114 Resistance of Young Trees to Drought, [may, 



passed up the trunk the case is hopeless, and the wisest course 

 is to cut down the tree, remove as much as possible of the root, 

 which should be burned, and not used for ornamenting some 

 other portion of the garden, as is too frequently the case. 

 When this is done, dense masses of toadstools appear in due 

 course, and the underground rhizomorphs spread on every side. 

 If the mycelium has not entered the trunk, but is confined to 

 certain branches of the root, these should be removed, as much 

 as possible of the root exposed, and covered with a mixture of 

 equal quantities of quicklime and powdered sulphur. This 

 mixture should also be placed round the base of the trunk 

 before the soil is filled in. 



Whether a diseased tree has been removed, or treated in the 

 hope of recovery, a trench about eight inches deep and six 

 inches wide should be made all round the site of the tree, at a 

 distance well outside the spread of the branches. The object of 

 the trench is to intercept the spreading rhizomorphs. If in a 

 situation where an open trench can be allowed to rerhain, this is 

 all that is required to be done. If in a place where an open 

 trench would be objectionable, planks about six inches deep, 

 well coated with gas-tar, may be let into the ground. In making 

 the trench it is important that the soil removed be spread over 

 the ground enclosed by the trench. 



When the toadstool appears at the base of a trunk, it should 

 be collected and buried ; crushing it underfoot is worse than 

 useless, as it only aids in the dispersal of the spores. 



Great care should be taken not to injure the base of the trunk 

 or exposed roots, as the spores can only enter the tree through a 

 wound. The grass-cutting machine is responsible for many 

 wounds through which this and various other fungi parasitic on 

 trees first gain an entrance. 



At the last meeting of the German Forestry Association 

 (September, 1905), Oberforstrat Thaler and Forstrat von Peckle- 

 sheim gave an account of observations on 



Young*T?ees°tO ^^"""^^ °^ ^^"^ ^reat drought of 1904 on 

 Drought. trees planted in the previous season. In 

 the districts under observation (Saxony 

 and Hesse), scarcely any rain fell from the middle of April till 



