ROSIN-SOAP WASH.

The following rosin-soap wash has been used with good effect as a summer wash in the destruction of the San José Scale in some parts of the State: Take one pound of concentrated lye; two pounds of rosin; one pound of tallow; three gallons of water. Boil the same as common soap. Use one quart of this to three gallons of water. If found too strong for the foliage, add more water.

WOODBURY IMPROVED ROSIN-WASH.

This is manufactured in San Francisco, and is highly endorsed by the fruit-growers in California, and has also been tested and recommended by members of this Board as a most valuable wash. Put up convenient for use.

THE IX L COMPOUND.

This compound, manufactured in San Francisco, is endorsed by a large number of the horticulturists of California as being a valuable wash for the destruction of the San José Scale, and also for all pernicious insects affecting plant life.

FUNGOID DISEASES.

Fungus attacks all plants, especially those in a more or less diseased or disorganized condition. It is propagated by spores, minute

a

grains which perform the functions of seed. The fungoid diseases of fruit and fruit trees rank next in the list of destructive agents to the damage done by injurious insect pests. The fruit interests of the East has suffered large losses from the attacks

b

The above figures show the work of the Black Spot or fungus on the apple. a, the fruit as it appears when affected, b, a single blotch enlarged; the center is black with millions of growing Spores; both show the rapid spread of the fungus, destroying the tissues of the apple.

of fungi. The most conspicuous of these has been the Peach Yellows which has caused the loss, by the disease and in the effort to root it out, of hundreds

of thousands of peach trees. Fortunately for Oregon, this deadly disease of the peach has not made its appearance as yet in our

orchards. Certain forms of these diseases have appeared in diferent portions of the State, in the pear and leaf blight and black spots upon the apple and pear. These disease produsce a form of blight upon trees, leaves, and fruit, and will destroy both leaves and fruit, and if not eradicated the tree also. In former bulletins we have noted its effect upon the fruit of the apple and pear in parts of the Willamette Valley. Later information develops the fact that in some portions of the State the pear trees are becoming badly infected, and unless promptly taken in hand and properly and thoroughly treated, will endanger the pear trees in these portions infected

to little less than extermination. the fungus on pear branches and leaf.

TREATMENT.

To find a remedy for these diseases has for a number of years seemed to baffle the most earnest efforts of those engaged in their discovery. All agree that cutting off the infected parts of the tree below the disease and burning the leaves as soon as they fall, are important means of removing a source of infection. Later experiments have revealed the fact that the spores of the fungus can be destroyed by the use of what is called the Bordeaux Mixture. To destroy the spores that may have survived the winter in the crevices of the bark, a strong solution of this wash should be used before the buds begin to swell, in the proportion of one half pound of sulphate of copper and one pound of lime to one gallon of water; but for summer use the following form of the mixture should be used, beginning at once and repeating the application every three or four weeks until the last of July or middle of August:

BORDEAUX MIXTURE.

Dissolve six pounds of sulphate of copper in sixteen gallons of water; in another vessel slake six pounds of lime in six gallons of water. When the latter mixture has cooled pour it slowly into the copper solution, care being taken to mix the fluids by constant stirring.

This wash is effective in destroying the black spot or fungi that is found upon many of the apples and pears grown in the Willamette Valley, and may be combined for convenience and saving of labor with the wash used for the destruction of the Codlin Moth, by simply using at the rate of one pound of London purple or París green to 200 gallons of Bordeaux Mixture.

CODLIN MOTH.

The description of this enemy of the apple, pear, and quince, has been fully given in previous bulletins issued by this Board, and doubtless his personal acquaintance has been made by every orchardist in the State who grows any of the above fruits, so that no extended description of this beautiful but pestiferous insect, and the mischief that he works in the "Big Red Apple”—the pride of Oregon - need be given here.

REMEDIES.

The results that have attended the use of the spray washes during the past two years have demonstrated beyond question that the apple crop can be saved, if the arsenical mixtures, either London purple or Paris green, are used, one pound to two hundred gallons of water, in the proper manner and at the proper time. Owing to the continued rains late into June last season the Codlin Moth did but little damage to early apples, and led many to think that they would not appear in sufficient numbers to do any material damage to fruits, and so neglected to spray; later developments showed that in this they had made a mistake. In continued thorough work, in the use of the spray pump, is the success of the orchardist to be found. At the quarterly meeting of the State Horticultural Society, held at Dallas in October last, Mr. D. O. Quick, of Suver, Polk County, read a paper on his success in spraying, in which he stated that he sprayed a six-acre orchard of twenty-year-old apple trees, six times, at a total cost of $21, including the cost of material and the labor applying it. The first spraying was done on the 20th of May, the second on the 29th of May, the third on the 15th of June, the fourth on the 30th of June, the fifth on the 15th of July, and the sixth on the 25th of July, and he saved 90% of the fruit free from worms. The material used was one pound of whale-oil soap and one sixth pound Paris green to the barrel of water. He considered the addition of the whale-oil soap a valuable acquisition to the wash, as it worked better through the pump and spray nozzle. We think that Mr. Quick would have had even better results had he sprayed his trees once

more at least the latter part of August. It has also been found that the presence of hogs in the orchard, to eat the apples that fall to the ground, is beneficial in reducing the number of worms. Many of the worms can also be caught after they have escaped from the apple during the summer, by wrapping a piece of an old sack about the body of the tree, and removing it once in six days and killing the worms that have sought a refuge under its folds, by scalding, and again replacing it; this can be easily fastened by means of a string or tack.

In orchards where the fruit is effected with the black spot or fungus, the use of the Bordeaux Mixture, as given on page 5 of this bulletin, is recommended, in connection with the London purple or Paris green, as the lime in the Bordeaux Mixture will change the soluble arsenic compounds in the London purple and Paris green, which causes the burning of the foliage, into insoluble arsenite of lime, which will not injure the foliage, and it in no way diminishes the effect of the poison in killing the worm; a remedy is also at the same time applied that will prevent the black spot or fungus on the apple or pear.

BORERS.

There are a number of species of the Borers that work destruction to fruit trees, especially the apple and peach, a full description of which has been given in previous bulletins issued by this Board.

Care should be taken in planting a young orchard that the southwest side of the tree is protected from the hot rays of the sun, as it is found that trees thus injured are more liable to be infected with the Borers and at the point where injured.

REMEDIES.

Several remedies have been proposed to meet this evil. There is no question but that in this case, at least, an ounce of preventive is of more value than several pounds of cure. All fruit trees liable to be troubled with Borers of any kind should be examined at least twice each year, and the earth removed from about the base of the tree; and wherever the castings of the larvæ are found protruding through the bark, an application of unadulterated kerosene oil should be made by means of a small can. The sawdust-like castings absorb the kerosene, and it permeates the burrow and soon comes in contact with the larva, which ends his destructive work. The small amount of kerosene needed will in no way endanger the health of the tree, and does away with the old process of digging them out with a knife, which usually badly mutilates the tree; and it is also a great saving of time and labor, as a person can inspect and treat many trees in an hour. Hot water is also very effectual in killing

those about the base of the tree. It should be used boiling-hot, and after the earth has been removed from about the tree.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES.

The Moth may be prevented from laying her eggs upon the base of the tree, by placing stiff paper about one foot high around it, the bottom extending some two inches below the surface, and fastening the top with a string or wire.

The following wash, if applied hot to the trunk and large limbs of the tree the first of May and again the latter part of June, will not only keep the tree free from Borers, but also from any other insects that infest these parts of the tree, viz: One pound of potash and one pound of lard dissolved in five gallons of boiling water, stirring in one pint of crude carbolic acid; slake four pounds of lime in one gallon of water, and while hot mix all together, adding four gallons of water.

CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY WORMS.

There are two kinds of these that are doing considerable damage to these fruits in some portions of the State The imported CurrantWorm operates upon the leaves only; the Currant-Fly or Worm operates on the fruit.

REMEDY.

One large tablespoonful of powdered white hellebore dissolved in a pailful of water, and thoroughly applied by means of a syringe or watering pot, will eradicate both of the above pests. To prevent the work of the one that infests the fruit, the bushes should be sprayed just before the bloom and again soon after the fruit sets.

CAUTION.

In the use of whale-oil soap, in compounding any of the washes recommended by this Board, it is necessary that the soap shall not be less than 80 per cent in strength. All familiar with the making of soap know that the cost of the soap depends very largely upon the amount of water used; in other words, soap that costs six cents per pound to make can be reduced to three cents per pound, simply by adding water. But it will be seen at once that it will take two pounds of the latter to get the same results as from one pound of the former. To test the soap take five ounces and cut in thin slices; place these on a tin plate and thoroughly dry; if the soap is standard strength but one ounce will be lost in the drying. In buying avoid the cheap brands, for in using them the money invested, together with the labor, is thrown away.