FUNGI 23 



produced by the weight of snow lying on branches, 

 frost, punctures made by insects, animals, etc. On the 

 other hand, many wounds are well under control ; broken 

 branches should be removed, the ' snag ' sawn off, and 

 the wounded surface protected. In pruning, every wound 

 should at once be protected by a coat of tar ; and just 

 now, when it is the rage to prune almost every kind of 

 tree, however beautiful and flowing its natural contour, 

 into a conical monstrosity resembhng in outline those 

 wonderful toy trees made in Germany, the wounds made 

 are so many, that if not promptly protected, attack from 

 some fungous foe is practically certain. The danger 

 may not be evident at once, perhaps not for several 

 years, but the following quotation on pruning young trees, 

 from Schlich's Manual of Forestry, may be accepted as 

 authoritative : — 



'As a general rule, plants should not be pruned unless 

 it is absolutely necessary. Every cut produces a wound, 

 exposing the plant to disease, which may ultimately render 

 it unfit for the purpose for which it has been grown. 

 Recent researches have shown that the unhealthy con- 

 dition of timber trees may be due to spores of fungi 

 entering the tissues through wounds received at a very 

 early age.' 



Wounds wade by pruning should be immediately protected 

 by a coat of tar or some other substance capable of preventing 

 the germination of spores on the cut surface. 



Most people have observed that even in the worst cases 

 of a disease, certain plants remain unscathed, and in certain 

 instances it has been proved that the descendants of these 

 plants also possess — we had almost written inherited — this 



