90 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
of that treatment will be found in Bulletin 
No. 61, Florida Experiment Station, Lake 
City. 
Curculis —For this enemy we tried 
jarring'—without much benefit—then de¬ 
stroyed all stung fruit for two years, but 
gave that up, as not a large proportion' 
was stung and it did not appear to increase 
or diminish, though showing more on a 
light crop. 
Root knot —We have not been able to 
make much headway with this and so far 
it is only bad on land which has been crop¬ 
ped for years before planting with 
peaches. We have tried several remedies, 
but pruning and heavier fertilizing seem¬ 
ed to do most good, though not always ef¬ 
fective. 
Broim Rot is perhaps the most serious 
disease, interfering with commercial suc¬ 
cess. While we have not yet treated our 
trees for this disease, beyond destroying 
all affected fruit, what opportunities we 
have had of observing the results of the 
Bordeaux Spray lead us to believe that 
good results are not always to be relied 
on. 
A less commonly known fungus dis¬ 
ease, called by Professor H. Harold 
Hume, Clitocybe Parasitica, is worse still, 
as up to the present no cure for it is 
known. This disease is to be found in 
wild hammock, primarily on oaks of ma¬ 
ture growth, especially water-oaks. It is 
much more rarely found in old cleared 
hammock land. Its first appearance on 
peach trees might easily be mistaken for 
borers, as gum is seen exuding from the 
tree just above the ground. On examina¬ 
tion no borer is to be found, but from this ’ 
point downwards dead bark and wood are 
in evidence and lead to one or more roots 
which are discovered to be completely 
dead. The disease soon spreads to other 
roots and upwards into the trunk of the 
tree, the limbs being apparently the last to 
die. The tree appears to bleed to death 
from wounds caused by this disease. On 
our applying to the Lake City Experi¬ 
ment Station for a remedy. Professor 
Hume kindly came down to investigate. 
On examination of the roots of the diseas¬ 
ed trees he found the fungus and pro¬ 
nounced it to be Clitocybe Parasitica. He 
explained that it traveled from tree to tree 
underground, spreading from the ends of 
the roots of one to the root tips of an¬ 
other. He gave us no hope of successfully 
fighting this disease, owing to the diffi¬ 
culty of treating the roots. We found 
that taking the soil away from the infected 
part of the root-crown and removing dead 
roots, allowing the sun to dry it out, to¬ 
gether with heavy top-pruning, was some¬ 
times helpful, if it could be done in the 
fall and when the disease was not too far 
advanced. We have had instances of trees 
bearing some fruit after above treatment, 
which generally fails to mature and the 
tree succumbs to the disease. 
The peach requires very careful hand¬ 
ling to put it on the market in good con¬ 
dition, and too much care cannot be taken 
to avoid bruises. Good grading, neat 
packing and well filled crates are most es¬ 
sential, but with these conditions fulfilled, 
to get it to its destination in prime con¬ 
dition, owing to its bad keeping qualities 
(in some varieties more than others) also 
to picking season being often hot and 
rainy. This is the time when Brown Rot 
gives proof of its presence, no sign of it 
showing when the crate is being packed, 
yet twelve hours later under favorable 
conditions, most of the fruit will be found 
specked. The most careful handling of 
the crate is also most important and there 
is much to be desired in that respect after 
