34 JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Some of them, the tits especially, do much mischief among the Pears 

 and later Apples by pecking the fruit round the stalk. This may be 

 prevented in great measure by planting Sunflowers in sufficient quantity 

 where they are likely to be most troublesome, as they will live on the seed 

 of the Sunflower in preference to fruit. 



I think birds are often credited with being of more use than they 

 are. We do not take into consideration the amount of mischief they 

 do in killing off the ladybirds and their larvae and various other enemies 

 of the aphis, &c. I placed a quantity of "niggers" (the grubs of the 

 ladybirds) on a pole of hops and watched with a field-glass. I saw them 

 take every one in ten minutes after being placed there. Chaffinches, also, 

 will eat the ladybirds and their larvae in preference to other insects. 



In Belgium and France, where there are practically no birds, the crops 

 seem to suffer less from insect pests than ours do. In bicycling several 

 hundred miles through Normandy and Brittany I only saw about a dozen 

 sparrows, and did not see a crop suffering from insect pests, except some 

 apple trees which were attacked by the caterpillars of the small ermine 

 moth, and these the birds would not eat in any case. 



We must not trust to the birds to help us. 



Mr. Geo. Massee, F.L.S., V.M.H. (Kew) : Would it not be very nice 

 if we could do without spraying ? So far as fungi are concerned probably 

 we could, but that rests entirely with ourselves. I have some knowledge 

 as to what many growers do. They are often careless in the application 

 of preventive measures, no benefit consequently appears, and then they 

 say the method is of no service. If you do your best in adopting pre- 

 ventive methods you benefit. The story that fungus spores are carried 

 for thousands of miles by wind has not been proved, and it is now dis- 

 credited. Assume you are troubled with apple or pear scab, diseases too 

 well known to every grower. The diseased fruit falls, and you think the 

 trees are absolutely free from disease. Quite so, but remember many 

 fallen apples have the fungus on them. They are too frequently allowed 

 to lie there ; they rot and decay, yet the fungus does not suffer, but, on 

 the other hand, benefits by this decay. The fungus spores from these 

 decayed apples infect the tree the following season. If the diseased fruit 

 had been collected and deeply buried or burned, this infection could not 

 have occurred. Most people think that scab first appears on the fruit. 

 This is a mistake ; the fungus first grows on the leaves and from thence 

 spores are washed by rain on to the young fruit. Many similar fruit 

 diseases develop first on the leaves. 



After an epidemic of fungus disease, spores lodge in crevices in the 

 bark, on the surrounding ground, and in fact on anything and everything 

 in the neighbourhood. Under these circumstances — that is, when, owing 

 to negligence, a fungus has been allowed to gain a firm foothold — spraying 

 is of service if applied in a proper manner. During the winter, before 

 the buds begin to expand, the trees and surrounding ground should be 

 thoroughly drenched with a solution of sulphate of iron. When the 

 leaves begin to unfold, spray with a dilute solution of Bordeaux mixture. 

 This may be repeated at intervals. This spraying should be done in 

 anticipation ; do not wait until the disease again appears. The well- 

 known shot-hole fungus requires a similar line of treatment. The 



