TREE DISEASES AND TREATMENT 173 



widely scattered by the wind from a fungus already fully 

 developed. These spores, lodging in wounds in bark, 

 wood or twigs, or on leaves, send out rootlike threads and 

 establish themselves in the tissue adjoining the wound, 

 for their life work of feeding on the tissues and food manu- 

 factured by the green leaves of the plant. The roots, or 

 threadlike filaments force their way into the bark, stem 

 or leaf in all directions and form a mass of meshed fibres 

 known to science as the mycelium. It is to this fibrous 

 mass that the damage is due, as it absorbs the life-giving 

 food which is needed by the tree itself. When the mycel- 

 ium has become firmly imbedded in the tissue adapted to 

 it, it extends to the outer surface, through the original or 

 another wound in the bark, and shows itself in the form of 

 the familiar bracket, or perhaps in the form of a toadstool, 

 a puffball (powdery-looking coating of almost any color). 

 These are the fruiting bodies, which often produce millions 

 of spores for creating new generations of fungus growth, 

 and when mature, they release these dust-like spores to be 

 scattered on the breezes and begin again their work of 

 destruction in wounds on other plants. 



In the treatment of fungi it must be remembered that 

 the fibrous mass within the plant is the cause, and the 

 outside substance, or fruiting body, is the effect. Remedy 

 calls for the removal or prevention of the cause. To 

 remove the fruiting body does only temporary good, as 

 another will quickly grow in its place. The only remedy 

 is to cut out the entire mycelium. Where this is possible, 

 and it is thoroughly done, the trouble will not come back. 

 In applying this treatment, care must be taken to make 

 the removal complete and to dress and protect the wound 

 thoroughly, as outlined in the chapters on repairs and the 

 treatment of injuries. 



