CANKER. . 33 



harm. The idea is a very mistaken one, for Shakespeare truly 

 terms it "the baleful mistletoe." The parasite may and often does 

 throw the tree into bearing. The tree seems to make an effort, as 

 it were, with the knowledge that it is attacked by a vital enemy, 

 which will never leave until it has completely destroyed it, branch 

 by branch. The tree in a few years begins to shrivel and decay, 

 and the fruit grows smaller year by year, albeit the tree may keep 

 up the struggle for many years. 



Something may be done to help the trees. The Mistletoe 

 should be attacked bodily, and all established plants broken off, or 

 cut closely year by year. If this is done before Christmas, the 

 berried branches will readily sell at any Railway Station at ^£4 the 

 ton. The only effectual remedy however is to destroy the seeds, or 

 seedlings. The silvery seeds are deposited by the birds on the 

 branches, and the first rain washes them to the underside, where 

 the glutinous matter causes them to stick. Here the birds are 

 useful. Tits and Finches happily eat many of them, and the quick 

 eye of the Orchardist should enable him to destroy many more with 

 his spud. If the seed is left alone, the young Mistletoe seedling 

 will send its root down the inner bark, and throw out its first leaves 

 the second or third year. Nothing now can be done but to cut off 

 the branch, if the Mistletoe is distant from the trunk ; or if not, to 

 check its growth, by constantly breaking it off. When the tree gets 

 thoroughly affected, its place should be supplied by another from the 

 nursery. 



Canker. — This disease, the terror of all Orchardists, and the 

 bane of most Orchards, is due to debility, which may arise from 

 many causes. Canker is almost always actually caused by direct 

 injury from accident, or sudden variations of temperature. In all 

 cases there is a want of vitality. The tree is old, or delicate. The 

 soil is not sufficiently drained, or it is too poor, or for some cause, 

 does not suit the variety. Any direct injury to the bark of the tree 

 will frequently give rise to Canker, whether this is produced by the 

 accidents of wind, or ladders, or clothes lines, or friction of one 

 bough or another, or by sudden alterations of temperature (the 

 severe frosts of winter, acting on insufficiently ripened wood), or 



c 



