TREE DISEASES AND TREATMENT 
i73 
widely scattered by the wind from a fungus already fully 
developed. These spores, lodging in wounds in bark, 
wood or twigs, or on leaves, send out rootlike threads and 
establish themselves in the tissue adjoining the wound, 
for their life work of feeding on the tissues and food manu¬ 
factured by the green leaves of the plant. The roots, or 
threadlike filaments force their way into the bark, stem 
or leaf in all directions and form a mass of meshed fibres 
known to science as the mycelium. It is to this fibrous 
mass that the damage is due, as it absorbs the life-giving 
food which is needed by the tree itself. When the mycel¬ 
ium has become firmly imbedded in the tissue adapted to 
it, it extends to the outer surface, through the original or 
another wound in the bark, and shows itself in the form of 
the familiar bracket, or perhaps in the form of a toadstool, 
a puffball (powdery-looking coating of almost any color). 
These are the fruiting bodies, which often produce millions 
of spores for creating new generations of fungus growth, 
and when mature, they release these dust-like spores to be 
scattered on the breezes and begin again their work of 
destruction in wounds on other plants. 
In the treatment of fungi it must be remembered that 
the fibrous mass within the plant is the cause, and the 
outside substance, or fruiting body, is the effect. Remedy 
calls for the removal or prevention of the cause. To 
remove the fruiting body does only temporary good, as 
another will quickly grow in its place. The only remedy 
is to cut out the entire mycelium. Where this is possible, 
and it is thoroughly done, the trouble will not come back. 
In applying this treatment, care must be taken to make 
the removal complete and to dress and protect the wound 
thoroughly, as outlined in the chapters on repairs and the 
treatment of injuries. 
