THK PEA.CH ROT 73 



Department and elsewhere, especially in Bulletin 1 of 

 the Division of Vegetable Pathology. 



The Peach Rosette 



The name Peach Rosette has been given to an ob- 

 scure disease affecting trees in various States, character- 

 ized by the presence of rosettes of leaves upon the 

 branches. It has been studied by Dr. Smith in connec- 

 tion with peach yellows, and is treated of in the publi- 

 cations referred to above, especially in the Journal of 

 Mycology (v. \1, No. 4). 



The Peach Rot 



Monilia fructigena 



The main points in the development of this fungus 

 have already been discussed under the plum (pp. 56-58). 

 It also attacks peaches, and probably causes more loss 

 on this fruit than on the other. Dr. E. F. Smith, who 

 has made a special study of peach enemies, says : " This 

 fungus is more common and far more destructive than 

 any other observed on the peach in this country. It is 

 rarely absent from the orchard, and in rainy weather it 

 frequently destroys from one-half to three-fourths of the 

 crop, in some cases the entire crop. Under its influence 

 the fruit quickly loses its normal color and flavor, and 

 becomes an entire loss to the grower. As the fungus 

 invades the healthy tissues of the fruit the latter become 

 leather-colored, or dark brown, and the peach is said to 

 rot, although, as Von Thiimen first pointed out, the 

 change is not strictly a ^rot.'" 



During unusually wet springs the blossoms of peach 

 trees are frequently destroyed by this fungus, and the 

 young twigs are also attacked. The spores are propa- 

 gated in vast numbers by the mummied peaches hanging 

 on the trees, and are blown through the orchard, carry- 



