FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
35 
had a great deal of rainy weather at the 
time. Every box was washed except that 
which had been beautifully cleaned by 
the snail. The fruit carried well, and 
sold for $3.00 per box in Providence 
R. 1 . The trees cleaned by the snail gave 
us a uniform bloom this spring, while the 
balance of the grove bloomed only in the 
tops of the trees. 
Saturday night I went over to the 
grove to get specimens of the snail but 
could only find a few, and concluded that 
our neighbors had gathered the greater 
portion of them, but Sunday it rained 
during the night, and the next morning 
my foreman found plenty of them crawl¬ 
ing up and down the trunks, and over the 
foilage, and he said that many of the 
snails had particles of sand still sticking 
to them. We are not certain that they 
do not burrow in the earth during the 
cool winter weather, coming out when 
the weather is warm, and the atmosphere 
moist. They do not move around or 
feed, only when the sooty mold is wet, 
which I presume enables them ‘ to eat it 
more readily, and in doing so they clean 
up the eggs of the fly. 
Mr. Hart.—Mr. President, I wish to 
ask Mr. Waite if in spraying he would 
risk clear water. 
Mr. Waite.—This would assist the 
snails and after two or three sprayings 
the fungi would make their appearance, 
for this reason I would reccommend to 
those who do not wish to use insecticides 
and fungucides, spraying .with clear wa¬ 
ter, and if done toward night, it would 
keep the sooty mold moist all night. 
Mr. Hart.—What kind of a nozzle 
would you use? 
Mr. Waite.—We use the Big Boston 
in a solid spray on the tall trees, and the 
Vermoel for small trees and where we 
wish to throw a mist over the fruit for the 
rust mite. 
Mr. Bell.—I would like to know wheth¬ 
er or not the result of the fungi mention- 
,ed is a remedy for the white fly. 
Mr. Waite.—After the white fly has 
been in a grove a few years, this fungi 
seems to be a natural parasite following 
it, and will unaided, in time clean up the 
trees so they will produce one fine crop in 
three years, and a medium one year, and 
comparatively nothing the next, but by 
assisting the fungi to spread more rapidly 
we may get fewer oflf years. 
Mr. Bell.—Do I understand that when 
the white fly gets into a grove that it 
will bear probably once in three years? 
Mr. Waite.—Yes sir, but it is my opin¬ 
ion that if we assist the fungi and snail 
to spread more rapidly, we will soon lose 
all fear of the white fly. 
Mr. Bell.—Is the damage done by 
white fly as much as one hundred dollars 
per acre? 
Mr. Waite.—I should say that was a 
small estimate but if the fungi and snail 
have your assistance they will keep out 
the fly, if you will take the pains, and use 
the time you would consume in spraying, 
distributing fungi and snails, it would 
not lessen the value of your grove one 
dollar. As I have stated the fruit ship¬ 
ped from the grove mentioned was as 
fine as any I ever saw, while that ad¬ 
joining this grove was not near as fine 
flavored, it was covered with sooty mold, 
which excluded the air and sunlight, nec¬ 
essary to make a fine quality of fruit. 
The trees stocked with the snail were 
quite clean by the last of Sept., so they 
had plenty of sunlight (and fully a month 
before gathering the fruit,) therefore I 
think the snail the best friend we have 
with which to fight the white fly. 
