154 TKANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



ground to coru or some other crop, and had cut off such limbs as 

 were in his way regardless of size. Some of the limbs thus cut 

 away were three and four inches in diameter, and four or five to 

 some of the trees. Of course you will say no wonder the trees 

 died. 



I might speak here of a feature in an orchard in Centralia that 

 at first puzzled me for an explanation. The trees were Ben Davis, 

 and had been set about eight years. Nearly every tree had a patch 

 of dead bark near the ground, sometimes on one side somtimes on 

 another, sometimes nearly round the tree. Otherwise the trees were 

 well kept and smooth. I learned afterwards that for two or three 

 years after the trees were set, apples were so low that it was thought 

 it would not pay to try to raise them for market, and these trees 

 were left to shift for themselves. As a result water-sprouts grew 

 up rbund the bodies till they were about as large as the original 

 trunks. At about this time apples were commanding a better price, 

 and the neglected orchard was put in shape by cutting away those 

 sprouts, many of them an inch or more in diameter. The result was 

 what I saw. The dead stumps of these sprouts had communicated 

 their decay to the parts adjacent, giving us these patches of dead 

 bark. 



TWIG BLIGHT. 



So far as observed in the orchards in this State, trees have not been 

 affected very badly by this disease. The greatest number that have 

 been noticed were in some of the orchards in Jackson County. In 

 a trip from Carbondale soiilhwest to the mouth of Cedar Creek, a 

 great deal of this was noticed. In some orchards every tree would 

 be injured — some badly so; while in other orchards only a few trees 

 would have the ends of the twigs dead. Rarely v/as an orchard 

 found with none of the disease. They were much worse here than 

 anywhere else in the State that I have visited. 



In Topeka, Kansas, twig blight was doing more damage than at 

 any other point noted. Some trees were found so badly injured that 

 most of the top would be blighted. In one yard, kept moist during 

 dry weather by spraying, the trees were looking well with the excep- 

 tion of considerable twig blight. Last year the owner cut off the 

 blighted twigs, saying that there was much less of it this year. 

 This suggests the remedy, cut off the diseased portions and burn 

 them. 



PEAR BLIGHT, 



While on the subject of twig blight in apple trees, I may as 

 well say what I have to say of its near relative, pear blight. It is 

 not necessary to discuss the causes of these diseases, as these have 

 been amply discussed before in this Society, further than to say that 



