330 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



green, and inclined to roll, and, when the fruit is about an inch in diam- 

 eter, its growth stops. Instead of being premature as in the case of 

 jellows, the fruit, if it ripens at all, is much later; it shows no red spots 

 and streaks, and seldom reaches one half its full size. 



About mid-summer the trees will send out numerous shoots from the 

 main branches. As a rule they are short, but, if the trees are young and 

 growing in good soil, they may make a growth of several feet, forming 

 what are commonly called " water sprouts."' The bark on the growths 

 two or three years old will be found dry and cracked; the cambium (or 

 new ring of wood) very thin and the older wood dry and discolored beyond 

 the normal. 



After a year or two, young and vigorous trees seem to recover, but the 

 old and especially the neglected trees gradually succumb to the disease, 

 although they generally live for several years. 



By many growers the disease is regarded as highly contagious and 

 even more dangerous than yellows, and they recommend the prompt 

 removal of the infected trees. 



While the writer is not certain that the disease is contagious, such may 

 be the case, and, especially if the trees are old and the wood seems to be 

 badly injured, it will certainly be advisable from an economical stand- 

 point, as well as safest, so far as the other trees are concerned, to imme- 

 <iiately destroy them. 



In some instances the writer has observed the disease upon young 

 trees, and even on older ones, when the trouble seemed confined to por- 

 tions along the middle of the branches, and, when cut back below the 

 injured portions, new and healthy growths were made. Even when the 

 branches have been but slightly shortened back, marked benefits have 

 been secured, but it can be readily seen that the best results cannot be 

 secured unless the injured portions have been cut away and a growth ob- 

 tained from the comparatively healthy wood below. Unless the soil is fer- 

 tile it should be enriched with a liberal supply of wood ashes. Stable 

 manure would be desirable to start a new growth, and a small amount 

 may be used to advantage, but an excess should be avoided as it will 

 produce a soft watery growth that will be injured by the winter. 



While some specific disease may be the cause of the trouble, in most 

 cases it has every appearance of the effect of cold upon the unripe wood. 

 In one case, young trees were growing in a corn field; after cultivation 

 ceased the growth of the corn drew upon the moisture and plant food in 

 the soil, causing the trees to ripen prematurely and, when the corn was 

 cut, a second growth could readily be started by the fall rains, and this 

 would be injured by the winter. In other cases, the wood may have been 

 unripe in the fall, or it may have started into growth early in the spring 

 and a few degrees of frost would in either case produce an injury to the 

 wood similar to that found in " little peach." The cells being injured the 

 sap would not pass through them readily, and the new growth would 

 naturally be short, the fruit would not reach its normal size, and water 

 sprouts would start from the branches. 



In case the disease is found to be contagious it would come under the 

 operation of the nursery law. 



