STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 37 



circle around the tree, the semi-diameter of which shall not exceed eighteen (18) inches 

 from the trunk. 



For trees larger than twelve (13) inches, for each additional three (3) inches of girth, 

 enlarge the diameter of the' circle three (3) inches. Next, with a sharp spade open a 

 trench outside of the circle to the depth of not less than three (3) feet, cutting all 

 lateral roots to that depth. For a tree measuring t welvc (12) inches, this will leave a 

 round ball of earth of the diameter of forty (40) inches to contain the lateral roots left 

 alter pinning. After having the work inspected, fill the trench with top soil and give 

 thorough cultivation until August at the north part of the State, and until October In 

 the Southern part. Once in two years repeat the operation enlarging the diameter of 

 the circle three (8) inches with each additional operation. The effect of this pruning 

 is to force the trees to form their terminal buds on the leading shoots by the time the 

 blight first appears, which in the latitude of Alton occurs about May 25th to the first 

 of June. 



ROOT ROT. 



We now had to consider a third kind of blight, believed to have been first observed 

 by us on the pear, during our visit with the Committee Ad-Interim to Cobden, in July, 

 and again while on a similar visit to Missouri in August last, with a committee of 

 Illinois and Missouri horticulturists, we found the same disease affecting both Pear and 

 Cherry at l)e Soto in the Iron Mountain district. To us, this kind of blight appears by 

 far the most formidable disease with which our trees have to contend. The ordinary 

 observer while looking over trees in which the incipient stages of this disease arc active- 

 ly at work, sees no cause for alarm ; to his eye all is in the most perfect state of health ; 

 the trunk, the limbs and fruit are all in so nice a condition as to delight the eye; in 

 short the whole appearance is one full of promise of future health and friiitfulness. 

 It is now about the first of August, let us look more carefully on some of the trees; 

 the shoots are not quite so long as they are on some others, but they make up in size 

 what they luck in length, and a more pleasing feature perhaps is found in the large 

 number of well developed fruit buds ; the leaves appear to be in perfect health and are 

 of the largest size. Root-pruned trees could produce no better ones, only on one or two 

 6inall shoots emanating from the trunk : on these they are a little yellower than on the 

 other branches. If we observe again and compare this tree with those in which the 

 conditions arc different, we shall find that the tree completed its growth earlier in the 

 season, and on that account, is not near as tall as the later growing specimens. If we 

 carry our investigations to the routs of one of these tree*, we shall find some of them 

 killed and completely wrapt in a fungus growth of the thickness of cloth, which may be 

 removed m an entire mass; on other roots small patches of fungus will be found to 

 have made its way through the bark to the sap wood. In others, as it first appears, 

 it resembles most, a single thread of a spider's web ; from this, other parallel threads 

 quickly appear until, the whole root is enveloped as before described. To ascertain if 

 this species of fungi be the cause or consequence of death in trees, we selected two pear, 

 also two apple trees, all in health; we next ground in water a portion of the fungus 



we had brought from Cobden, and placed it between the bark and sap wood ; alter the 



lapse of a lew days the innoculatcd trees were affected much as are trees with fire 

 blight. On one only of the innoculatcd trees, and that one a seedling apple innoculatcd 

 near the ground, was there any appearance of the thread-like fungi before described, 



