THE ALMOND ] 813 



There are two dry rot fungi which are not uncom- 

 mon in our orchards. That more frequently met with is 

 Fomes fulvus (Fr.) Gill, which is also common on the 

 peach, the plum and the apricot. The pileum of this 

 fungus buds out of the trunk and large branches of the 

 tree, particularly on the under surface, and usually several 

 pilea bud out at different points on the branch or trunk. 

 When the pilea make their appearance the heartwood is 

 already destroyed, but they should be removed and 

 burned at once to prevent the spread of infection. The 

 other species is Fomes robustus Karst. var. Amygdali Sacc. 

 whose pilea are large, rounded, fawn-coloured, with 

 smooth ashy yellow upper surface, and though far less 

 common than the preceding, it seems to be more virulent 

 as it kills the tree in a few years. The best treatment 

 against the dry-rot fungi, on the almond as well as on 

 other trees, is a preventive one and consists in painting 

 over with tar all wounds which are more than 2 c. m. 

 in diameter, and in collecting and burning all the pilea 

 of the fungi as soon as they bud out of the bark of the 

 tree, before they have had time to form and spread their 

 spores. Puccinia Pruni-spinosae Pers. is a rust common 

 on the almond in midsummer, and frequently results in 

 the complete defoliation of the tree, with the consequence 

 that the fruit remains undersized. In bad cases, when 

 the disease commences in June, many fruits dry on the 

 tree, and the growth of others is so checked that the 

 kernel is abortive or is formed incompletely, and in due 

 time the valves do not separate, but dry and remain 

 sticking to the shell of the almond. Another fungus 

 which is common on our almond trees in autumn as well 

 as in early spring, is the shot-hole fungus Cercospora 

 Guliana Sacc. which seems to be closely allied to the 

 shot-hole fungus of the peach, Cercospora circumscissa 

 Sacc. Several lines of treatment have been suggested 

 against these two diseases chiefly consisting in spraying 

 with various fungicides, but it is better to keep up the 



