QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



429 



An Apple Tree That Has Died, and 

 Why 



PROF'. W. LOCHe;aD, ONT. AGRI. COLI.EGE;, 

 GUELPH. 



I have ail orchard of about 150 apple trees, and 

 one of them has not borne any fruit for three years 

 Some people say it has the San Jose scale, while 

 others say it is the death sweat. Not knowing for 

 certain what it is, I send you a portion of the tree 

 to see if you can tell me what the trouble is. 



W. J. Skidmore, Cornwall, Ont. 



THE white bodies which you send are 

 a very sure indication of the trouble 

 with your trees. These bodies are fleshy 

 fungi, very similar in structure to ordinary 

 mushrooms, but, of course, much smaller. 

 They are known scientifically as Schizo- 

 phyllum comune. They are very common 

 on the trunks of many varieties of trees. I 

 have found them frequently on shade trees. 



Their presence on the trunk of a tree 

 shows that the tree is badly diseased, and is 

 now beyond recovery. , Ncwonder your tree 

 has borne no fruit for the last three years. 

 Many years ago the spores, or minute seeds 

 which this fungus produces, were blown to 

 this tree, and lightipg on some wound or 

 crack, afifected an entrance into the interior 

 of the tree. During all this time the fungus 

 threads have been growing, and have been 

 injuring the tree and killing the tissues. 

 After the harm has been done the fungus 

 threads make their way through the bark 

 to the outside and there produce the charac- 

 teristic white bodies which produce the 

 spores. 



If you will examine with a microscope a 

 scraping from the small gills on the under 

 surface of one of these white bodies, you 

 will probably find many small round objects 

 — the spores. You have probably seen large 

 toadstools on the trunks or stumps of old 

 trees. The bodies which you send me are 

 of a similar nature to these large toadstools. 

 They have done all the harm they can be- 

 fore they show themselves on the surface, 



and there is no use in attempting to cure 

 the disease. The best thing that can be done 

 would be to cut down the trees which show 

 these white bodies and have them burned. 

 Do not allow them to lie about on the 

 ground for they may spread their spores 

 and infect other trees. 



Spraying to Prevent Injury By Mice 



Is there any cheap and effective spray for field 

 nursery stock applied before or after the first snow, 

 to prevent mice girdling trees ? 



W. C Archibald & Sons. Wolfville, N. S. 



THE above question has been answered 

 as follows by W. T. Macoun, of the 

 Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa. 

 There is no cheap and effective spray for 

 nursery stock that I know of which can be 

 applied before or after snow, to prevent 

 mice girdling trees. The best preventive is 

 to have the nursery clean in the autumn and 

 from 25 to 30 feet round it. Mice are sel- 

 dom troublesome where there has been clean 

 cultivation, and no sod nor rubbish near the 

 nursery. If the nursery is not large, each 

 tree might be wrapped with building paper 

 which is very effective in preventing the 

 depredations of mice 



Another reply to this question has been 

 furnished The Horticulturist by H. S. 

 Peart, of the Agricultural College at 

 Guelph, he writes, " There is no spray which 

 can be recommended as a certain preventive 

 against mice in the nursery. A wash may 

 be made of one peck of fresh lime slacked 

 in enough soft water to make it of the con- 

 sistency of whitewash, to which is added 

 while still hot, one half gallon of crude car- 

 bolic acid, half a gallon of gas tar and four 

 pounds of sulphur. Stir well. This spray- 

 ed on the trunks of the trees in autumn will 

 to a great extent, prevent mice from girdl- 

 ing. Clean cultivation, which keeps down 

 all grass and weeds, will prevent the mice 

 from harboring around trees, thus diminish- 

 ing the danger of attacks. 



