90 STATE POilOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



year to year does not necessarily depend upon the spores. This is 

 the ease w th apple scab and others. Many fungi produce profusely, 

 during the summer months, what are called summer spores. These 

 spores rapidly multiply the pest. It is largely to the summer 

 generations that the damage is due. In the fall, winter, or resting 

 spores may be formed to perpetuate the species. Fungi have their 

 likes and dislikes. They usually select their particular host plants, 

 though a fungus will often infest a number of plants botanically 

 related, or infest in different stages, plants not at all related. "We 

 feel inclined to ask the question, whether fungi serve an^^ good pur- 

 pose, or are they only thorns in the flesh of man ? The saprophytes 

 certainly hasten the decay of matter, and prepare food for the 

 higher plants. The parasites, in nature, serve to hold vegetation 

 in check and preserve the equilibrium. Man is the disturbing force. 

 By bringing the wild plants into a high state of cultivation he has 

 made their tissues softer, and more inviting to parasites, and he mast 

 <;heerfully and patiently adopt measures to restore the balance of 

 forces he has disturbed. This can only be done by a careful study 

 of the nature of fungi, and the enforcement of a rigid warfare 

 against them. They must be regarded as our eternal enemies and 

 kept in subjection by constant watchfulness. Many a fruit grower 

 ■can trace the destruction of his orchard or vineyard, by a parasite, 

 to not taking trouble to stamp out the pest when it first appeared. 

 The Horticulturist should be watchful, detect the first appearance 

 of parasites and act promptly before it is too late. There are some 

 fungi that cannot be eradicated, but require constant treatment to 

 keep them in bounds. The application of fungicides and insecticides 

 has become as necessary for successful fruit culture as tillage and 

 fertilization. This is to be regretted but must be endured. AVe 

 must put our armor on, and keep it on, and always be ready for the 

 fight. Vigilence is the price of fine fruit now da^'S, and the prize is 

 to the vigilent. The fruit business is profitable, and if fruit could 

 be produced with no trouble the business would be over-crowded. 

 Insects and fungi are nature's regulators. They develop patience 

 and industry in man, drive out the lazy, and leave the vocation to 

 the few workers. In spite of drawbacks fruit growing in Maine 

 pays well. We heard it remarked the other day, that the pros- 

 perous farmers of Maine are large orchard owners. To intelligently 

 ■cope wiUi fungi we must know their natures, their lives, their weak- 

 nesses, their strongholds. There are helpful and useless methods of 



