No application of chemicals has yet been found 
practically useful. The disease here called 
Leaf Scab is not very common, I believe, on 
cultivated trees, but frequently occurs on tbe 
wild crab-apple. Au orchard of several varieties 
was seriously injured by it in August 1877 iu 
Southern Illinois. No remedy knowu. 
Various forms of black molds or mildews prey 
upon apple trees and one, at least, affects the 
fruit, forming dark, cloudy patches upon the 
skin, which it does not penetrate. This upon 
the fruit does not appear injurious except in 
spoiling the appearance of the apples. Some¬ 
times it shows itself in minute black spots 
clustered together, especially conspicuous on 
yellow surfaces. The same fungus spreads over 
the twigs and leaves, though not so often noticed 
in these situations. In all cases the cloudy 
patches are formed of closely-jointed, irregular, 
black threads variously woven together. It has 
been known under the name of Spilociea pomi 
Fr., but doubtless is a form of some other 
species having more definite fruit. It is quite 
probable that strong solutions of potash would 
remove it, could these be applied to the growing 
apples. Smoke, especially of tobacco, is another 
probable antidote and by tbe use of some kind 
of a hood for the tree might become a practical 
remedy. 
Twig Bliglit of tho apple is almost certainly 
the same as “Fire Blight” of the pear and 
both of fungus origin. In both the blackening of 
tho hark is preceded by myriads of moving cor¬ 
puscles in the cambium resembling the products 
of Fungi and Lichens, known to botanists as 
spormatia, which have recently been proved to 
be germinating bodies. After tho death of the 
much better than cutting hero and there large 
limbs. Aside from this, uutil trees become 
quite old, it is best to limit pruning to securing 
proper hight of head and proper shape, and 
this by attention to the young trees and small 
limbs. If much pruning must be done, see to it 
that it is before the buds expand, that wounds 
are not horizontal, and that large ones, if any, 
are painted or varnished. Beware of severe 
“ summer pruning to induce frnitrnlness,” and 
pnt up with a little difficulty in gathering fruit 
rather than sever large limbs. Beware also, of 
root-pruning by spade or plow, and remember 
that the roots of thrifty apple trees, forty feet 
apart, soon occupy the whole ground. An en¬ 
thusiastic advocate of root-pruning, as a pre¬ 
ventive of the “fire blight”of pear, directed 
the operation in several orchards some years 
ago, giving such a shock to the trees that they 
have never recovered. Under some conditions 
12. TarniBhed plant bug (Phytocoris linearis): 
piercing swelling buds and tender leaveH (and 
probably fruit) causing peculiar black patches 
and death. II. Plant lice (Apliidse): leaf hop¬ 
pers and mites: causing, by sucking or otherwise, 
a yellowish, sickly appearance of tbe leaves, (d) 
Ok rmiiT. 15. Codling moth (Carpocapsa pomo- 
nella): “worms'’in and around the core, causing 
many apples to fall prematurely and spoiling 
others. The scientific names here given are not 
all such as a punctilious entomologist would give 
but are those best known. 
Y— Fungi.— 1. White mildew (Erysiplie com¬ 
munis and a Phylaotina): especially on seedlings, 
but often on twigs of older trees, causing leaves 
to drop or wither, and young stems to decay. 2. 
Leaf scab (Ruestelia lacerata): causing blistered 
and discolored spots ultimately swollen or thick¬ 
ened, and slow death to leaves. 3. Black mold 
(Spilocma pomi, Ac.)-, forming dark cloudy 
patches on the skin of the fruit, very common; 
associated with other species oil tho leaves and 
twigs; possibly causing twig blight. 4. Fruit 
scab (Malanconei): burrowing beneath the epi¬ 
dermis of the fruit, and slowly enlarging tbe 
discolored scar, with distortions of growth. 5. 
Fruit iot (Penieillium and Mucor species): usu¬ 
ally foliowing’brmsing, breaking of the skin, as 
by the “ scab,” insects, Ac. 6. Rotten root 
(Polyporei): a more or less felted whitish envel¬ 
ope cansing disease and decay of roots, proba¬ 
bly spreading from rotting wood. 7. Loaf 
in March, and keeps up a succession of bloom to 
the warm days of Juno. 
8. bifolia is among the early flowering varie¬ 
ties, blue, with a purple tinge. 
8. cernua wo have in four colors—rose, crim¬ 
son, deep-blue, and a lighter shade of blue. 
8. Japonica is reported to be an extremely fine, 
new variety. I do not know it; does any of the 
Rural readers? [We do not.—E ds. 
El Dorado, CaL 
Eds. Rural : —Wishing yon a Happy new 
Year and much success to the old Rural, of 
which I have been a reader for many years, I 
will permit you to make known tbe following 
offer, and agree to stand the consequences: 
Having saved a quantity of a few choice strains 
of liower seeds, greatly in exoess of my individ¬ 
ual needs, I will he [.leased to send a small pack¬ 
age to any lover of flowers who may be a sub¬ 
scriber to tho Rural, provided he sends to me 
a post-paid addressed envelope. 
Milan, Ohio. W. B. Dimon, Jr. 
furrowing, planting the trees on tho ridges. 
One such orchard, seven years planted, was 
leveled in the spring of 187G, and in so doing, 
many roots were broken by tbe plow. The in¬ 
jury was not severe enough to show itself 
much during the summer, yet a large number of 
these trees were injured by the suddeu Novem¬ 
ber freeze following, while others in the same 
orchard not so treated, escaped. Pruning tops 
or roots maybe useful, and advantageous, but 
we shall be much better cultivators when we 
learn to practice it juBt as medicine should he 
taken—for a well-considered purpose aud under 
competent direction. 
II. A very little protection, as by sticks, corn¬ 
stalks. or even dry weeds, keeps off rabbits as 
do grease or blood, bnt these favor rather than 
otherwise the attacks of rats and mice. The 
best protection iu the orchard is tarred buildiug 
paper, and this may bo useful iu other ways. 
Hundreds of trees, three to four iuches in diam¬ 
eter, were killed in Illinois last inter by iats, 
which were very numerous in the fields. Iu the 
nursery, shoot, trap, or feed these animals. If 
well-killed off, and the stragglers fed with corn 
when the snow covers the grouud, trees may be 
saved. 
III. Shoot the 8apsncker without mercy, but 
be sure you know the bird. Two other wood¬ 
peckers winter over with us and much resemble 
the enemy here spoken of, but those arc friends, 
picking insects from crevices aud cocoons with 
wondrous instinct. All these birds have a red-4 
crested head and a black-and-white speckled body 
above, but the harmless ones are white beneath 
the other yellowish. It, too, eats insects, hut 
tho orchardist will not profit by sparing it, 
IV. We pass here tho whole subject of insect 
depredations because they have boen so often 
writteu up and for want of space, merely stating 
our convictiou that orohardists should be thor¬ 
ough practical entomologists at least so far 
as their special insect friends and foes are con¬ 
cerned. 
V. Here we have to acknowledge the opposite 
of the remark in the previous paragraph. No 
one has ever given us anything like a complete 
history of the fungus parasites affecting apples, 
neither do cultivators appreciate tho real and 
often serious consequences of their injuries. 
Fungi are looked upon as the productions of 
poculiar states of the atmosphere; conditions of 
growth of the plant etc., while to the botanist a 
“mildew” is as much a distinct and specific 
plant as the apple-tree itself. Each is the 
product of a germ, each is subject to curtain 
conditions and laws of growth, each lives, 
secures food in its own way, develops and dies. 
Among animals some crop the herbage and are 
content; but others, usually minute creatures, 
lice, intestinal worms etc., only exist by para¬ 
sitism. So with plants, some use as food inor¬ 
ganic substanocs, while others are wholly depend¬ 
ent upon the living or dead bodies of other 
plantH and animals. Tho whole class of fungi 
(mushrooms, toadstools, molds, mildews, smuts, 
etc.) belong to the latter category and eomo or 
them exist only upon living subjects. Borne of 
these last can bo as successfully sown and propa¬ 
gated artificially as wheat or corn, notably, for 
example, the mold (Oidium) upon growing 
peaches. 
It is true, many of them become seriously de¬ 
structive only under certain condition of the 
host or of tho weather etc., hut this argues 
DISEASES OF APPLE TREES AND FRUIT 
PROF. THOMAS J. BUBRILL 
The outline given below of the diseases and in- 
juries. to which the apple, in tree or fruit is more 
or less subject, may not be scientifically ar¬ 
ranged, nor altogether correct, as it certainly is 
not fully comprehensive; but it will serve tho 
purpose of convenience here sought, and will 
aidiu an appreciation of the numerous ills that 
these orchard trees are heir to. Thanks to the 
vigor and hardiness of the fruit in spite of such 
a struggle for existence, we Btill gather, and 
may hope to gather, choicest sun-blushed treas¬ 
ures, aud richest golden harvests. This formid¬ 
able showing, luckily for us, docs not angment 
the number of, or increase the danger from, 
diseases, though it may open our eyes to thus 
take in at a glance the hazardous gauntlet 
through which tree and fruit have to run. 
If desirable in any way, it would be mani¬ 
festly impossible, In such an article as this, to 
enter into detail upon all or upon any’ consider¬ 
able number of the subjects here indicated. 
None are new. Each and all have in various 
places aud divers ways been discussed. Oauses 
have been assigned and remedios proposed, 
hence, it may he, the less need of treatment 
now. Indeed, an apology is here made, for ven¬ 
turing to tho length of this paper without more 
of the sweet and peculiar flavor of the fresh and 
the original, yet, nuless distinctly mentioned to 
the contrary, no statement is made at second¬ 
hand. Right or wrong as these statements may 
he, they are all founded upon personal observa¬ 
tion and experiment, though no ono can be more 
conscious than the writer or the necessity of 
very much further investigation. 
OUTLINE OF CLASSIFICATION. 
Diseases and injuries caused by 
I— Man— 1. By improper planting aud improper 
cultivation. 2. Iujudioious pruning. 3. Ignorant 
selection and propagation. 4. Willful or irre¬ 
sponsible trickery aud fraud. 
II— Hahied Animals.— 1. Rabbits: gnawing 
the bark. 2. Rats and mice: gnawing tbe bark. 
3. Stock, cattle, horses, Ac,, breaking and oth¬ 
erwise injuring the trees, tramping tho soil, Ac. 
III— Birds,— 4. Sspsuckers (BpLyrapicus var- 
ius): pecking rings of holes in bark of trunk 
aud branches. 
IV— Insects (a) on Roots. —1. Apple-root 
plant-louse (Erisoma pyri): forming potato- 
like Bwellings upon, and finally causing decay of 
the roots. 2, White grubs (Lachnosterna 
fusca, Ac.): cutting off small roots and gnawing 
the bark from larger ones. 3. Seventeen-year 
cicada or locust: sucking sap from roots and af¬ 
terwards boring the twigs to deposit eggs, (b) 
On trunk and branches. 4. Flat'beaded borer 
(Chrysobotbris feinorata): boring under bark, 
then deep) into wood. 5. Round-headed borer 
(Saperda bivittata): boring from near the begin¬ 
ning iu the wood, usually near or below surface 
of the earth, (i. Bark lice (Aapidiotus conchifor- 
mis aud Harrisii): scale iusects sucking sap. (o) 
On leaves. Far too many to be enumerated 
here. Tke following are the more commonly 
injurious. 7. Canker-worms (Anisopterix ver- 
nata) : often in great numbers and entirely defo¬ 
liating the trees. 8. Tent caterpillars (Cliaio- 
campa Americana): making webs in the trees and 
eating the foliage. 9. Fall web-worms (Hyphan- 
tria textor) : same damage as preceding, but 
appearing later in the season. 10. Leaf- 
crumpler (Pbycitanehulo): rollingballs of leaves 
which are tightly fastened to the twigs, feeding 
thereon and transforming therein. 11. Hand¬ 
maid moth (Datana ministra): collecting in com¬ 
panies, but without webs, feeding on leaves. 
more pro name mat me maca sooty moiu wmeu 
appears to survive the winter on the twigs and is 
known as an Antcnuaria is the destructive agent, 
under, in Buiumer time, another guise. The 
life history of these molds is exceedingly intri¬ 
cate, but we may hope before long to fathom 
their mysteries and find remedies for them. 
Tho scab on apples is certainly the work of a 
fungus, but it is fairly probable that its flret in¬ 
troduction is due to the puncture of au insect. 
It may be that Apliididce or lice do more damage 
in this way than in any other. At all events the 
scab when it first appears is a mere point which 
afterward enlarges from this point as a center. 
The threads of the fungus, quire dark in color, 
burrow under the healthy epidermis and soon 
give rise to a crop of onee-dUnled spores, closely 
seated on the vegetating threads. As the para¬ 
site advauces it dies behind, so that tho surface 
of the flesh, of the apple, devoid of its epidermis, 
is left exposed, the fongus existing in a ring 
which constantly increases in size. The exposed 
tissues afterward forms a thin corky coating 
which in some cases becomes much like an 
epidermis again. If this happens early enough 
in tho season the part generally outgrows the 
remainder of the fruit and forms au obtuse 
hump or elevation hstviug a somewhat different 
texture from the rest. If the corky covering 
is not sufficient, as is always the case when tho 
fungus continues its growth until tho fruit is 
gathered, common molds (Penieillium, Asper¬ 
gillus and Mucor) gain an entrance and cause 
premature decay of the fruit. Ibis is by no 
means the least, of the injuries of the “scab.” 
It is probable that this mischievous parasite 
lives in some form upon tho tree, twigs or 
leaves. 
The uubrokeu epidermis of the apple is an ex¬ 
cellent safeguard against decay, being all but 
Impervious to water and germs of fungi, without 
which germs rot, ns we know it, would probably 
never occur. For this purpose it is sometimes 
wise to select such varieties, Ben Davis for exam¬ 
ple, as have a thick compact skin, however much 
this may he thought a fault lor eating. 
Iu some localities trees of all ages die and up¬ 
on examiuing the roots, they are found covered 
with a papery, or even leathery, felted, fungus 
production often capable of being pieeled off 
in flakes or sheets. This is the mycolinm of a 
futigns which in this situation boars no fruit or 
spores, bnt which is quite certaiuly some kind of 
Polyporus so common upon decaying wood and 
forming hard, shell, or hoof-like excrescences 
on the surface while tho active vegetating 
threads (mycelium) are busy in the work of 
destruction inside. It is probable that this 
spreads from decaying wood to tho living roots 
and if so tho remedy is plain. Apparently good 
results have followed digging a large bole when 
preparing for transplanting and making a fire iu 
the hole before settiug the tree, taking oare not 
to til! in chips etc. Chip-dirt used as mulch may 
have bad effects. 
The word “ blight ” is used for many diseases 
of plants, though the diseases themselves are 
