‘24 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
yt 
May, 19102 
ing is nota cure-all. It will not bring 
back life, nor restore the leaves after they 
haye been eaten off by caterpillars. The 
best results are not obtained the first 
year especially when spraying for fungus 
diseases. Success will be found in 
spraying only by thorough attention to 
details. The spray must actually reach 
every point. ‘which it isintended to protect. 
In applying, winter sprays a coarser nozzle 
can be used thin for summer sprays 
because the object is inerely to form a 
omplete edating of the spray over the 
In’ summer spraying, howeve1? 
mist like 
wood. 
can exceedingly 
reaching every PB d¥tion of the plant, and 
covering with © ‘intnute dots) preferably 
fine, Spray 
no Jarser;} than a pin's head, every, 
: : 
square inch of “the foliage, is | 
necessary. 
The nature, causes, and remedies for 
pests and diseases are often very uncertan ; 
therefore uuserupulous people attempt to 
make money by selling quack remedies. ... 
Be very careful, in buying mixtures, to 
obtain them from reliable firms ‘only, 
and after they have been EOL OUB LLY 
tested 
— Fungoid Diseases, — 
Most diseases of plants are caused by 
low forms of vegetable life known as 
fungi, which live upon and within the 
tissues of the higher plants The main 
difference, cther than size, between the 
fungiand the higher plants is the lack 
cf a green colouring matter so abundant 
in the higher order of vegetation. ‘The 
method of development in the fungi are 
often different to those of higher plants, 
and their microscopic size renders their 
study more difficult, 
spend the winter months mostly within 
the living and dead vegetable tissues, and 
The parasatic fungi 
during the early spring days seud out 
small spores, which correspond to the 
seeds of the higher plants. ‘These spores 
disseminated by the wind and other agents 
from plant to plant. With favourable 
conditions as to moisture and warmth: 
the spores send out small branches, which 
penetrate into the living tissues of the 
higher orders of plants. By the appli- 
pation of a fungicide to a plant, we destroy 
the spores which have found lodgment 
upon it, and thus prevent the development 
of additional spores which would cause 
disease. Just as long as the tissues of 
plants are covered with a thin, even 
coating of fungicide, very few fungi can 
develop upon them. Thus if a fungicide 
is applied at regular intervals of about 
two weeks during the spring and early 
summer, most of such plant diseases 
may be held in check. A fungicide is a 
preventive, and its 
begin long before the disease has advanced 
manifest itself to any 
application should 
far enough to 
extent. 
Orchatdists should profit by the experi- 
ence of former years, and when grape 
vines or apples are affected any year with 
black spot or other fungus disease, they 
should begin spraying with the fungicide 
. the following season, long before the time 
of the appearance of the disease, 
— Leaf- eating Insects. — 
= “There is a great: difference in the 
manner of which insects take their food. 
Some eat the leaves, while others suck 
the plant juices. Orchardists must know 
to which of these two classes a particular 
insect belongs to know what remedy to 
apply. Insects which eat the leaves 
have their mouth-parts formed for biting 
off pieces of vegetable matter, and in this 
way eat their food in much the same 
The 
insects which sack the plant juices, have 
manner as do the higher animals. 
their mouth-parts formed into a beak 
which is inserted into the plant tissues, 
Some of the best known of the leaf eating 
insects are the Codlin Moth, Vine Cater- 
pillar, &c, These insects can be destroyed 
by a stomach poison (insecticide)—a 
poison which kills the insects when taken 
into the stomach along with the particles 
of food. 
to the plants, making no effort to apply it 
directly to the insects. 
We apply this class of insecticide 
— Scale Tasects. — 
These are small, sucking insects, which 
must be killed by a contact insecticide, 
applied directly upon them, which will 
kill them by penetration and irritation. 
Hydrocyanic acid gas is also used, and 
has proved the most efficient, 
aay 
— Plant Lice. — 
These are the insects so common*upon 
rks 
Ne 
a great variety of plants throughout the 
early spring and summer. They may be 
green in colour or black, such as Green 
Aphis or Black Aphis. Some arg red, 
Plant lice may or may not have wings. 
The most common form during the 
summer months are the wingless females, 
which produce living young ; Winged 
form of plant lice, and the treatment for 
them is an external irritant insecticide, 
— Materials Used in Spraying. — 
‘Fungicides are materials used in 
destroying fungi, which are low forms of 
vegetable life causing disease in plants. 
Correctly: speaking, the fungicide acts as 
a preventive of plant disease, by obstruct- 
ing the germination of the spores of the 
fungi causing such disease. ‘These spores 
grow upon the exterior portion of plants. 
If we cover the plants with a coating of 
a copper salt, such as bluestone, or other 
chemical injurious to the germination of 
the spore, the reproduction of the fungi 
is held in check. 
Insecticides are those substances used 
in destroying insects. ‘The materials used 
in spraying are divided into two classes : 
the internal poisons and the external 
contact irritants, known also as the 
internal and external contact insecticides. 
Internal poisons are only used for those 
insects that bite their food ; and they kill 
because of their poisonous action. The 
external contact insecticides act by their 
penetrating and irritant qualities, Those 
are used against all insects whose mouth- 
parts are formed for sucking. 
— Spray Pumps and Outfits, — 
The particular outfit to be selected for 
spraying purposes will depend altogether 
upon the amount and charactor of the 
work of spraying. A pump simple in 
construction is not to be preferred, No 
one outfit can be expected to suit all the 
varying conditions of spraying. Hand- 
pumps should give great pressure with 
the least expenditure of power. All 
working parts should be made of brass, 
and easily taken’ to pieces. No type of 
spraying outfit is more widely used or has 
given better satisfaction, than the barrol- 
