INDIANA HORTiCltLTUKAL SOCIETY^. 4-30 



infection from tlie canker, for it may not be easy to find tlie very small 

 spots wlaere tlie fungns recently started. Cut well below the cankered 

 spot, avoiding the rubbing of the infected area by tools or hands. The 

 operator who goes into the tree top for the purpose of making examina- 

 tions and removing cankered limbs should be provided with rubber boots 

 or thin-soled shoes, so as to not in any way cause the rupture of the 

 bark when climbing about. All diseased limbs and fruit removed from 

 the trees should at once be put into a wagon or other receptacle and re- 

 moved from the orchard, when they will be either burned or buried deeply 

 in the ground. 



Experiments carried on this year by the University of Illinois prove 

 conclusively that bitter rot can be very largely held in check by Bordeaux 

 mixture, even when trees have one or more cankered limbs. It is believed, 

 however, that a critical examination of the trees and the removal of the 

 source of infection as described is the most important work the orchardist 

 can do. The university is now at work preparing additional information- 

 carefully, illustrated which will be distributed in circular form within 

 a week or ten days. Go to work now, however, with the information at 

 hand, for the delay of a single day may mean the loss of your entire crop. 



J. C. BliAIR. J. T. BURRILL, 



Chief of Horticulture. Chief in Botany. 



Urbana, 111., July 14, 1902. 



IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH IN THE BARK OF A TREE. 



From Western Fruit Grower. 



In a paper read before the Mississippi Valley Apple Growers' Asso- 

 ciation, Prof. E. C. Green discussed the functions of the bark of a tree 

 and its relation to fruit bearing as follows: 



In the bark and the layer of tissue immediately beneath it exists the 

 life of the tree. The arterial system of the tree lies wholly within a 

 quarter inch of the surface. The realization of these almost self-evident 

 truths should impress on the fruit grower the necessity of keeping the 

 bark in the most vigorous condition possible. It is said, with truth, that 

 when a young tree becomes stunted during the first few years of its life 

 it is more profitable to dig up the tree and start with a young, thrifty 

 one than to attempt to bring the little bark-bound tree back to a vigorous 

 condition. In a healthy apple tree the bark is usually bright and smooth, 

 the outer corky layer is thin and evenly placed and the cambium layer 

 beneath is thick. When tlie growth beneath becomes sufficient the cork 

 splits and checks, loosens readily and is thrown off by the rapidly grow- 

 ing trunk or limb beneath. In ordinary wheat-growing clay sod a well- 



