172 FRUIT CULTURE. 



crack. On the apple it asserts itself by growing over the 

 leaves, flowers and young shoots, preventing the develop- 

 ment of fruit, or causing it to be more or less crippled. 

 It appeal's at first in the form of black spots radiating 

 from a centre, and branching in the form of a small tree ; 

 and later on it forms more or less regularly rounded black 

 patches on the fruit. Being purely a skin disease it does 

 not penetrate the fruit beyond the surface, but two or 

 more spots may become confluent in one, in cases of severe 

 attack. Some varieties, including King of the Pippins, 

 Lord Suffield, and Blenheim Orange, seem to be more 

 liable to be disfigured in this way than others, but this may 

 be dependent upon circumstances. The fungus continues 

 to spread after the ci-op has been stored in the fruit room, 

 and greatly depreciates the market value of such produce. 

 REMEDIES. Good cultivation, so as to insure vigorous 

 growth and the proper ripening of the wood, will do 

 much to ward off attack, as in the case of several other 

 forms of fungoid diseases. Trees that are very badly 

 affected should be grubbed up and burnt, and fruit that 

 is rendered useless should be destroyed in the same way, 

 to prevent, as far as possible, the spreading of the 

 disease by means of its spores. Some cultivators have 

 found that lifting badly affected trees and planting them 

 in sound loam has restored them to health and vigour. 



CANKER. 



Canker and its causes do not yet seem to be fully 

 understood, but much has been done to investigate the 

 subject, and means of prevention and cure have been 

 ascertained, which prove beneficial in most cases, but 

 which cannot be fully relied upon as being absolutely 

 effective in all. 



