The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1906-04-26
Grown Gail

Grown gail is Hn Outgrowth, tumor
or knot that grows tn the roots of de-
cidous trees As It usually appears
at the crown of the tree it is by com.
mon consent called crown gall.
When it was hrst noticed, "a number
of years ago, it was claimed by some
to be caused by drouth some thought
1t was caused by excessive moisture
while others pronounced it the result
of some mechanical injury. But by
close observation and numerous exper-
iments, it seems to be contagious
disease, and at the present time no
nurseryman who cares for his reputa-
tion will sell affected trees. For
time it was thought that all that was
necessary was to remove the knot, but
as it frequently reappears after plant
ing it is now generally believed that
all young affected trees should be
burned.
Although these knots usutlly appear
at the crown of the tIee just beneath
the soil, they occasionally are found
deeper in the earth and sometimes on
the slender one. year old root.
In the first stage of the disease the
color of the gall is similar to the color
of the healthy root; but later on they
turn dark owing to the dead matter
which forms about the gel
Crown gall has become widely dis
tributed througCGt IEn fruit centers
of the whole United States, say ing
nothing Of France, Germany, etc. 1t
is especially bad in the irrigated re-
gions, where there is no other disease
that causes so much injury to the
fruit industry. Without doubt the
diseases is carried from tree to tree
by the water used In irrigating.
Gall is particularly injurious to the
almond, apricot and peach but is al
so found on apple, pear, ETC., as well
as grape vines and berry bushes. 1t
is frequently found on nut trees. In
fact it seems that all deciduous trees
10th tame and wild are liable to the
disease.
By experiments made at the expert
ment stations, it has been proven that
gall is not carried by the seed, but
that the infection is local. For ex
ample, you may take peach seed from
tree with badly diseased loots and
plant in clean soil and the seedlings
will be free from disease. But take
seed from either healthy OF diseased
tree and plant near diseased trees, or
il soil in which diseased trees have
previously grown, and your seedlings
will be badly infested with gall. --
By these experiments it was also
found that by mixing an equal guam
tity of bluestone with minced gals
the seedlings grown therein seldom
showed symptoms Of the disease.
Should | have occasion to experiment
along this line | think | should use
liberal quantity Of bluestone in the
diseased soil.
Crown gall seems to have an annual
period of growth Beginning to grow
in the spring and under rdinary con-
dltions maturing in the fall, frequent
ly decaying at that time; and with
the return of spring the new growth
of gall forms around the edge Ct the
old wound Each year the wound be
comes larger and deeper, until at last
the tree breaks off at the crown. How
ever, when the knot appears Oh old
trees, it does not always seem so il
furious, aa large trees have teen
known to continue bearing for years
with roots badly infested with gail.
Mr.. Toumy, Of the Ari' ona EXperir ent
Station, recommends the luh ing
formula for treatment OF bearing liee-,
but this is advice TO IchHrdistIotEy
than the nursery men. Use QUE part
copperas, two parts hluastone aud
three pats quicklile C.Ush The il
gradients and mix with enough n,tcr
to make ttirk paste. Cat < II .icm
tree and apply the paste TO the ~oGnd,
being caieicl n-tu'u tie rcmCyeo
gals Ile recoa ngnCs .t,r spring
or fall for tLis ueetn',t but It'll
out doubt, tie best l!e.,@ eLt lar
seryman can give to a diseased tree is
to burn it. lie should net plant trees
in soil where crown gall has made its
appearance.