346 Report of the IIorticultukist of tue 



Some pear trees growing in a door-yard about twenty-five rods 

 distant from the orchard were pointed out as being in a dying 

 condition, the top of one tree having been entirely destroyed while 

 the other trees were half or two-thirds dead. The pycnidia of a 

 Sphaeropsis were found to be very abundant on the dead bark, 

 while a fcAv black, shriveled pears that were still attached to the 

 branches were attacked by the black rot fungus, Sphaeropsis 

 malorum Pk. 



A Sphaeropsis was also found on the twigs of a quince tree that 

 grew by the side of the pear tree. 



At a later date a canker "was found on a quince tree in the Sta- 

 tion orchards. The appearance of the cankers and their effect on 

 the limbs was much the same as the canker of apple tree limbs, 

 the swollen sections of limbs and the roughened bark at once 

 attracting attention. The pycnidia of a Sphaeropsis were abun- 

 dant on the dead bark where the fungus had recentlv been in an 

 active condition. This fungus was also found to be abundant in 

 the large quince orchard of Maxwell Brothers, near Geneva. 

 There were but few typical cankers on these trees, but in many in- 

 stances there w^as a well defined longitudinal strip of dead bark on 

 the limbs on which pycnidia of a Sphaeropsis were abundant. It 

 seems probable, however, that in such instances, as well as with 

 the pear trees mentioned above, the fungus was following, but 

 aggravating, former injuries. 



Dilution plate cultures were made of the Sphaeropses from the 

 twigs of the three different host plants and after the fungus had 

 fruited, fruits of the apple, pear and quince were inoculated 

 with pure cultures of the fungus from each of the three hosts. 

 The fruits were kept in closed glass jars, the check fruits punc- 

 tured but not inoculated occupying jars by themselves. Black 

 rot, Sphaeropsis malorum Pk., was produced in each inoculated 

 fruit while the checks remained sound. Usually there would be 

 an area of decayed tissue around the points of inoculation in 

 twenty-four hours, depending on the degree of ripeness of the 



