REMEDY FOR BLIGHT. 
239 
riance, that many trees seemed at a short distance as if 
they had been, whitewashed ; in the ensuing summer, 
which was a very dry and hot one, this cottony matter 
so entirely disappeared, that to superficial observation 
the malady was not in existence ; and it did not become 
manifest again until September, when, after the rains 
of that season, it reissued in fine, cottony patches from 
the old nodgs on the trees. Many remedies have been 
proposed for removing this evil, efficacious perhaps in 
some cases upon a small scale ; but when the injury 
has existed for some time, and extended its influence 
over the parts of a large tree, I apprehend it will take 
its course, and the tree die. Upon young plants, and in 
places where a brush can be applied, any substance that 
can be used in a liquid state, to harden into a coat, in- 
soluble by rain, will assuredly confine the ravages of 
the creature, and smother it. Hard rubbing with a dry 
brush crushes many, but there are crevices into which 
the bristle cannot enter : thus some escape, and the 
propagation continues. I have very successfully remov- 
ed this blight from young trees, and from recently 
attacked places in those more advanced, by an easy ap- 
plication. Melt about three ounces of resin in an earthen 
pipkin, take it from the fire, and pour into it three 
ounces of fish oil ; the ingredients perfectly unite, and, 
when cold, acquire the consistence of honey. A slight 
degree of heat will liquefy it, and in this state paint 
over every node or infected part in your tree, using a 
common painter’s brush. This I prefer doing in spring, 
or as soon as the hoariness appears. The substance soon 
sufficiently hardens, and forms a varnish, which prevents 
any escape, and stifles the individuals. After this first 
dressing, should any cottony matter appear round the 
margin of the varnish, a second application to these 
parts will, I think, be found to effect a perfect cure. 
The prevalence of this insect gives some of our orch- 
ards here the appearance of numerous white posts in 
an extensive drying ground, being washed with lime 
from root to branch — a practice I apprehend attended 
with little benefit; a few creatures may be destroyed 
by accident, but as the animal does not retire to the 
