APHIDES AND OANKEB. 



67 



FIG. 55.- 



-WINGLESS APHIDES, 

 MAGNIFIED. 



they are easy to kill ; and if oultivatorg would only reUiember the old 

 proverb that "a stitch in time saves nine," which is sound sense, if faulty 

 rhyme, there would be trifling loss. So simple a remedy as 1 oz. of washing 



soda dissolved in 1 gallon of water and 

 applied at 150°, is enough, but No. 4, page 

 78, may be resorted to in case of emer- 

 gency. 



Canker, — This is perhaps the most 

 dreaded of all fruit enemies. It is no 

 respecter of kinds or varielie-. Under 

 certain conditions it will set its evil clasp 

 on almost everything; in other circum- 

 stances it will limit its attack to a few sorts. 

 It does the most damage amongst Apples ; 

 and of varieties, perhaps there are no worse 

 sufferers than Eibstou Pippin and Lord 

 SulEeld. It is important to remember that a variety which is very little 

 affected in some districts is very badly attacked in another, where the soil is 

 different — probably heavier. As an instance, Lord Suffield thrives in many 

 parts of Kent, notably in the Swanley district. Yet I know an orchard on 

 clay in East Kent in which every tree is cankering to death. The culture is 

 good, and other sorts succeed, but Lord SufEeld is a rank failure. Instances 

 of this sort are instructive, for they show what a number of side issues there 

 are in fruit growing. I shall give special attention to this matter when I 

 come to make my selections. 



What is canker ? It is a fungus, and its name is Nectria ditissima. 

 Does it pierce healthy bark, extract juices from the sap vessels, and so 

 cripple the tree 1 No, it waits until it finds a joint loose in the bark 

 armour, then thrusts in its germinal tube, and establishes itself. It spreads 

 under the bark, and the latter becomes unhealthy. An experienced eye can 

 tell when a tree is "going to canker" — as a matter of fact, it is already 

 cankered— by the appearance 

 of the bark, which becomes 

 swollen and chippy some 

 time before a large' wound is 

 seen. The fungus throws up 

 propagating growths in 

 autumn and early winter, 

 and the faster it increases 

 the more unhealthy the bark 

 becomes. The wound d 

 nearly halfway up the tree 

 A in the figure on page 65 

 is a typical one. A great 

 deal of bark has died away 

 altogether, leaving the 

 smooth inner wood exposed ; 

 there is also dead bark. 

 Usually the latter is associ- 

 ated with rolls of clean, 



healthy-looking growth. Good and bad influences are at work liere. 

 fungus is attempting to girdle the stem so that it may die ; the tree is 

 endeavouring to cover the exposed area with new tissue fo that it may live. 



FIG. 56.-BLACK APHIDES, WINGED AND 

 WINGLESS, MAGNIFIED. 



The 



