20 Director's Report of the 



doing an immense amount of damage to the orchards of New 

 York as ■well as in many other states. The disease is not new 

 but the injuries resulting from its attack have been thought to 

 be due entirely to the sun-scald, so it has escaped the notice of 

 workers in this line. 



The investigation of this disease was undertaken in the spring 

 of 1898 and was continued through the present season. It has 

 been proven that the cankers are produced by the attack of a 

 fungus known as Sphaeropsis malorum Pk., the same that pro- 

 duces the black rot of apples, pears and quinces. The experi- 

 ments also indicate that the fungus occurs on a number of other 

 plants. 



Experiments in treating the disease are not yet complete, but it 

 is known that in a majority of instances orchards that have been 

 well sprayed with Bordeaux mixture for a number of years and 

 otherwise well taken care of are much freer from canker than or- 

 chards that have not received such treatment. 



As a preventive measure we feel warranted in recommending 

 that the orchards be put in the best growing condition and then 

 as a further preventive that they be sprayed thoroughly with 

 Bordeaux mixture, spraying the limbs as well as the foliage and 

 fruit; the spraying to. be made at the time the trees are ordinarily 

 sprayed for apple scab, supplemented by an earlier one given 

 about the time the leaf buds begin to unfold. 



department of botany. 



Leaf-scoixh of sugar heet, cherry, cauliflower and maple. — A 

 peculiar disease of sugar beets occurring to a destructive extent 

 in some fields in Yates and Ontario counties has been determined 

 to have been caused by weather conditions. In early August 

 the foliage was suddenly scorched by excessively dry, hot weather. 

 Cherries and hard maples in the vicinity of Geneva and cauli- 

 flower on Long Island have suffered from the same cause. 



Fruit-disease survey of the Hudson Valley. — A thorough sur- 

 vey has been made of the fruit diseases occurring in the Hudson 



