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Show FALL PRUNING IS BEST FOR BLIGHT Pruning out the dead wood in the fall is the best method of controlling fire blight of apples and pears, advises ad-vises Dr. A. L. Pierstorff, fruit spe-' spe-' cialist of the -New Jersey State Col- : lege of Agriculture. The bacteria which cause tire blight wiuter over on the diseased parts of the tree, and in the spring are carried io the opening blossoms oy bees and other insects. Spraying is of no avail ; hence the only practicable control con-trol is to prevent its spread by cutting cut-ting out and burning all diseased . parts of the trees. This can best be done before the trees have shed their green leaves, as the brown leaves and dead twigs stand out prominently. Cut off the twigs and branches just below the dead areas. Lse a sharp knife to cut out the cankers formed on large j limbs, removing all the dead bark and about one-half inch of live hark on all sides of the dead area. See that such cuts are pointeo at both ends so. they will heal readily the following season. After making the wounds, sterilize them with mercuric mer-curic cyanide (1 part to 500 parts of water) and bichloride of mercury (1 part to 50U of water) mixed together. Carry these disinfectants in a wooden or glass container, as metal containers contain-ers tend to weaken them. They may be applied with a swab made with a piece of cloth or a sponge tied to a stick. Disinfect the tools also occasionally. occa-sionally. The .chemicals should he kept out of the reuch of children or live stock, as they are both violent poisons. Fire blight was first described as occurring In the highlands of the Hudson river about a century and a half ago. It is so called because the trees attacked have the appearance of beiiiH scorched by fire. |