66 INSECT IN TREES IN THE NURSERY, 



which have gone from my hands, that there 

 could be no remedy against the canker ; for if 

 you asked any one what they thought of it, their 

 opinions were all at variance ; some would say 

 it came with the east winds, others that it was a 

 most extraordinary and unaccountable thing, but 

 no one could give me any useful information. I 

 was often surprised to find trees that had been 

 grafted on fine clean stocks, and which continued 

 so through the summer, and likewise towards 

 the autumn, not a blemish was to be seen, ex- 

 cepting a little white blight on the young 

 shoots, would the following spring be getting 

 cankered where the trees were grafted : on 

 close examination, this was uniformly the 



* >"- - ^fj- . ,~~4- 4-V,^^-,-.r.V,1-.r 



case wnere tiit; gia.it was not t,uuiuugu^ 

 healed ; and when once the "tree was attacked, 

 it would generally get worse every year : in 

 fact, it became so bad in some parts of the 

 country, that many nurserymen gave up grow- 

 ing apples altogether ; and from the destruc- 

 tion with which they were threatened, it 

 became quite disheartening to plant ; and had 

 not the real cause been discovered, our apples, 

 for which we are so celebrated, must eventually 

 have gone to total ruin : a doctor may pre- 

 scribe various things for a patient, but unless 

 he is acquainted with the disorder, it is all 

 chance about the effect ; but first find out the 



