I20 THE AMERICAN APPLE ORCHARD 



After the blight has struck a tree or an orchard there 

 is little that can be done by way of immediate relief or 

 to check its present spread. The pruning knife, which 

 is the main dependence, cannot be used to much advan- 

 tage at the moment. Nevertheless the removal of the 

 blighted wood is the best thing that can be done, and 

 if this can be accomplished before growth ceases in 

 the summer so much the better. 



The dead wood can be recognized during the winter 

 by the shriveled and blackened bark, and can be 

 pruned out at any time. But heavy pruning during the 

 dormant season — October to April — is apt to start the 

 trees to the production of a lot of soft growth, water- 

 sprouts, etc., which growth is especially vulnerable to 

 the attacks of blight. So that the pruning, designed to 

 check the ravages of the blight, becomes the means of 

 keeping it going. Nevertheless pruning should always 

 be done because the blight spreads from the blighted 

 portions of the tree to the sound portions. The blighted 

 parts should be cut out and burned as soon as may be. 

 The burning of the prunings is highly important. 



Sun Scald — This form of damage is very common 

 in some localities, so common, in fact, that a tree which 

 escapes it is a rarity. This sun scald, which has the 

 appearance of being caused by the burning of the sun, 

 occurs in reality during the winter when the snow is on 

 the ground. The greater part of the damage occurs in 

 late winter, or during the warm spring days when the 

 snow is going off. During the warm afternoons the 

 sun, reflected from the snow against the southwest sides 

 of the tree trunks, becomes very warm. The trunks are 

 thoroughly warmed on that side. They are thawed out, 

 and the bark becomes soft, sappy and pliable. Then 

 when the sun goes down and the temperature falls 



