138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



whicli of necessity must be performed after the period at which, 

 in tiie common parlance of tlie farmer, the bark begins to slip 

 easily, \re think if our observations are confirmed the time of 

 trimming an orchard will assume great importance. It would 

 appear that any serious bruising of the bark is sometimes fol- 

 lowed by the disease, and of course if the wound is occasioned 

 by the plough or cart-wheel upon the trunk of the tree, it must 

 be much more serious in its results than when the access of the 

 disease is in a small limb. We do not intend to offer any 

 theory in regard to the manner in whicli the disease is brought 

 about or what may be its precise nature. Careful observation 

 shows plainly that the disease does not always commence in the 

 same way, as in many instances the wood is first attacked, 

 while in others it appears confinedto the outer surface of the bark. 

 It may be of interest to determine whether any particular 

 varieties are peculiarly liable to suffer from the devastating 

 influence of this scourge. AVe have not thus far been able to 

 settle this question by facts sufficiently extensive to give reliable 

 results, since varieties which in one locality are soon destroyed, 

 in another manifest the greatest degree of vigor, and obstinate 

 resistance to the influences which cause the diseased action. A 

 single variety may be regarded as an exception, since all the 

 cultivators who have tried it give their testimony so far as 

 inquired of, to its uniform liability to a very destructive form 

 of the disease under consideration. 



» This variety is the Sops-of-Wine, and it is well for tlie fruit- 

 growers that this peculiar liability to decay does not belong to 

 a more valuable variety of the apple. A theory prevails very 

 commonly among orchardists tliat the disease in question is 

 occasioned by the action of the sun during hot summer months, 

 and many individuals have defied us to point out its existence 

 except in situations having an exposed southern aspect, and in 

 such cases we have always been able to indicate its presence 

 upon portions of the trees where the sun could never have 

 exerted any direct action. It is sufiicient to overthrow this 

 theory to state, that parts of the tree most protected from the 

 sun's action are quite as liable to perish by the infiucnce of this 

 destroyer as are those brought in the most direct manner under 

 the influence of his rays, and instances are not very uncommon 

 in trees which liave grown up wild in the dense forest. 



