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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tender than others that a strength which one will bear will cause the 

 leaves of another to fall almost as in winter. To be thoroughly successful 

 one must apply it in a mist-like spray at least three times during the 

 period the apples are growing, and also know exactly the strength each 

 variety will stand. In my own case I only gave one spraying, but quite 

 50 per cent, of the leaves fell off, and, though much improved, the 

 apples are not even now entirely free from spot. The drawback also 

 with this for the commercial fruit grower is that the operation must be 

 done just when he is busy with his soft fruit, berries, currants, and 

 strawberries, and when all his skilled hands, to whom he would entrust 

 the work, are busy with the gangs of women, or packing, or some similar 

 work. 



It has become almost a necessity to train a special gang of men who 

 can at any time be available for any spraying work that may crop up. 



We have used a solution of copper sulphate in winter for Botrytis on 

 gooseberry bushes, in conjunction with the liver of sulphur in summer ; and 

 although not able quite to stamp it out, yet we have substantially held it 

 in check where formerly we had to grub up the bushes. 



There are two fungi which sooner or later we shall have to tackle, 

 perhaps by copper sulphate : one is the fungus causing the dying back of 

 spurs or shoots on plum trees — the work of Monilia — and the other is the 

 apple mildew, which causes the peculiar white shoots and tufts of leaves, 

 alas! so often seen now, to which we find ' Bismarck' most subject. At 

 present we have kept this in check by cutting back all infected pieces 

 at the winter pruning, when they are easily seen, and, of course, destroying 

 them by burning. 



The Monilia is very hard to deal with, as it is only outside the bark, 

 and so vulnerable, when the plums are in full bloom, the spore entering 

 the bloom and working thence down the stalk into spur and shoot. At 

 present it does not seem feasible to spray plums in full bloom with copper 

 sulphate, deadly as it often is even to the leaf. The only remedy seems 

 similar to the apple mildew cure just spoken of. 



I need say little to you of the American gooseberry mildew, but leave 

 it to the experts to fight out whether pruning, spraying, or grubbing, 

 burning, tipping, or any other method, be the correct one for stamping 

 out the dire disease. But let me say in passing that, whatever is finally 

 ordered by the Board of Agriculture, I hope it will be something proved 

 to be successful, so that a grower may not find, when he has loyally 

 obeyed some Order, that what he has done has proved later to be of little 

 or no avail. 



There is one other class of enemy of fruit trees, belonging to the 

 vegetable kingdom, which we need to fight, and that is the mosses and 

 lichens which cover the limbs and branches of old trees, arid which afford 

 such a splendid hiding place for insects for the winter, as well as suitable 

 positions for them to lay their eggs, and I daresay also fit soil for winter 

 spores of fungi. 



Fruit growers have long realized the advantage of ridding their trees 

 of some of this encumbering rubbish, and long ago, before winter 

 spraying was thought of, it had become good practice to scrape down 

 and lime-wash tho trunks and all large boughs of trees which were badly 



