THE PEACH 



75 



push out a new set of leaves, but too late to repair the 

 damage done to the fruit crop. 



This Peach Leaf-curl is most injurious during 

 wet springs. It often ruins the peach crop over large 

 areas. It is uncertain in its attacks, some seasons 

 doing much damage and others comparatively little. 



Remedies — It has been repeatedly demonstrated 

 that a single spraying with Bordeaux mixture in early 

 spring will prevent this disease. All trees should be 

 sprayed with a good strength of Bordeaux mixture at 

 least two weeks before the blossoms open. The appli- 

 cation should be so thorough as to cover the branches 

 and buds all over the tree. In all cases the nozzle 

 should be held below rather than above the part of 

 the tree being treated and the spray thus directed 

 upward will in falling wet the upper side of the 

 horizontal branches. 



The Brown Rot, already discussed as a plum 

 disease (page 70), is often extremely destructive to 

 peaches. It sometimes attacks the trees early in 

 spring, causing an injury to the twigs and blossoms 

 called blight, and again infests the fruit up to the 

 time of ripening, and even after it is gathered. 



The most promising remedial measures are those 

 of picking off all the dry peaches hanging on the tree 

 during winter, and then spraying early 'in the spring 

 before the buds begin to swell, w4th a dilute Bordeaux 

 mixture, not more than 2 pounds copper sulphate to 

 50 gallons water, which may often be repeated to ad- 

 vantage just before the blossoms open. Then after the 

 blossom petals have fallen spray twice with an inter- 

 val of two weeks between. Peach foliage is very 

 easily injured, and care should be taken in spraying 

 it. Two or three pounds more lime should be used in 

 the Bordeaux mixture than usual, to avoid injury to 

 the foliage. 



