Crown Gall. 
7 
It will not do to try to remove the galls before the tree is 
planted, as it is likely that with the greatest care some of the 
organism will remain. In that case the disease has been intro¬ 
duced into the orchard, and the infection of the healthy trees is 
only a question of time. The majority of trees that are infected 
in the nursery, when planted in Colorado, make -an unsatisfactory 
growth, and probably but few of them ever live to produce paying- 
crops. 
The disease does not appear to be so destructive to older 
trees, but nevertheless its effects are severe. Some experiments 
conducted in Arizona indicate that in such cases the disease mav 
J 
be held in check in a measure. The mode of treatment consists 
in examining the trees every season and cutting away all traces of 
galls from about the crowns. The wounds are then thoroughly 
covered with a paste made after the following formula: 
Copper sulphate (bluestone), two parts. 
Iron sulphate (copperas), one part. 
Lime (unslaked), three parts. 
The three ingredients are reduced to a fine powder then 
mixed thoroughly, after which enough water is added to make a 
thick paste. 
All diseased wood should be collected and burned. 
The important point, then, in controlling crown gall would 
seem to be to keep the disease out of the orchards, and in order to 
do this it is necessary to secure nursery stock that is free from the 
infection. All possible assistance should be given the County 
Inspectors in their inspection of nursery stock. In counties 
where many trees are being planted, sufficient assistance should 
be provided, so that there will be no possibility of any shipments 
being overlooked. And, finally, some means should be devised 
whereby the importance of inspection can be impressed on the 
growers, since, in some instances, they antagonize the inspectors 
and hinder their work. It is no doubt true, that the inspection 
of nursery stock alone, if well done, pays many times over for all 
the expense incurred, even in those counties which expend the 
most money in orchard inspection. 
