Show Brown Rot of Plums Last summer tho writer visited tho farm of a prominent fruit grower of Northern Illinois Ho had a considerable consider-able number of plum trees but tho fruit was worthless as It had been taken by tho brown rot Tho trees had bloomed full nnd tho prospects for a largo crop of fine plums had been excellent But boforo the limo came to gather tho plums tho dreaded brown rot appeared and soon spread among i all the trees Tho plums soon began to drop and tho ground was covered In a fow weeks with hundreds of tho decoying plums Thousands of tho plums still on tho trees wero affected on ono sldo nnd it was seen that tho crop was ruined This disease Is known scientifically as Monilla fructlgona Tho spores attack at-tack not only tho fruit but also tho blossoms leaves and twigs The process proc-ess of Its development Is about as follows fol-lows A sporo falls on a wet plum and sticks there It sends a filament Into tho akin of the plum This filament fila-ment develops Into a th cad llka growth that permeates the pulp of them u the-m everywhere It Is tho foodgath ering power of this mycelium or mass of threads that causes tho breaking 11 1 M 1 1UIIII1D PLUMS DUE TO DROWN HOT Monllln Kructlgcua I down of tho cells that compose the pulpy mass and reduces It to a slimy substance that wo designate as rot Tho skin indicates what Is going on inside by turning brown in one or two spots These spots enlarge in all directions di-rections and this indicates the spread of tho rot At this stago tho parts of tho mycelium that develop at tho surface sur-face of tho plum begin to bring forth fruit In tho form of nnhcolored U spores which give an ashy hue to tho decaying decay-Ing plum These aro the spores that i continue to spread the dlsedso I Many of the rotten plums continue to hang on tho tree till winter and arc known as mummied plums They have shrunken and dried till thoy are hard and unsightly but to them cling enough spores to spread tho disease tho coming year In somo cases oven tho mycollum or threadlike plant inside In-side tho plum retains Its life through tho winter and under favorable conditions con-ditions in tho spring begins to grow and will produce a now crop of spores Thoso spores aro scattered everywhere and oven fall and germinate on tho blossoms and tender leaves We show a cluster of these mummied plums They should bo picked off now and burned Not one should bo left on tho trees or on the ground Next spring If any rot appears on plums tho fruit so affected should bo picked off and burned at once In addition tho trees should be sprayed with t diluted Bordeaux mixture mix-ture Spray first before tho blossoms open and again as soon as the fruit Is well formed Spray twlco later at Intervals of two weeks Whore tho disease has been in an orchard for several years more than one season may bo required In which to eradicate eradi-cate It Farmers Ilevlow A Question of Locality The practice of opening up tho tops of apple trees Is followed by S G Sovcrhlll of Nor thorn Illinois Mr Soverhlll has boon or hardlnc In that locality for about ffty years Tho practice Is condcmnAI by Edson Gaylord Gay-lord of Iowa who has been orcharding In that state for fifty years Both men havo had so many years of experience that It Is not probablo that either Is making a mistake regarding the practices prac-tices allowable in his vicinity But this brings us to die appreciation of tho fact that conditions enormously differ In different localities separated by only a fow hundred miles Wo would like to receive communications from our leading horticulturists In different dif-ferent states and different localities of tho same state relative to tho amount of sunscald In their neighborhoods and the general practice of heading trees Tho amount of sunscald existing in a neighborhood does not seem to depend de-pend on tho latitude Mr Gaylord has accurately defined tho process when ho says that it Is duo to tho breakIng break-Ing up of cambium cells by the alternate alter-nate freezing and thawing But there Is something more In It than this for sunscald seems to bo worse In tho colder parts of the states than in the warmer parts though oven In tho latter lat-ter somo freezing and thawing must go on We would like to know how far south sunscald is experienced Take a trip now and then out to the orchard and see that the snow is packed pack-ed down well about tho tree trunks Mice often make terrible work burrowing bur-rowing under tho snow and girdling the trees In the fall and winter prepare for spring Tho spraying apparatus must bo ordered in the winter if It Is to be ready for use In tho spring The winter is it good tlmo to hunt up the bag worms on tho trees |