APPLE TWIGS WITH INJURED BARK.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 277, 30 June 1888, Page 6

APPLE TWIGS WITH IN JURED BAR K.

A i ourj sl'on'dent, whose letterjias unfortunately gone astray, sends us some apple twigs of which the bark shows injuries fueh aO,a 0 , wo have aUemplcd ta- icpresent in fclic accompanying cut. The bark bhoAys a longitudinal slit, which may be likened to what in called amongst chos>smakor& the "slashing" in .^la&iied ,slce\cs.

In some iijptaiK'O the injury i* only slight., tbo baric (inly showing a brown ciack o) 1 raised mail-. In other cases ihe slit, opeu.s, out. as shown on the twitf to the left of t.he cut, and bits of the woody fibre under the bark look as if they had been pulled through fcho opening, made, a» the under material is seeii through the opening of a fclafched sleeve. We have tried by this description to make it clear to readers what the injury referred to is. , It jfe quite common, and its effect is 'injurious to the vitality of fruit spurfi pr.young .wood when ' these are thusallected,' making them brittle and stunting growth. The bark is generally affooted. chiefly on one fide of the branch or twig. The mischief is probably caused by an insect which pierces the bark, to form receptacles in. which to deposit its eggs. Another theory is that the bark has bocoroe blistered by tne effect of a hot sun on ohillqc]. or frozen bap\ When shall we have a public entomologist to whom we could refer kuqli questions ?