MAINE APPLE DISEASES. 35 1 



Hail injury. During the past 2 or 3 years different parts of 

 the State have experienced hail storms of sufficient severit}' as to 

 badly injure the young fruit on the apple trees. There is noth- 

 ing which can be done to prevent this injury, but frequently it 

 is not noticed at the time and is later attributed to fungi, insects 

 or other causes. The fruits may be badly deformed and scar- 

 red resembling somewhat curculio injury but the characteristic 

 crescent shaped scars of the latter are not present. Quite fre- 

 quently hail injury is followed by fungous decays of the fruit 

 resulting from infections of the wounds. 



Stag horn. Yevy frequently apple trees are seen with the 

 topmost branches dead and remaining as dry sticks like antlers 

 projecting above the foliage. This condition may be due to va- 

 rious unfavorable conditions, but in Maine it is chiefly encounter- 

 ed with old trees which have long remained unsprayed, un- 

 pruned, uncultivated and unfertilized. This allows opportunity 

 for wood destroying fungi to gain an entrance. Once started 

 their growth will eventually destroy the whole tree. Severe 

 heading back and clearing out of the dead and fungus infested 

 wood followed by cultivation and fertilization should be resorted 

 to. In some instances it may be necessary to top-graft to renew 

 the head of the tree. The full results of such treatment do not 

 show the first year. Great care should be taken not to leave 

 wounds through which the spores of fungi can gain an entrance 

 to cause future decay. 



Lichens on apple trees. Not infrequently complaints are re- 

 ceived, particularly from coast towns, with regard to fruit trees 

 being over-run by lichens, sometimes improperly called ''mosses" 

 by orchardists. While mosses are not uncommon on old, neg- 

 lected fruit trees, lichens are much more frequent. The latter 

 arc foliacious growths of various colors, the more common being 

 grayish and found indiscriminately upon trunks of trees, rocks, 

 old fence boards, etc. Quite frecjuently these lichens are found 

 in large numbers upon orchard trees — apples, pears and plums — 

 particularly so in the states farther south. Fig. 244 represents 

 a portion of a branch from a neglected Maine apple tree. A 

 large proportion of the branches were covered with lichens as 

 shown in the illustration. 



In temperate climates lichens occurring on tree trunks are not 

 considered to be parasitic. In the tropics there is evidence that 



