WINTER MEETING. 159 



Mr. Gulp — In regard to the girdling at the collar of the tree. I 

 liave made some experiments myself in fruit trees. Some 8 or 9 years 

 ago I had some one-year-old trees in my ground, and that year we had 

 some very early frosts and my trees were fall of sap, and after the 

 frost I examined my trees and found that right close to the ground 

 there was a little white speck like frozen sap. I left these trees to see 

 what would be the results, and the next year nearly everyone of them 

 died. Below the surface of the ground I found that the root was 

 nearly one-fourth smaller than above, and I lay it to the frost opening 

 the bark and the water covering down until it has closed this. 



Mr. Bagby — We have had experience with aphis on the roots of 

 trees in the nursery, and it has been a troublesome experience, but we 

 have never found any remedy, but when we find a lot of trees affected 

 with aphis, we burn them and are careful not to use that land in less 

 than three years. 



Mr. Wild — Now, that the root rot and the woolly aphis should be 

 the same thing, I am inclined to believe is not the case. I can see no 

 reason why the root rot and aphis are alike. As to the aphis that is 

 one of the things we would like to know how to get rid of, not only as 

 a nurseryman, but as a fruit-grower, and while we have been discussing 

 them, there has been nothing said about a positive remedy, only so far 

 it has been intimated that cultivation is a remedy. My experience has 

 led me to think that they are wrong. Now, as to experiments with 

 these aphis on trees and seedlings and in the nursery row and in the 

 seedling row, I see nothing that we can apply that is more in the line 

 of a cure than to use coal oil, but that is hard to apply. In the first 

 place, if we use it in a dry time of year the evaporation is so quick 

 that we lose the benefit. With seedlings or trees if we could take 

 them and dip them in an emulsion or preparation and then leave them 

 for a number of days in a cellar, or some place where you can fully 

 cover them, it will kill the aphis. It is a good plan dipping them in a 

 coal oil bath before planting them out, thus doing something in the line 

 of destroying them before the tree is set out. But how are we going 

 to get rid of it after it comes in the orchard ? As has been stated, an 

 emulsion of coal oil will be sufiicient to kill aphis on an orchard tree, 

 and if applied in dry weather it would be no use, and if the ground is 

 wet it would have to be done after a heavy rain, so that there would 

 be very little time for another rain following it. I fail to see where a 

 thorough cultivation will get at the roots and destroy this aphis. I 

 cannot see how you are to get rid of the rot by cultivation. Some of 

 the best trees we have are badly affected by aphis, so it is not only the 

 unhealthy trees they come on. Now, as to the kind of land, I have 



