168 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



spring. The most characteristic symptom was the general pushing of leaf 

 buds one to two weeks in advance of the proper time. This was peculiarly 

 striking by contrast whenever the trees developed symptoms on one or two 

 limbs only. On many of these trees some of the blossoms also came out 

 very early, and were destroyed by frosts, but in general the disease could 

 be detected in these trees before the blossoms opened. 



In this climate, under normal conditions, winter buds of the peach do 

 not germinate until after a considerable period of rest. They never unfold 

 in the autumn, and it is difficult to induce them to do so even in winter. 

 This period of rest may be shortened somewhat by mild winters and early 

 springs, or by artificial means, e. g., June budding, but it is not abrogated 

 in nature, so far as I know, except under the influence of this peculiar 

 disease, and the one described in Part II. 



When the winter buds become affected in spring, the growths to which 

 they give rise are occasionally more extensive but are somewhat variable, 

 their appearance depending, of course, to a great extent, upon the length 

 of the internodes and the amount of branching. 



So much concerning the characteristics of the disease. Now, in conclu- 

 sion, some words upon its progress. 



Gradually or simultaneously, as the case may be, all of the limbs develop 

 the same symptoms. Consequently, the tree falls info a decline and finally 

 dies. Trees once attacked rarely, if ever, recover. This statement is still 

 in dispute, but I feel quite sure. Hundreds of yellowed and decaying 

 orchards on the upper part of the Chesapeake and Delaware peninsula 

 bear witness ' every day to the truth of this assertion. In a very few 

 instances I have had trees pointed out to me as once diseased and now 

 recovered, but no such cases have ever come under my own observation. 

 Always such trees have shown symptoms of disease later on, or else there 

 was some uncertainty connected with the original diagnosis of the case. 



The duration of the disease varies greatly. If the symptoms progress 

 slowly from limb to limb, the tree may live a long time. If the whole tree 

 is speedily involved, decay and death are correspondingly rapid. I have 

 known trees to die at the end of the first season, but such is not usually 

 the case. In Maryland and Delaware, as well as in regions further north, 

 the affected trees generally live from two to five years, and possibly longer 

 in some cases. Incidentally I am keeping watch of several hundred trees 

 to determine this point more accurately. The trees are worthless from the 

 start and should be removed as soon as the disease appears. If allowed 

 to remain, complete death occurs, very frequently, the third or fourth 

 year, the last feeble sign of vitality being a few yellowish tufts on the 

 trunk or some of the limbs. The tree shown in plate VII6 was attacked in 

 the spring of 1887, when it was 5 years old, i. e., set 5 years. At that time 

 the tree was remarkably vigorous and handsome. It died in the summer 

 of 1890, i. e., about 3| years from the time it first developed symptoms, 

 but its foliage was yellowish the second year, and vegetation during the 

 last year of its life was very scanty and feeble, being confined principally 

 to branching sprouts on the bases of the larger limbs. 



Generally speaking, the longer the disease has prevailed unmolested in 

 any locality the greater is the number of cases annually, and the less is the 

 probability of getting trees up to bearing age before they are attacked. 

 This peculiar and interesting fact has been observed repeatedly in Connec- 

 ticut, New Tork, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Michigan. 



