1904.] 



Peach Leaf-Curl. 



239 



Pears. — These are generally not a full crop ; common sorts 

 are better than those of finer quality. The strong cold east 

 winds affected the young fruits, and great injury has been also 

 occasioned by the Pear Midge (Diploszs pyrivora). 



Apples are not a full crop. Some of the best sorts, such as 

 Cox's Orange Pippin, are short ; Wellington's also not plentiful. 

 The wood was injured by the wet autumn and winter, and the 

 attacks of the Winter Moth caterpillars, and of the Apple Sucker 

 (Psyl/a Mali) were severe. Where growers washed the trees early 

 and regularly the crop is by far the best. 



Plums and Damsons. — These are under the average, except 

 where the trees had been well washed. In some localities Vic- 

 toria plums are a heavy crop. The trees have been infested by 

 caterpillars and aphides. 



Taking the fruit plantations of Kent all round, it would seem 

 that the growers will at least hold their own. 



This disease, also known as " curl " or " leaf blister," proves 

 very injurious to peaches and nectarines during certain seasons ; 



almond trees are also sometimes attacked. 



Peach Leaf-Curl. j t occurs j n every part of the world 



{tLxoascus defor- 

 mans, Fckl.) wherever these trees are cultivated, but 



is most abundant and destructive in humid 

 regions, although not entirely absent from districts where the 

 air is exceptionally dry. 



The leaves and young shoots are the parts attacked by the 

 fungus; on rare occasions the blossom is also infected. Diseased 

 leaves become fleshy, much puckered and twisted or curled, and 

 grow to a larger size than usual ; the colour is at first a pale 

 yellowish-green, often becoming more or less tinged with rose 

 colour ; finally, the upper surface of diseased leaves becomes 

 covered with a delicate bloom, somewhat resembling the bloom 

 on a plum : this represents the fruit on the fungus. After the 

 fungus has formed fruit, diseased leaves fall to the ground ; this 

 usually occurs before midsummer. Young shoots infested by 

 the fungus become swollen and twisted cr curved, and the inter- 

 nodes are very short ; consequently the diseased leaves usually 



