26 THE MISTLETOE PEST IN THE SOUTHWEST. 



ramified for years, and where innumerable sinkers penetrate the wood, 

 the task of riddance is altogether more formidable. The embedded 

 parts of the parasite are just as tenacious of life as are the rootstocks 

 of Johnson grass, so that scraping or breaking off the external growth 

 results, as in Johnson grass, in the sprouting up of more plants. Mis- 

 tletoe, however, can be kept well under control by cutting off these 

 successive crops of sprouts, and where this is done every year or two 

 the trees are kept more sightly and the damaging effects of the mis- 

 tletoe reduced to a negligible quantity. This method of treatment 

 is the one most employed by those who devote any care to their 

 trees; and it is here recommended as the most advisable procedure, 

 except in cases where a skillful tree specialist is in charge. 



The mistletoe plant is so brittle that it may easily be broken off, 

 and by means of a hook attached to a long pole there is little diffi- 

 culty in reaching any branches too large to be advisedly cut off. A 

 better way, however, is to use a pruning hook attached to a pole. 

 By this means the mistletoe may be cut off level with the bark and 

 also many of the undeveloped buds destroyed,- besides leaving the 

 branch with a better appearance. The time and trouble, or the 

 expense, required to keep trees free from mistletoe outgrowths in this 

 way are really slight, compared with the advantage to be gained. A 

 ladder of some kind, a pruning hook made by a blacksmith at the 

 cost of perhaps a dollar, and two or three hours every year devoted 

 to cleaning each tree will represent an average outlay. Naturally 

 the best time to do this will be during the winter after the leaves 

 have fallen, so that the mistletoe shoots may be more readily seen, 

 but before the berries have become ripe enough to scatter the infec- 

 tion. If, however, the trees are gone over every year, or even every 

 second year, there will probably be no question of berries on such 

 young mistletoe shoots, and in that case the tree cleaning might 

 better be done in the spring, when the parasite is ready to develop 

 new shoots, thereby checking the new season's growth more effec- 

 tually. This can be done before the new leaves on the host tree are large 

 enough to conceal the mistletoe. In cases where the tree is full of 

 mistletoe bunches the first cleaning up will naturally represent a 

 greater outlay, for of course this will include the pruning" of small 

 infected branches, which is the most difficult and time-consuming 

 item. In the larger towns and cities it is possible to employ expe- 

 rienced help in cleaning the trees of mistletoe, and this at no greater 

 cost than that just indicated. 



In some instances trees become so thoroughly infected that all the 

 larger branches are sawed off close to the trunk, thus sacrificing the 

 entire crown. In a dry climate like that of central Texas this is 

 almost equivalent to sacrificing the tree permanently, for even 



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