2,2 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Although the present orchard conditions may seem discour- 

 aging, yet there is all the more reason why we should exert 

 ourselves to regain what we have lost. Our failure should not 

 put a damper on our effort to win. If we would apply tlie same 

 sturdy, common sense methods to our orchards that we do to 

 our other farming operations, success would surely reward our 

 efforts. 



We have the best of soil, the best of locations, and the best 

 of climate for many varieties of apples. All we lack is a good 

 honest application of first class stick-to-it-iveness, applied with 

 a brush of business methods and a good blending of common 

 sense. 



What is the present condition of our orchards taken as a 

 whole? ]\Iany trees, both young and old, are dead. A large 

 per cent of the remaining ones are in a dying condition, many 

 of these through lack of attention. Some could have been 

 saved if they had been attended to in season, but a large per 

 cent received their death blow in the winter of 1906 and 1907 

 and have lingered along, some dying last year, many more this 

 season, and some will follow another year. 



During the past season we have investigated by request 

 about sixty orchards located in thirty different towns in the 

 state. When I could not attend to the calls personally, a trained 

 orchardist was sent to make the examination. In most cases 

 the conditions were much the same. Trees were found dying, 

 either as a direct result of the cold winter above mentioned, or 

 by the presence of canker. Canker is a well known fungus 

 disease of the apple, while fire blight is a bacterial disease. 

 Both show on the specimen exhibited. Canker occurs in spots 

 on the limbs, on the trunk, or in the crotches of the limbs. The 

 bark is sunken and turns a dark brown, and may spread over 

 the limbs, causing the death of the tree. 



This disease may start where the bark has received an injury, 

 either mechanical or as a result of severe cold. 



Almost invariablv some canker was found associated with 

 the winter injury. The area covered included orchards in the 

 following nine counties : York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, 

 Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Kennebec, Somerset, Penobscot and Han- 

 cock. 



