418 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE, 



BROWN ROT. 



{3Ionilia fructigena, Pers.)- 



By Prof. A. B. Cordley. 

 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



In the fall of 1895 a few diseased prunes were received at this station, 

 which were determined by Professor Hedrick and myself to be infested with 

 the fungus of brown rot, Monilia fructiyena, Pers. Subsequent inquiry de- 

 veloped the fact that in the infested area nearly the entire product of sev- 

 eral orchards had been destroyed, and that in all probability the pest bad 

 been present in the state for several years. 



At the time a prief statement of the presence of the disease was made 

 through the columns of the press and in Press Bulletin No. 5. So far as we 

 have been able to determine these were the first published notices our fruit- 

 growers had received of the presence and nature of this destructive pest, 

 although Doctor Galloway had perhaps intimated its presence, in the state- 

 ment that it prevails throughout the country and that the losses resulting 

 from its attacks are frequently very great.- 



A short article on the subject was prepared by Professor Hedrick for Bul- 

 letin No. 45 of this station, and in the fall of 1897 the disease suddenly be- 

 came so exceedingly destructive over a large portion of Western Oregon, 

 and so manj' theories were advanced to account for the serious and unusual 

 injury, that I prepared for the liural Northwest a short account of the dis- 

 ease, and of methods to be employed in combating it. This paper, with 

 slight changes, has recently been reprinted in the biennial report of the 

 State Board of Horticulture. Prune growing has become one of the impor- 

 tant industries of the state, and since brown rot is one of the most dangerous 

 diseases of the prune, and since none of the above sources of information, 

 except the last, are now available, this bulletin is issued with the hope that 

 it may prove of interest and of value to the prune growers of the state. 



Although brown rot has attracted general attention in this state only 

 within the last few years, it is by no means a new and unheard-of pest. 

 Twenty years ago Von Thu'men wrote that it is the most widely distributed 

 and perhaps the most noxious of all diseases that occur on fruit. From the 

 more recent writings of European authorities we may infer that the disease 

 is not so destructive on the continent as the above statement would lead us 

 to believe, and it is possible that from this fact we may hope that in the fu- 

 ture the disease may lose somewhat of its virulence in this country. Sorauer 

 merely mentions Monilia fructigena ;t Frank treats of the disease somewhat 

 fully but does not mention its excessive destructiveness ;J Prillieux describes 

 the disease but states that it is not so serious as in the United States ;§ and 



*Rept. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 18H8. 

 tPflanzen-Krankhoiten, ISSii 

 JKrankheiten der Pflanzen, 1890. 

 jMaladiesde Plantes, 18!)7. 



