160 



•when the oldest of the young fruits are about the size of an olive. 

 Spray again about a month after the first application, after flowering 

 has ceased and the youngest fruits are the size of a pea. A third 

 spraying may be made a month later if it is found necessary, but two 

 sprayings will probably be sufficient. 



In treating the orange and grape fruit for this disease, use Bordeaux 

 mixture or ammoniacal solution of copper carbonate, prepared as indi- 

 cated above. Two sprayings should be made, the first about two weeks 

 after the flowers have fallen and the second about a month later. A Yer- 

 morel nozzle and a pump giving a good spray should be used. The 

 spray must be applied to the fruits in the form of a fine mist, covering 

 them thinly and evenly. In this way the leaves will be sufficiently 

 coated without any special effort being made to wet them. 



SUMMARY. 



1. Blight attacks trees only when over 5 years old and which are in 

 bearing. It is first manifested by a sudden wilting of the leaves, 

 which soon becomes so bad as to continue even in wet weather. At 

 the beginning of the rainy season following the wilting, vigorously 

 growing sprouts starfc from the trunk and larger branches. These often 

 continue growing several years, but finally sicken and gradually 

 decline. The spring following the wilting of the top, the branches, 

 which have now become nearly leafless, bloom profusely. These flo w- 

 ers continue to appear for two or three weeks after normal blooming is 

 over. They are small, however, and almost never set fruit. Very little 

 fruit is produced by blighted trees After flowering the branches 

 usually die, often leaving only the sprouts from the trunk alive and 

 growing. The whole top may be attacked at once or only a single 

 branch, but in any case the entire top ultimately becomes blighted. 

 The affected trees usually linger for many years and rarely die out- 

 right, though they may be finally reduced to mere stumps. The roots 

 for the first year at least, seem perfectly normal. The annual loss 

 from this disease in Florida is about $150,000. The cause is unknov^'n 

 but it is probably a contagious malady, and, so far as known is incur- 

 able. Affected trees should be dug up and burned as soon as they 

 show the disease and healthy ones set out in their places. 



2. Die-hack or exanthema is apparently caused by mal-nutrition, accom- 

 panied by improper drainage, improper cultivation, etc. The disease 



very easily as follows : Take 4t pounds resin, 20 pounds sal soda (crystaline), and 

 water to make 26 gallons. Place the resin and sal soda in a comparatively large 

 kettle with 5 quarts of water. Boil, meanwhile stirring briskly, until the resin 

 *nd sal soda are thoroughly melted together and form a frothy mixture without 

 lumps. Now iidd 20 gallons of cold water, pouring it in rather slowly and with 

 short intervals between, and avoid chilling the mixture too suddenly. When all 

 of the water is added, bring to a boil ; then pour out the hot solution, straining 

 through a coarse cloth, and add sufficient water to make 25 gallons of the solution. 

 This, if correctly made, forms a thick, dark-brown, translucent, syrupy solution, 

 which may be preserved as a stock preparation- About 2 pounds of soap are con- 

 tained to the gallon and the cost is only about 1 J to 2 J cents per gallon, while 

 4)rdinary good hard soap costs five to twelve times as much. 

 (2) See directions for making on p. qi. 



