New Yokk Ageicultural Expeeiment Station. 21 



Valley. On account of the unusually dry season fruits generally 

 have suffered less from disease than for several years past. Peach 

 leaf-curl, so destructive in 1898, has been almost wholly absent. 

 Such common destructive diseases as apple scab, pear scab, pear 

 leaf-spot and plum leaf-spot have been injuriously abundant only 

 in a few localities. The black rot of grapes and the fruit-rot of 

 plums and cherries have been much less destructive than usual. 

 The most important fact brought out by this survey is the dis- 

 covery that there exists throughout the entire Hudson Valley 

 below Albany a destructive cane blight of currants caused by a 

 sterile fungus about which but little is known. 



Miscellaneous studies on plant diseases. — In 1898, a serious rot 

 of onions occurred in Orange county. It has been determined 

 that this rot was caused by bacteria working in the presence of 

 water. The prompt removal of surface water from the onion 

 fields is probably the best that can be done to prevent the rot. 



Dodder has been found on greenhouse cucumbers and a pow- 

 dery mildew on field cucumbers. 



The brown sunken spots on Baldwin apples have been shown 

 to be of non-parasitic origin. 



A new fungus leaf-sj)ot disease of carnations has been dis- 

 covered. 



Unfinished work. — Considerable work has been done upon the 

 stem-rot diseases of the carnation, and an investigation of the 

 black knot disease of plums and cherries commenced. 



DEPAETMENT OF BACTERIOLOGY. 



Pasteurization for butter making. — A fundamental investiga- 

 tion of this problem has been begun in connection with the Dairy 

 Department, the first step being a study of the effect of the vari- 

 ous temperatures to which milk can be exposed in the " continu- 

 ous " machines. A momentary exposure at 158° F. was not 

 found satisfactory; 176° F. is much better and in many cases 

 185° F. is desirable. When the most acceptable temperature is 



