136 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Canker. — Canker arises from many causes : too much shade, cold 

 position, pruning the branches too short, without reckoning the invisible 

 bacilli, fungus spores, split bark, &c. As soon as ever it is noticed, the 

 whole of the wound, with all the canker already formed and in the process 

 of formation, should be cut out with a sharp knife and the healthy parts 

 left bare, covered with some greasy substance. Stockholm tar, grafting 

 wax, and suchlike are also effectual, so also is hydrochloric acid. Leave 

 the branches unpruned, and enrich the soil close to the fine roots by 

 introducing phosphates and powdered sulphate of iron. Paint the stem 

 and larger branches with a mixture of clay, cowdung, and glue or milk, 

 which will protect the bark against the action of cold, and also ward off 

 the direct rays of the sun, both of which are causes of canker. 



Frost Glaze. — Floods or heavy falls of rain followed by frost, causing 

 ice and frost glaze on the stems of the trees, are liable to cause cracks in 

 the bark at the time of thawing. 



Exposed plantations will require the stems of the trees to be sur- 

 rounded, to the height of from one half to one metre, with straw bands 

 or wisps of hay, which will at the same time preserve them from the 

 attacks of hares and rabbits. These pests should also be kept at a 

 distance by surrounding the trunk with galvanised iron netting. Traps 

 or poisoned baits are used for the destruction of harmful animals such as 

 rabbits, moles, rats, fieldmice, dormice, &c. 



Mistletoe. — Mistletoe is a vegetable parasite, harmful when plentiful, 

 and easily removed with a pruning- knife when quite young. It is well 

 known that bunches of Mistletoe meet with a ready sale at the approach 

 of the Christmas holidays. Shiploads of Mistletoe are sent from our 

 ports to England, together with eggs, butter, and fowls for the Christmas 

 festivities, in which our neighbours across the sea so greatly delight. 



Mosses and Lichens. — To remove old bark, mosses, and lichens, 

 which, on the stems and branches, prevent the respiratory functions of 

 the tree or serve as a harbour for insects, a scraper, a metallic brush, or 

 a glove made of steel links may be used, and that most effectively imme- 

 diately after a heavy rain. 



Afterwards paint the trunks with a solution of sulphate of copper or 

 of iron. Burn all infected w r aste. This cleaning of the wood is a health- 

 preserving operation at all times, and should be done at each age of the 

 tree, even from the very beginning of the plantation. This system of 

 scraping, followed by a wash of nicotine or lime, either by itself or with 

 the addition of sulphate of iron, is also adopted against the little Chermes 

 aspidiotus, a kind of scale which fixes itself to the bark of Apple trees 

 grown too much in the shade or as espaliers. 



American Blight. — Fight without ceasing against this terrible foe to 

 our orchards, which, by its rapid spread, would otherwise soon end by 

 destroying them utterly. Apple-trees with wide-spread branches are most 

 subject to it, because this style of growth allows the pest to grow on the 

 under side of the branches. In the case of quite young trees, in the 

 nursery or orchard, scrub the parts affected with a solution of ammonia, 

 alcohol, urine, manure water, potash water, refuse oil, or a mixture of 

 soft soap and infusion of nicotine. A hard brush which will penetrate 

 into the roughness and cracks where the insects harbour must be used. 



