results. It is certainly expedient to extend the operation 

 of spraying at the same time that we are striving for resistant 

 varieties. In years like the present, the best efforts are likely 

 to give indifferent results, but I believe that spraying every 

 year will lessen the evils of the bad years. 



Cornell University. L. H. BaiUy. 



Legislation against Injurious Insects. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The editorial on " Legislation against Injurious Insects 

 and Plant Diseases," in your issue of September 28th, is both 

 important and timely, and merits the careful consideration of 

 every association of agriculturists in all parts of the Union. 

 In New Jersey there is already a very strong feeling among 

 the farmers who are following experiment station advice, that 

 something should be done to protect them from the neglect 

 of their less progressive neighbors, and the subject will be 

 agitated in the county boards and probably also in some of 

 the state societies during the coming vidnter. 



Allow me to give two examples of the necessity of some 

 action. The pear-midge (Diplosis pyrivora) has been, quite 

 recently, introduced into New Jersey, and is slowly spreading. 

 It reached New Brunswick in 1891 and settled in a neglected 

 orchard not far from town. The owner of this orchard has 

 other business and simply allows it to take care of itself. The 

 trees are old, diseased, infested by insects and, except in rare 

 cases, produce no marketable fruit. Closely adjoining is a 

 Pear-orchard, whose owner uses all means to get fine, perfect 

 fruit. The trees are healthy, are kept free from disease and 

 insects by the intelligent use of the fungicides and insecticides, 

 and bear heavy crops of the finest varieties of pears — fruit that 

 takes premiums annually wherever exhibited. In the spring 

 of 1892, a few midges found their way to this orchard and a 

 few Pears were infested. Vigorous means were at once 

 adopted to destroy them ; but what is the advantage ? In the 

 neglected orchard close by, at least fifty per cent, of the fruit 

 was infested early in the season, and thousands of midges will 

 mature there next spring and will not all remain in the old 

 orchard. Despite all preventive measures, the good orchard 

 will suffer and the owner will lose a considerable suin, simply 

 because his neighbor will not care for his own property. 



In Atlantic and Cumberland counties, large tracts are de- 



