AMEEICAN BLIGHT. 35 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE WOOLLY APHIS, OE AMEEICAN BLIGHT. 



Schizoneura lanigera. (Hausmann.) 



Hemiptera. \ 



Sub-Order : Homoptera. j 



This pest, which is supposed to be an introduction from 

 either Europe or America, has been known to Victorian 

 fruit-growers and gardeners for 40 years or more, and, in 

 the early days of the colony, was considered to be little 

 short of a scourge. In the opinion of some writers, it is 

 supposed that the woolly blight affecting the roots of the 

 apple is a distinct species from that which attacks that por- 

 tion of the tree above ground, but from long experience I 

 fancy that those in Victoria who are accustomed to the 

 cultivation of apple trees, either in the nursery or orchard, 

 hold a different opinion. 



Before the advent of those excellent blight-proof stocks, 

 the " Majetin " and " Northern Spy," it was exceedingly 

 difficult to find, in most orchards, an apple tree that was 

 clean or in perfect health ; now, with a little care and atten- 

 tion, the fruit-grower, as a rule, may snap his fingers at the 

 " American Blight," as, even if it should appear, it can 

 now be kept within reasonable bounds, if not stamped out 

 altogether. 



But, although the blight-proof stocks have answered so 

 admirably, it must not be supposed that the " American 

 Blight" will not appear on the stems and branches of the 

 trees; it is on the roots where the value of the non- 

 blighting stocks is seen ; for, even if an apple which is 

 subject to the " woolly blight " be grafted on one of these 



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