igii 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 35 



SHOWING ONE OF THE MANY USES T(J WHICH THE ENGINE ON THE 

 POWER SPRAYER MAY BE PUT 



and turns brown, and the toadstool odor 

 is usually very distinct in this dead 

 bark. The parasite probably gains an 

 entrance by some of the smaller roots 

 or through bruises of the larger ones, 

 and gradually progesses until it has 

 involved the whole root system. The 

 fungus appears to be capable of living 

 in the soil for quite a period of years 

 after the tree has died, and for this rea- 

 son it is very uncertain business to 

 replant in spaces where trees have died 

 out, at least for several years. Replanted 

 trees sometimes grow for five or six 

 years and then succumb. It is common 

 to see apples, peaches and almonds 

 infected and killed within a year from 

 the time of resetting. It happens that 

 the pear root is resistant to this root 

 rot fungus, hence pears may be used for 

 replanting if desired. When root rot 

 destroys one or two trees in an orchard 

 it is usually noticed that within a few 

 years others near by commence to die 

 out, and the area gradually enlarges. 

 This spreading is brought about by the 

 fungus slowly growing through the soil 

 and continually encroaching on new ter- 

 ritory. Undoubtedly, too, the cultivating 

 tools help to carry the decaying roots 

 from the diseased to the healthy parts 

 of the orchard. When a tree is seen to 

 be dying from this cause it should be 

 immediately removed and the roots dug 

 out as much as possible and carried away 

 from the orchard. The practice of 

 removing the tree as soon as it is seen 

 to be infected will help in checking the 

 rapidity of advance upon the healthy 

 trees. It is perhaps. a good plan to allow 

 the holes where trees have been removed 

 to stand open, so as to dry out, for this 

 may kill some of the disease material. 

 Putting lime in the holes is of question- 

 able value. 



Regarding the peach, there are two 

 common diseases in California, both of 

 which are very easily controlled by 

 spraj'ing. Peach leaf curl has been 

 known for many years in this state. 

 Some \;irieties, as the Lovell, are par- 



ticularly subject to it. The thorough 

 spraying and the dry springs that have 

 occurred for the past three years have 

 done much to reduce the trouble. The 

 remedy is spraying with bordeaux or 

 lime-sulphur solution in the spring as the 

 buds swell. 



The other common peach disease is 

 the California peach blight. As pre- 

 viously pointed, its control requires, in 

 in the first place, a thorough fall spray- 

 ing before the hard rains set in, and 

 this can just as well be put on as soon 

 as the foliage is oS the trees. Spraying 

 and weather conditions have greatly 

 reduced peach blight within the past 

 few years, but when the trouble was at 

 its height it was demonstrated that 

 bordeaux gave somewhat better results 

 than lime-sulphur solution in its con- 

 trol. At the present time the disease 



has been so thoroughly reduced that 

 lime-sulphur will no doubt prove thor- 

 oughly efficient for fall work this sea- 

 son if the grower wishes to use that 

 spray. 



To make a thorough clean up, a sec- 

 ond spraying should be applied in the 

 spring as the buds swell. This is also 

 the time for the peach curl and the peach 

 moth spraying. The University Experi- 

 ment Station has demonstrated the 

 thorough efficiency of lime-sulphur in 

 controlling peach moth when applied at 

 the time the buds are swelling. All 

 things considered, an effective and very 

 valuable plan to follow would, there- 

 fore, be to spray in the fall with bor- 

 deaux, and in the spring with lime- 

 sulphur, for the latter has sufficient 

 fungicidal properties to do all that 

 appears to be required of it at that time 

 of the year, and is at the same time an 

 efficient insecticide. 



The commonest disease of apricots is 

 what is usually called shothole, or scab. 

 On the fruit it produces the red spots 

 which sometimes seriously depreciate 

 the value of the crop. On the foli- 

 age similar red spots develop, and the 

 affected area eventually drops out, leav- 

 ing a hole, hence the name shothole. 



After peach blight came to be properly 

 recognized and understood many grow- 

 ers began to look upon apricot shothole 

 as caused by the same fungus. On the 

 surface that seems improbable, since 

 apricot shothole was known in some dis- 

 tricts long before the peach blight made 

 its appearance, and in some sections of 

 the state where peach blight is practi- 

 cally unknown apricot shothole is very 

 prevalent. From a considerable amount 

 of experimental spraying and laboratory 

 work I am inclined to the opinion that 

 the peach blight schedule of spraying is 

 not going to prove successful in the con- 

 trol of apricot shothole. It, appears 

 however, that some good may possibly 

 be done. The problem requires further 

 investigation. 



