MY SUCCESS IN CHECKING BLIGHT. 3 II 



the big limbs near the body or on the body of the tree, sHt the bark 

 open, beginning above the High ted place and running down through 

 to the ground. Especially notice or watch these places, as they are 

 susceptible to blight, and it is very damaging to the tree if it is 

 blighted here. If blight shows in the top of the tree in several 

 places, and the bark on the limbs or a part of the limbs is pale and 

 soft looking, under which the inner bark looks brown or black in 

 any little place, slit the bark open for two or three feet at least. 

 Any one expecting success must not go at it half hearted. Open 

 up the bark some distance, in bad cases open the bark in some por- 

 tion of the tree nearly the whole length of the tree. 



One very important point is to do this operation in time and 

 not wait till the tree is dead. Any warm days after the loth of June 

 be on the watch, and if the remedy is kept in mind and applied 

 properly and in time I think one need not lose a single tree en- 

 tirely out of a thousand trees. In a very short time one will see 

 a decided improvement in the appearance of the trees operated on. 

 Also one may observe where the operation is done in time and 

 properly, as the limb cut will not blight down any farther, and 

 the whole tree will stop blighting at once. I have seen the bark 

 spread apart one-eighth of an inch in twenty-four hours, but it soon 

 heals over. However, the bark seems to spread more or less during 

 the summer, sometimes one-half inch wide. I have a few specimens 

 of limbs here the society may have the privilege of examining and 

 any who wish to see the trees in the orchard and will call at my 

 place I can show them 300 or 400 trees operated on this Ivst sum- 

 mer with good results. 



j\Ir. A. J. Philips (Wis.) : What varieties were they? 



Mr. Spickerman : Yellow Transparent and Wealthy. 



Mr. Geo. L. Whiting (S. D.) : Have you had any experience 

 in blighting a couple of inches long in spots along the limb and the 

 heart of the wood killed? 



Mr. Spickerman : I have lots of them at my place. I saw sum- 

 mer before last where they were blighted in the crotch of the tree, 

 a spot of blight as big as a finger or a hen's egg, two or three inches 

 wide, and that was on the big limbs of ihe tree. If you make a cut 

 right through the blighted place it wall not blight any further around 

 the tree. Of course, this must be done in time. You can't wait 

 until the tree is dead or until that portion of the tree is dead. 



i\Ir J. M. Underwood : In your estimation how does this act 

 to stop the blight? 



Mr. Spickerman: Well, it is only a theory, of course. This 

 treatment is the result of a little experiment I tried for three years. 

 Three years ago I first tried it; I tried it on two or three trees, 

 that was all. Two years ago I tried it on fifty trees, and this year 

 I tried it on the rest. I can show you cuts as wide as my finger on 



