150 Report of the Department of Botany of the 



account was published by Smith.'* The latter article has been 

 widely quoted in the horticultural journals. Thus far no remedy 

 for the disease has been found, and even the cause of it is still 

 unknown. However, it is announced that Mr. M. B. Waite, an 

 expert connected with the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, has the subject under investigation and it is confidently 

 believed that we shall know considerably more about the disease 

 in the near future. 



Since so much has been said about the disease and it is known 

 to occur in various parts of New York State, particularly in 

 Niagara County, our fruit growers are constantly on the look- 

 out for it. 



During the past season a fruit grower of Penn Yan suspected 

 that the " little peach " disease had made its appearance in his 

 orchard. Upon investigation it proved to be simply a case of 

 imperfect fertilization. Of course imperfect fertilization is com- 

 mon among peaches, but this case had some unusual features 

 making it worthy of record. Moreover, there are undoubtedly 

 many fruit growers, like the one at Penn Yan, who have read of 

 the " little peach " disease, but having never seen it are unable 

 to distinguish it with certainty from the effects of imperfect fer- 

 tilization. Hence, it seems desirable to give a detailed account 

 of the Penn Yan case. 



The orchard was composed of 150 ten-year-old trees of the 

 variety Globe. Occasional trees of several other varieties were 

 intermingled. The owner stated that enough fruit had set to 

 make a full crop. In fact, he expected to be obliged to thin it; 

 but the great majority of the fruits failed to develop, although 

 most of them remained hanging on the trees until ripening time. 

 He estimated that the yield of marketable fruit was between 

 one-eighth and one-sixth of a full crop, the money loss being 

 about |oOO. Our observations were made September 25. At 

 that time most of the marketable fruit had been gathered, but 

 the majority of the small imperfect fruits were still on the 



'Smith, Erwin F. Notes on the Michigan Disease Known as "Little 

 Peach." The FennviUe (Mich.) Herald. Oct. 15, 1S9S. 



