48 Commercial Gardening 



is examined on the first suggestion of wilting or yellowing of the foliage, 

 it may be saved. The soil should be cleared away from the root as far 

 as practicable. The root and base of the trunk should then be thoroughly 

 well dusted over with a mixture of powdered quicklime and sulphur, using 

 twice as much of the former as the latter. Fresh soil should be used in 

 filling up the hole formed, and it should be well sprinkled at intervals 

 with the same mixture of quicklime and sulphur. On examining a tree 

 for the presence of a fungus, if the white mycelium is found between the 

 bark and the wood above the collar, it may be taken for granted that 

 the tree is doomed, and the sooner it is removed the better. The soil 

 should be thoroughly sterilized, by using quicklime and sulphur, before 

 another tree is planted in the same site. 



Another very serious source of loss, especially when planting young 

 conifers, is due to the common practice termed " heeling in " the young 

 trees. A hole is made, the young tree placed in position, the earth 

 pushed into the hole and stamped down, the final touches in the way 

 of fixing the young tree being effected by the boot heel, which is stamped 

 down round the stem. In too many instances the heel "barks" the 

 tender young stem, producing a wound, which is promptly utilized either 

 by the "canker fungus" (Dasyscypha calycina), if the tree happens to 

 be a larch; or by the root fungus (Fomes annosus), which is less fastidious 

 in its choice, so long as its victim is a conifer. Many thousands of young 

 conifers die from the above causes, whereas by the exercise of a certain 

 amount of care the loss could be reduced to a minimum. 



The most important factor in combating the many diseases caused 

 by fungi, and the one which invariably yields the best results, is all- 

 round cleanliness. So far as fungi are concerned the significance of 

 this advice cannot be grasped by the cultivator of plants, because the 

 habits and mode of life of the fungi are so different from those of the 

 plants he has to deal with. However, he must accept the facts that 

 when a diseased plant is thrown on the manure heap, and allowed to 

 decay and form manure, the spores of the fungus present in such diseased 

 plant are not destroyed, but are carried back to the land, sooner or 

 later, in a living condition, and ready to infect a future crop. Again, 

 when portions of plants injured by a fungus potatoes, foliage, &c. 

 are eaten by animals, the spores are not destroyed, but in many instances 

 are all the better able to germinate after having passed through the 

 alimentary canal of an animal, and when returned to the land in the 

 manure are in a fit condition for infecting any suitable plant. The 

 obvious moral is, burn all diseased plants promptly, and do not pile 

 them in a heap to rot for manure, neither give such as food for cattle 

 or pigs, otherwise the certain result will be an outbreak of the same 

 disease at some later date. 



The whole of the space allowed me for discoursing on the diseases 

 of fruit trees generally could easily be occupied in suggesting and indi- 

 cating weak points which favour the spread of disease. This, however, 



