1036 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



The pruning of Plums or bush Damsons should first be done 

 a little before the fruit commences to colour, thinning out the 

 growth where congested, and cutting back to about five eyes 

 any shoots that are not required to enlarge or develop the tree. 

 The shoots left may remain nearly their full length unless very 

 strong and likely to throw the head out of balance ; in that case 

 they should be cut out entirely or shortened back. Plums on 

 walls should have all fore-right shoots cut in to three or four 

 buds, and the leading ones nailed in two or three times in the 

 season. Plums or Damsons, in whatever form, are best finally 

 pruned for the year immediately after all the fruit has been 

 gathered ; in fact, all stone-fruit trees are better pruned then, as 

 much gumming is caused by late pruning. 



Silver Leaf is a most puzzling disease, doubtless of fungoid 

 origin, found upon Plums, Greengages, Peaches, Sloes, Birdcherries, 

 and Portugal Laurels. It is most destructive. The foliage 

 of the affected trees turn silvery on their upper surface, and 

 somewhat sickly-looking, yellowish, on the under-surface. Very 

 frequently the upper cuticle separates from the other leaf 

 portions. The fruits become brown, and are shed in large 

 quantities, and the disease seems to spread rather rapidly. The 

 specific fungus responsible for the mischief has yet to be dis- 

 covered, but it is believed to be a near relative of Exoascus 

 deformans^ already referred to under Peaches. The treatment 

 found of most avail is to lift the trees at the proper season — 

 when inactive — and dress the soil with sulphate of iron ; or the 

 afiected portions may be cut out. Root-pruning has also in 

 certain cases proved beneficial. In this latter case the " wood " 

 must be the guide to the gardener. 



Though these fruits have many animal foes, few of those that 

 may fairly be entitled to be classed as pests are identified only 

 with the Plum : the majority, in fact, are general feeders. The 

 very locally distributed Xyleborus dispar is now and again 

 reported to tunnel into Plum-trees in this country, but the 

 writer (though an old coleopterist) has never yet met with the 

 creature in either orchards or gardens. Kollar refers to its 

 ravages on the Continent, calls it the Apple Bark Beetle, and 

 describes it under the generic name of Bostrichus. 



Closely allied to the Codlin ]Moth is a species known as the 

 Plum IMoth, or Plum Tortrix {Opadia funebrand). The Moth is 

 barely |in. in width, and is on the wing in summer. The eggs 

 are laid upon the young fruits, and, when the larvae hatch out, 

 they burrow^ into the Plums, causing them to colour immaturely 

 and to fall. The larvse are of a pale-reddish colour, with a 

 black head ; they escape from the fruit, and pass the winter 

 under the bark, pupating in the following spring. Insecticides 

 are useless unless they are sprayed on before the pests have 

 entered the fruit. Prevention is best ; and the grower should 



