GOVERNMENT WORK FOR THE FARMER. 3I 



disease, and quite widespread over the western part of the 

 country. It is estimated that that disease alone causes damage 

 of over $10,000,000 annually. The experts of the bureau dis- 

 covered that by proper spraying at the proper time we are able 

 to practically control that trouble. In our experiments this 

 last season we saved over ninety per cent, of the crops where 

 application was made of the spray, while in orchards adjoining 

 those to which the applications were made the property was 

 entirely ruined. Up-to-date farmers must watch these new 

 methods and take prompt advantage of them. Take, for in- 

 stance, the peach yellows, a disease which has been more or 

 less prevalent in Connecticut and caused large losses. After 

 carefully studying, it was found eradication of the diseased 

 trees seemed to be the only proper remedy, the same remedy 

 that we applied in the case of the foot and mouth disease. That 

 was found to be the best method of treatment, and by that 

 method we are able to control this disease, if farmers and all 

 concerned will work together with us to do the work thor- 

 oughly. 



We do not limit ourselves simply to the study of spray- 

 ing methods and things of that kind, but we go into the produc- 

 tion of new strains of plants to resist these diseases. Now I 

 am going into a subject with which I am familiar because that 

 is my line of work. It is more or less surprising to some people 

 that a scientist should be able to produce an immune strain of 

 plants. You know perfectly well that certain men are resist- 

 ant to certain diseases. We know, for example, that one man 

 may be exposed to yellow fever and not take it where another 

 will take it. Another may be exposed to smallpox and resist 

 the disease where perhaps another exposed at the same time 

 will take it. We apply that same principle to the production of 

 immune strains of plants. Wherever we can discover that 

 tendency to resist we can usually by breeding produce an im- 

 mune strain. This city depends largely on the cotton industry 

 of the South, and we have been able to do something in this 

 line, the benefit of which has been seen here. About ten years 

 ago there appeared in the South a new disease that attacked 

 the little fine roots of the cotton plants and ran up the main 

 stem, soon causing the plant to wilt and die. We found that 

 that fungus would maintain life for eight or ten years, and as 

 the result of the presence of that disease some of the best cotton 



