48 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



one has again found and identified the organism or reported similar 

 effects. My observations are, therefore, only good for the three lots 

 of specimens examined, and in the face of different conclusions 

 reached by othier investigators these seem to be of comparatively 

 little value. What I now vv^ant to say, is that it is impossible for me 

 to have an opinion as to whether bacteria have, or do not have, any- 

 thing to do with this disease called yellows, but that it does seem 

 probable that there is really more than one disease to which this 

 name is commonly applied. If the difficulty was one known to 

 fruit growers in my section of the country attempts would have 

 been made before this time to solve the problem; but notwithstand- 

 ing the eminent opinions recently published and widely quoted, that 

 the disease is really due to some poverty of the soil in the region 

 where it exists, I seriously hesitate to introduce it for the purposes 

 of study even in our eminently fertile, prairie region — the garden of 

 the world in this respect. While systematic inoculations have not 

 been acceptably tried, there is far too much evidence of the distribu- 

 tion of the disease through contagion to pass unheeded the warning 

 contained therein. It ought to be an offense in the eye of the law, 

 backed by suitable penalties, for any one, in any way, ignorantly or 

 wilfully, to keep or disseminate such a disease among his or other's 

 trees. In the meantime, I heartily agree with the eminent secretary 

 of the Michigan State Horticultural Society, who, in his last Report, 

 quotes thirteen opinions covering five pages of the book, and then 

 adds: 



"Were it not for the fact our Michigan peach growers that have 

 had most to do with this fell disease are in no mood to laugh, they 

 certainly would audibly smile at the above array of notions concern- 

 ing the yellows. It is a great pity that men that know most about 

 the disease do not say more, and those who have tried one or two 

 experiments would wait before making their conclusions public 

 property. What we M^ant is some scientific man to go into a country 

 like Berrien County in our State, where the disease, in spite of the 

 employment of the best knowledge concerning its prevention, has 

 cleared out the peach interest; then let him dig until he feels he 

 has something accurate and valuable to communicate, and until that 

 time to hold his peace. Until some one in whom the public have 

 confidence will do this, we shall have no satisfactory solution of the 

 problem." 



I return to the matter of pear blight simply to say that especi- 

 ally during the past three years careful removal of diseased parts of 

 trees, as soon as discovered affected, has been in my hands perfectly 

 successful as a preventive. The trees so treated have been where 

 they can be often examined, and the plan pursued is to let no fort- 

 night pass during the summer months without closely scrutinizing 

 each tree, looking especially for the appearance in the bark, before 

 indications are shown by the leaves. The best time to see such 



