508 Appendix. 



blossom, the least harm done by it, and the insecticidal value is very 

 great. 



The one thing growers have to guard against is the unscrupulous 

 throwing on the market of patent washes, usually made and boomed by 

 people who do not seem to fully appreciate the harm they may be doing. 

 The more such things are boomed the less we usually find in them. 

 When we see a wash or so-called " spray fluid " being forced upon us that 

 will cure all the diseases, insect and fungoid, then we may rest assured 

 that its marketable value is very low. 



Growers may spend much too much on the spraying of their planta- 

 tions, a costly procedure, when many of these washes are merely ex- 

 perimental, and will be for many years to come, for the subject is only 

 just at its birth. It is well that they should go cautiously. 



As far as we can say at present, winter-washing is of use mainly as 

 a means of cleaning the trees, and need not be done more than once 

 every three or four years in a good plantation, unless in very damp 

 localities. No wash has yet been found of any service in destroying 

 insects' eggs, nor is likely to be in the near future. 



The grower should aim at destroying the young insects by washing in 

 early spring with an arsenical and contact wash, such as arsenate of lead 

 and paraffin, and with this can be added the fungicide Bordeaux mixture ; 

 this should be done again after the blossom has fallen. Any subsequent 

 treatment must depend on any particular attack. 



Gooseberries and currants may be sprayed in late winter with paraffin 

 jelly wash or liver of sulphur and paraffin to cope with red spider, scale 

 and fungus, and again later. Special attacks need to be treated 

 specially. 



No one remedy is likely to prove eiTectual to all, any more than one 

 human dose will cure all man's ills. 



One point is often neglected, and that is, that we must see to the 

 general health and nutrition of our trees grown under unnatural circum- 

 stances, for healthiness will help a lot to combat disease. 



Trapping, destruction of egg-masses (on prunings), and the employ- 

 ment of poultry or pigs in plantations, as circumstances permit, are other 

 things we must not neglect. Lastly, the cultivation and development of 

 varieties least subject to disease and most suited to the district should be 

 a point to carry foremost in our work in combating plant pests. 



The spraying of fruit trees is essential, but it will only do some good, 

 and may exceed in cost the net results gained unless carried out in a 

 careful manner and unfettered by quackery. 



As far as insects go it must be looked upon purely as remedial and not 

 preventive. 



