PlA.NI DlSKASKS IN THK \\'eSTE1{N pKOVllsCli:. 



867 



sixieeii iiionilis wlicii l<cpt in ;i vacuuiii, nor did exposing' lliorouglily 

 diicd ones io ;i Iciii j)(m;i I iiic of ]i(|iiid i\\r i'or iliree weeks kill llieiii. 

 Iiiociilntioii exi)eiiiiieiits ciiiiied mil hy inserting' portions oi 

 artificially grown Scli / :(>/)/i i/ll it /n i-oiinini iic into holes made in i)eacli 

 and a])ric'ot hranclies ])ioved that llie fungus is aide to g-row in living 

 \v(m:(1, tl.at i.^. lliat it is a jiarasile tliong'ii its growth is not raj/id. 

 However, the faet that it is not rapid is no excuse for neg-lect. Most 

 wood-destroying fungi are conii)arat ivety slow in tlieir action, and it 

 is because of the insidiousness of tlieii- growth that they aie often 

 neglected, or lather, perliap>, not notictMl, until it is too late. In fact, 

 a hrancli which may he rotten to the core, may ne\'ertheless still 

 a])pear to he fairly healthy. 



i'LATE II. — Fig. 4. — Peat'li branch in section sliowint;: a soft rot of the 

 wood due to one nf the wooi-rottiiig fungi. 



\ Photo : V. A. Piifterill. 



Idle fungus \\lii(di causes sil\er leaf of fruit tices is siniiewhat 

 like ScJii:(>//hjjll II III co in in iiiic in its mode of g'rowth in the wood, but 

 it is a much more active parasite, and it causes first this silvering- of 

 (he f(diage and subsequently the death of the affected branch or tree. 

 The disc(douration of the wood as a result of this fungus is similar to 

 that caused by SchizoplniUutv covvmiine ; in fact figure -3 of Plate II 

 is a pliotograph of a branch of a tree affected with silver leaf. 



No time spent in protecting a tree of any value from the attacks 

 of su( h wood-rotting fungi is time wasted. And it is to prevention 

 rather than to cure that the gieatest good can be looked for. AVounds, 

 whatever the cause, should be cleaned, rough or torn edges of bark 



