IQII 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 41 



Copyriglit igio by R. M. Kellogg Coinfany, Three Rivers, Michigan 

 A DISH OF HELEX D.W'IS. THE LATEST ORIGINATION IN THE STRAWCERRV WORLD 



(c) Black-Leaf is used especiallj' for 

 plant lice, but ma\" also be used for vari- 

 ous other sucking insects, as the leaf- 

 hoppers and the apple tingis. Use in the 

 proportion of one part to sixty parts of 

 water or lime-sulphur. 



(d) Black-Leaf 40 is an extremely 

 concentrated form of nicotine sulphate, 

 and is now sent out as a substitute for 

 the black-leaf. It is supposed to be as 

 efficient and has the added benefit of 

 being cheaper. Use in the proportion of 

 one part to eight hundred parts of water 

 or lime-sulphur. 



The term fungicide is applied to those 

 substances which will prevent the growth 

 of fungi on plants. The fungi are a 

 group of plants of low order, many of 

 which live as parasites on the higher or 

 flowering plants. 



A parasitic fungus is a plant as trub 

 as is the apple tree, the prune tree 01 

 any rither plant upon which it may be 

 growing. It differs from the common 

 plants essentially in being much more 

 simple in structure and in being devoid 

 of chlorophyll — the green coloring mat- 

 ter of plants. Its reproductive bodies, 



which are called spores, are more simple 

 and very much smaller than the smallest 

 seeds of our common plants, and are 

 produced in almost inconceivably great 

 numbers. The vegetative portion of the 

 fungus, the part which, in a sense, corre- 

 sponds to the roots, stems and leaves of 

 ordinarj' plants, the parts which absorb 

 the food materials and eventuallj^ pro- 

 duce the spores, consist of a mass of 

 more or less branched, white or color- 

 less, and very minute threads, and is 

 called the mycelium. 



Being so small and light the spores 

 are readily carried long distances by the 

 wind, washed about by the rains, and are 

 also carried by birds and insects, and 

 probabb' bj- other agencies. These 

 "■.gencies are thus largely responsible for 

 he spread of fungous diseases from leaf 

 to leaf, plant to plant, orchard to orchard. 

 Over greater distances the spores may 

 be carried on shipments of infected 

 nursery stock, fresh fruits, vegetables, 

 seeds, etc. 



Should a spore fall upon suitable soil, 

 such as the surface of leaf or fruit, and 

 the conditions of heat and moisture be 



favorable, it will germinate — push out a 

 delicate, slender germ-tube. In the case 

 of most parasitic fungi this germ-tube 

 soon penetrates the epidermis of the leaf 

 or fruit and the mycelium develops in 

 the underlying tissues entirelj- beyond 

 the reach of fungicides. 



The philosophy of spraying for fun- 

 gous diseases in general is based on the 

 fact that they cannot be cured, but can 

 be prevented. This germ-tube must be 

 destroyed before it penetrates the epi- 

 dermis, and to do this the surface of the 

 host must be thoroughly protected by 

 the fungicide during the entire time the 

 spores are germinating. 



(a) Bordeaux Mixture — Bordeaux mix- 

 ture has long been the principal spray 

 used as a preventive of fungous diseases 

 of plants, and while other sprays, notably 

 the lime-sulphur mixtures, give promise 

 of largely supplanting it for orchard 

 purposes it still remains one of the most 

 important orchard fungicides. Bordeaux 

 for winter use maj' be made as follows: 

 Copper sulphate, six pounds; quick lime, 

 six pounds: water fifty gallons. This is 



