348 PLANT DISEASES 



(3) The lower leaves on these tufts or rosettes roll and 

 curl, turn yellow, dry up at the ends and edges, and fall 

 early. They begin to drop before midsummer, and a 

 slight jar shakes them off by the hundred. 



(4) On the trunk and base of the main limbs it is rare 

 to find anything more than rosettes, and often these are 

 also wanting, the diseased growths being confined to the 

 extremities of the branches. 



(5) Diseased trees seldom bear fruit of any sort. 



The following is Dr. Smith's summary : — The Scolytus 

 rugulosus does not cause this disease, nor do I think it due 

 to any other insect. Whatever be its cause, the disease is 

 evidently increasing, and peach-growers should be on the 

 alert to destroy it as soon as it appears. The affected trees 

 should be dug out and burned as soon as discovered. The 

 contagious nature of the disease is now beyond dispute, 

 and it is not wise to let them remain a single day. 



'^m\\ki^ Journ. MycoL, vol. vi. p. 143, pi. viii.-xiii. (1891). 



SLIME-FLUX 



Weeping wounds, the liquid portion of which consists 

 of various micro-organisms mixed with water, forming a 

 glairy, repulsive mixture trickling down the trunk, are not 

 uncommon on many fruit and forest trees. Such represent 

 the ' Schleimfluss of the Germans, and the ' Ecoulement 

 blanc, rouge, musque,' etc., of the French. There is at 

 present a difference' of opinion as to whether such outflows 

 originate the disintegration of tissue at the point from which 

 the mucus originates, or otherwise. 



L'ecoulement blanc, viscid and alcoholic, is frequent on 

 oaks, but occurs also on other trees. It is the result of the 

 fermentation of all the elements of bark and cortex, down 



