Scientific American Supplement, No. 643, April 28, 1888Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 643, April 28, 1888
Various
Science -- Periodicals
Suppose, for example, a plantation presents the following case. A tree
is found to turn sickly and die, with the symptoms described, and
trees immediately surrounding it are turning yellow. The first tree is
at once cut down, and its roots and timber examined, and the diagnosis
shows the presence of _Agaricus melleus_ or of _Trametes radiciperda_,
as the case may be. Knowing this, the expert also knows more. If the
timber is being destroyed by the _Trametes_, he knows that the
ravaging agent can travel from tree to tree by means of roots in
contact, and he at once cuts a ditch around the diseased area, taking
care to include the recently infected and neighboring trees. Then the
diseased timber is cut, because it will get worse the longer it
stands, and the diseased parts burnt. If _Agaricus melleus_ is the
destroying agent, a similar procedure is necessary; but regard must be
had to the much more extensive wanderings of the rhizomorphs in the
soil, and it may be imperative to cut the moat round more of the
neighboring trees. Nevertheless, it has also to be remembered that the
rhizomorphs run not far below the surface. However, my purpose here is
not to treat this subject in detail, but to indicate the lines along
which practical application of the truths of botanical science may be
looked for. The reader who wishes to go further into the subject may
consult special works. Of course the spores are a source of danger,
but need be by no means so much so where knowledge is intelligently
applied in removing young fructifications.
I will now pass on to a few remarks on a class of disease-producing
timber fungi which present certain peculiarities in their biology. The
two fungi which have been described are true parasites, attacking the
roots of living trees, and causing disease in the timber by traveling
up the cambium, etc., into the stem; the fungi I am about to refer to
are termed wound parasites, because they attack the timber of trees at
the surfaces of wounds, such as cut branches, torn bark, frost cracks,
etc., and spread from thence into the sound timber. When we are
reminded how many sources of danger are here open in the shape of
wounds, there is no room for wonder that such fungi as these are so
widely spread. Squirrels, rats, cattle, etc., nibble or rub off bark;
snow and dew break branches; insects bore into stems; wind, hail,
etc., injure young parts of trees, and in fact small wounds are formed
in such quantities that if the fructifications of such fungi as those
referred to are permitted to ripen indiscriminately, the wonder is not
that access to the timber is gained, but rather that a tree of any
considerable age escapes at all.
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