322 



TJie Canadian Horticulturist. 



between the epidermis and cuticle, 

 where by repeated branching and 

 interlacing they form a net-work 

 which is not more than one cell deep. 

 The threads forming this net-work 

 are composed of very short cells 

 which soon start an independent 

 growth at right angles to the 

 surface of the pocket, forming small 

 cylinders standing close side by 

 side but apparently unconnected. 

 They at first carry the cuticle upon 

 their ends, but finally rupture it and 

 appear on the surface. These bodies 

 are the immature asci. Each 

 " pocket " develops countless num- 

 bers of asci, and each ascus, as a rule, 

 contains no less than eight spores. 



The mycelium of the fungus is 

 found in the smaller branches in 

 early spring before the diseased fruit 

 appears, which seems to indicate that 

 it may live from year to year in the 

 tree itself ; moreover the annual 

 recurrence of the " pockets " on the 

 same tree furnishes additional proof 

 of this fact. 



The treatment suggested is to re- 

 move and destroy all the "pockets " 

 before they reach maturity, and cut 

 back the branches so as to destroy 

 all the parts which are likely to con- 

 tain the mycelium of the fungus. — 

 B. T. Galloway, in Annual Report 

 of the U.S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture for 1888. 



-4^' USE OF FRUITS. 



Danger in Swallowing- Cheppy Pits 

 and Gpape Seeds. 



It is reasonable enough to suppose 

 that whatever, in the way of seeds, 

 passes into the stomach unmasticat- 

 ed, and on which the juices of the 

 stomach cannot act, must be unwhole- 

 some. A diet of cherry-stones, which 

 some children indulge in, is pernici- 

 ous in the extreme, and a, youngster 

 in my neighborhood, who filled his 

 stomach with a pint of cherries, 

 swallowed whole, nearly lost his life 

 in getting rid of that particular meal. 

 Two people in my neighborhood 

 have died within five or six years, 

 from eating grapes, the seeds of the 

 grapes getting into the appendix, 

 which is the term commonly given to 

 a small intestine, which leads from 

 the large intestine. It is but a few 

 inches long, and comes to an end like 

 a pocket, or cul-de-sac. What its 

 use is in the digestive economy has 

 not been made out, but when a grape 

 seed, or bit of oyster shell, or any 



similar unyielding substance slips 

 into it in its passage through the 

 body, the result, I believe, is uni- 

 formly fatal, and death ensues in four 

 or five days, after intense suffering 

 — cramps, inflammation and swelling 

 of the bowels. No remedy avails 

 anything— the pain finally ceases 

 and then the end is nigh. I have 

 known of three young men of bril- 

 liant promise, who have been slain 

 by the grape seed — a post-mortem in 

 each case revealing the cause of 

 death. One child, whom I know, 

 who is very fond of grapes, and still 

 does not intend to be a victim to the 

 seeds, chews the grapes and thorou- 

 ghly masticates the seeds, while 

 many adults eschew^ the seeds alto- 

 gether, which method seems to the 

 ordinary grape-eater as a very sorry 

 one, indeed. But there is a great 

 deal in habit, and the child who 

 masticates the grape seed, and has 

 never eaten grapes in any other way, 

 enjoys them fully as much as any one 



