2/2 THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



FIRE BLIGHT. 



This form of blight comes rapidly, and is a sudden 

 withering of the wood and bark, preceded by the black- 

 ening of the leaves, and may confine itself to one or 

 more limbs, or involve, rapidly, the whole tree. 



The part of the tree left not affected, is apparently 

 in perfect health. The first attacks oi fire blight come 

 with the first hot weather, yet in the spring, the bark, 

 if thoroughly examined, will show dry, dark spots, and 

 the sap will appear thicker than natural. Heretofore 

 this form of blight has been supposed to have been 

 caused by a wet, warm autumn forcing a large amount 

 of succulent wood, and this wood not being matured, falls 

 an easy 'prey to blight on the advent of hot weather. I 

 will give my ideas of its cause further on. 



TWIG BLIGHT 

 is about the same disease as fire blight, affecting leaves 

 and twigs only. 



FROZEN SAP BLIGHT. 



Symptoms are, in the spring, thick sap, wood rather 

 dryer than natural when cut across ; dead, dark patches 

 of bark on the branches. The parts affected shrivel and 

 turn black on the approach of warm weather. The heart- 

 wood will be found dead below where the outside bark 

 appears healthy ; so in cutting you m.ust go several inches 

 below the apparent dead wood. Downing accounts for 



