SHADE TREE AND TIMBER DESTROYING FUNGI. 229 



saw blade. Still another log above this one had been cut off by 

 the woodmen in the hope that the heart would be sound, and 

 that a good log could be obtained near the top. This cut, how- 

 ever, pre- 

 sented a con- 

 dition similar 

 to the fi r s t 

 one, the heart 

 and sap wood 

 were badly 

 decayed. This 

 condition was 

 sufficient t o 

 cause the 

 abandonment 

 of the entire 

 tree. There 

 were no evi- 

 dences on the 

 trunk, below 

 the branches, 

 of the fruit 

 bodies of any 

 fungus, nor 

 of any injury 

 which might 

 have afforded 88 ' Pockets of decayed tissue in trunk of red spruce. 



an entrance for the fungus. The cut ends of timber were so badly 

 roughed up by the saw that no structural characters in the 

 diseased timber which might aid in the determination of the 

 species of fungus could be seen. The next step was to deter- 

 mine the fungus and the place where it entered the tree. 



Since the decay at the stump was so slight, and the diseased 

 area so small in comparison with the extensive injuries farther 

 up in the trunk it was quite evident the fungus had not entered 

 from below. Upon searching in the top of the fallen tree, it 

 was found that the " leader " of the tree when about 5 cm. (2 

 inches) in diameter had been broken off, possibly by a falling 



