2so THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



without also destroying the foliage of trees ; but science has revealed the all-important 

 fact that the spores live through the winter on the young shoots and upon the scales 

 of the buds or in the crevices of the bark, and on or within the soil. It therefore rests 

 with the cultivator to prevent the germination of the spores in early spring before the 

 foliage is developed, and when, consequently, strong solutions of copper can be applied 

 to the tree, and iron to the soil. "We thus arrive at a practical method of successfully 

 combating fungoid diseases. 



Lichen and Moss. Fruit trees and bushes are often crippled and prematurely aged 

 by an overgrowth of these epiphytes. Their growth may be induced and accelerated by 

 1, wet ground ; 2, low situation or damp, stagnant air ; 3, a crowded and neglected 

 state of the trees ; 4, declining condition of fruit bushes and trees. Prompt steps must 

 be taken to rectify all those evils when they exist. Wet land should be properly 

 drained, low sites abandoned, or damp, stagnant air (caused by a close surrounding of 

 forest trees) dispelled by opening out, crowding remedied by judicious thinning, whilst 

 declining trees should be well nourished, and, if advisable, rejuvenated by re-grafting 

 with freer-growing, more profitable varieties. It is, however, not uncommon to see fruit 

 trees infested with lichen and moss in the driest situations, both as regards soil and 

 atmosphere, also on trees planted in elevated and exposed sites, on young as well 

 as aged trees, and on those that are robust as well as on those stunted and apparently 

 dragging on a wretched existence. Some other cause must therefore exist. It is found 

 in the spores of the lichen or moss. 



In lichens each spore case (asci) contains four, eight, twelve, or sixteen spores, 

 which divide into two, but generally remain coherent. Lichens are cellular plants, growing 

 (in this case) on the bark of trees, to which they cling by their lower surface, often with 

 great tenacity, while by the upper they draw their nourishment directly from the air. 

 "Lichens are not parasitic, but where they clothe trees they impede the circulation of 

 air, and hasten decay. They further intercept light when enveloping young shoots, and 

 interfere with the development of cambium and the evolution of the foliage " (Hooker). 

 Mosses are small plants, with very delicate, tufted roots, and a simple or branched stem, 

 leaves small, commonly narrow, and awl-shaped. The capsule (seed vessel) usually 

 opens by a lid, and the powdery particles filling the capsule are spores. Mosses are not 

 parasitic, but are injurious to fruit trees by covering the bark. 



Lichens and mosses, separately or combined, harbour insects or their Iarva3, foster 

 fungi, enfeeble the trees on which they grow, occasion ill-health, unfruitfulness, and 



