BROWN-ROT OF PRUNES AND CHERRIES. 5 
time the number of fruit spurs that had borne blossoms and the 
number of prunes still remaining were counted on representative 
_ branches from the various plats. The results obtained are shown in 
Table I. 
TaBLE I.—Prune spraying experiments at Felida, Wash.,in March and April. 1915. 
; : nae Prunes per | Wits», _ | Prunes per 
Plat. Sprayings. 4,000 spurs. Plat. Sprayings. 4,000spurs. 
INO Dee en's, First, second, and third... APN EIN) Sec csc First and third.......... 143 
INOS GEsas =; First and second....-... =| 24371 NO. 100. os 2 IN ONO!S4 203 ee EE 69 
No. 72....--| Second..........-----.-- 369 || NO. 6.255505 | Bees MOS, SEP ieee 86 
: ; | 
These results show that the sprayed trees had retained from two 
to five times as much of their fruit as the unsprayed ones. A com- 
parison of the set of fruit on the different sprayed plats would indicate 
that the second spraying was the most important one, but that the 
third was also very valuable. A study of the final crop from the 
orchard, as given later, shows that the average yield on the nine 
plats that received an application of self-boiled lime-sulphur, either 
in the second or third spraying or both, was more than two and a 
half times as great as that from plats 6, 10, and 11, which received 
no early spraying. 7 
Tf an adhesive had been added to the fungicide in the second 
application, there is little doubt that the results would have been 
much more striking, for, as already mentioned, much of this spray 
had been washed off by rains before the third application was made, 
thus leaving but poor protection during the most critical period of 
infection. | 
The above data show very conclusively that the blossom blight 
was an important factor in the poor set of fruit obtained in 1915. 
Observations on the calyx browning and on the fruit drop in several 
different sections of southwestern Washington and also in the orchards 
near Salem, Oreg., indicated that the conditions described for Van- 
couver were of general occurrence in the prune orchards of the lower 
Columbia and Willamette Valleys. 
FRUIT ROT OF PRUNES. 
The orchard observations were continued throughout the summer, 
and records were kept of weather conditions and the prevalence of 
disease. Frequent showers occurred during the last three weeks 
of May, but the weather during the latter part of the summer was 
comparatively dry, the rainfall being considerably below the average 
for the season. | 
- The occurrence of brown-rot was noted on some of the plats in 
the latter part of May, but there was no serious outbreak at any 
time during the summer. 
