136 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
low the crown, from six to twelve or fif¬ 
teen inches deeper. 
Third, where it affects the tap root, 
thereby rendering a very complex pro¬ 
position, hard to get at or determine when 
you are at the seat of the trouble. 
Now, I know nothing of “Wilt” and 
have never seen a case, but have seen 
several that others have termed “wilt” and 
in each case turned out to be mal de goma 
of this last or third class, which seems to 
affect the whole tree simultaneously. 
In a general way take into considera¬ 
tion all of the conditions contributing to 
mal de goma, resetting too low, below the 
level of the surface, along with mulching 
heavily, either or both superinduces a 
multiplicity of rootlets too close to the 
tree that in after years are sure to cause 
trouble. Cow penning in spring months 
to be followed by the rainy season of 
summer, or the use of too much nitrate 
of soda in commercial fertilizer, or any 
other source of nitrogen that all becomes 
available under the same conditions, ex¬ 
cepting only sulphate of ammonia, which 
is considered to become available more 
slowly as if by contact. 
As cures or relief, to clear the dirt away 
from the crown roots, which if done pro¬ 
perly, will relieve those causes as de¬ 
scribed on class one, secondly, stop cow 
penning and cultivating. Pull down 
fences and let grove revert to natural con¬ 
ditions, thirdly, apply ground sulphurous 
acid promiscuously to kill fungus, and 
fourthly, still another marvelous cure is 
to put a stick or charge of dynamite under 
the tree. If the patient survives, it is a 
cure. This is in line with the old custom 
of boring a hole through the trunk and 
with a block and tackle raise the tree six 
or eight inches, as the origin of the 
trouble was deep re-setting, but in fact, 
in doing so perchance, altered the posi¬ 
tion by breaking it loose and relieved the 
condition which was the cause of the 
trouble. 
In doing this you followed a well recog¬ 
nized custom and beaten path as old as 
the hills. Prune the roots. That is all, 
except that you do it with the single idea 
of removing the smaller roots that have 
the binding effect on the large ones, or 
soon will have, exercising ordinary good 
judgment. 
I want to mention that roots of a china 
berry sprout produced one case. 
Care is needed, especially when you 
are to protect a small and limited area 
extending twenty or thirty inches out 
from the tree as further the - of 
the roots lessens and therefore lessens the 
danger of the bind. 
I have never used any of the usual 
remedies such as lime sulphur and car- 
bolineum, but simply removed the offend¬ 
ing root and scrubbed clean the wound, 
then the disease disappears and the tree 
becomes healthy and regains its normal 
vigor, in two or three instances in a year 
or so after becoming affected, in some 
other roots so I relieve it for the second 
time. 
I neglected one so long that all of the 
roots and all of the limbs were dead, just 
the latent life left in the trunk or body of 
the tree, and now it has had four or five 
crops, good sized tops and bearing sur¬ 
face. Other trees losing a part or even 
half of the top are now filled out sym¬ 
metrically with the balance of the tree and 
