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Report oF THE BOTANIST. ‘a1 
- appearance, to remove the affected apples at once from the presence of the others, 
whether they are on the tree or not. It is not enough to throw them on the 
ground by themselves, for this would not prevent the fungus from maturing 
and scattering its seeds. They should be buried in the ground, or put in some 
place where it will not be possible for the fungus to perfect itself and mature its 
seed. In this way the multiplication of the spores aud the spread of the disease 
may be prevented. 
The importance of the balsam fir, Abies balsamea, as an ornamental ever- 
green and as a source of balsam, renders a brief account of it and its enemies 
desirable. 
It prefers wet or marshy soil, in cold, hilly, or mountainous regions, yet it is 
quite at home on comparatively dry upland, and will thrive in almost any soil. 
Its growth is rapid, but the tree seldom attains a very large size, the trunk | 
rarely exceeding one foot in diameter at the base. Its usual diameter is six to 
eight inches, with a height of thirty to forty feet. It has a straight, gradually 
tapering trunk, giving off, at intervals of one or two feet, circles of branches, 
each one of which is a little shorter than the one next below it. This gives to 
the head or spray a very regular form, resembling in outline an elongated cone. 
The branches are given off at a wide angle with the trunk. They are generally 
a little ascending, but sometimes horizontal, or slightly deflexed. The branch- 
lets are. numerous, and given off with considerable regularity at each node, 
though scattering or adventitious branches and branchlets are of frequent occur- 
rence, both on the trunk and branches. There are usually three regular branch- 
lets at’ each node, two spreading laterally (one from each side of the branch), 
and one extending downwards and outwards beneath the branch, The leaves 
have been described in some botanical works as two-ranked. They are, how- 
ever, scattered on all sides of the leading shoots and branchlets, and are more 
or less spirally arranged in their insertion; but those on the lower side of the 
branchlets are so curved and directed upwards and outwards that they appear, 
as a whole, to be somewhat two-ranked. They are flattened like the leaves of 
the hemlock, but are usually longer than those of either tlie hemlock or spruce. 
The lower surface is marked by a prominent midrib, and has a silvery or glau- 
cous lustre, which, combined with the deep green of the upper surface, gives to 
the foliage a richness and beauty unequaled by that of any other of our ever- 
greens. They remain upon the tree four or five years, so that all the shorter 
branches are clad with rich, dense foliage, throughout their whole extent. The 
cones or fruit of the balsam are produced on the upper and, consequently, on 
the shorter and younger branches. I have never seen them on branches below 
the middle of the tree. They stand erect on the branches, and in this respeet — 
differ essentially from the pendulous cones of the spruce and hemlock. On the 
yery short branches, near the top of the tree, they are often so close together 
that they appear crowded or clustered. Before maturity, they are more or less 
tinged with bluish, or violet and purplish hues, but their beauty 1s generally 
impaired by copious exudations of resin. When quite young they are bristly 
with the long, slender points of the bracts, but these are at length nearly con- 
cealed by the overlapping scales. The cones have been described as three to 
four inches long, but I have never seen them so long. ‘Their usual length with 
us is one and a half to two and a half inches. Sometimes, on the mountains, 
small trees four to six feet high bear a few cones. This tree, like the spruce, 
in some situations varies considerably from the typical form, In the Catskill ” 
Mountains I have seen it dwarfed to a diffusely spreading bush, similar to the 
ground hemlock. Near the summit of the high peaks of the Adirondacks it 
loses its beauty and thrift, and forms dense thickets in which the trunks are but 
