S48 



English Orchards. 



Another source of great and often unsuspected harm is the 

 Apple Scale [Mytilaspis pomortim). This insect is frequently 

 found in numbers upon the trees, sucking up their juices, 

 weakening them, and making them sickly and liable to other 

 affections. Infested trees should be sprayed with kerosene 

 emulsion as above described. 



It has been already mentioned that the branches, twigs, 

 and stems of apple trees are covered with lichens and mosses, 

 concerning which there is usually much indifference, no 

 systematic attempts being made to remove them, although 

 they serve as harbours of refuge for all kinds of insects and 

 in other ways harm the trees. Though such growths may 

 not be parasitic in the technical meaning of this term, they 

 at least keep light, air, and sunshine from the branches and 

 twigs by the thick coverings they form upon them, and they 

 absorb the moisture. The rhizoids or root hairs of lichens 

 permeate the rind, but do not penetrate the living tissues, 

 according to De Bary, Frank, and other authorities. Dr. 

 Lindau in his recent work* states that the hyphse of the 

 lichens penetrate the corky layer of bark and absorb the 

 cellulose, thereby being directly parasitic and injurious. 

 He holds that this faculty belongs to the higher lichens, 

 especially to species of Evermay Arthoniay Pannclia^ 

 and others found upon apple, filbert, and other trees, and 

 that they are decidedly prejudicial to their proper growth 

 and health. Mosses found usually upon apple trees are not 

 parasitic ; they hurt the trees by excluding air, light and 

 especially sunshine from the young ripening wood ; and 

 they serve also as harbours for insects. When they cover 

 wounds upon trees caused by bad pruning or other careless 

 operations, they retain moisture, causing* decay and en- 

 couraging the growth of fungi. These mosses and lichens 

 must be removed by throwing hot, very finely-powdered 

 lime over the trees in damp weather, in the winter, or by 

 spraying the trees thoroughly in winter or very early 

 spring with Bordeaux mixture made with 15 lbs. of sulphate 

 of copper and 10 lbs. of lime to 100 gallons of water. The 

 trunks and large branches may be daubed over with a still 



* Lichcnologische Untersuchungen. \o\\ Dr. Gustav Lindau, Dresden, 1895. 



