EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 475 



PEACH ROSETTE. 



So far as known this disease has never appeared in Michigan. In 

 Georgia and other states where it has been found, it is feared more than 

 yellows as it kills in one year. It differs from yellows in various ways, 

 one of which is that it has no effect on the appearance of the fruit, while 

 in yellows the fruit is spotted, streaked, higher colored, and ripens 

 from a few davs to three or four weeks earlier than on healthy trees. 



The name rosette is given from the fact that in the spring numerous 

 slender shoots, with small, narrow, yellowish leaves, start out from the 

 branr-hes and, after reaching a length of from three to six inches, the 

 buds in the axils of the leaves also develop shoots that bear still smaller 

 leaves, and in Georgia a third series of branches may form. The leaves ou 

 these tufts are very small and may number one hundred or more and, 

 crowded as they are, give the appearance of a rosette. There is no known 

 cause or remedy for the disease and, as it seems highly contagious, trees 

 that show the above described characteristics should at once be dug out 

 and burned. 



"little peach." 



In various parts of Allegan and surrounding counties, a disease has 

 appeared in the peach orchards, to which the above name has been 

 given by most growers, although some call it " rosette " and others " a 

 form of yellows." The trees have, in general, an unhealthy appearance; 

 the new growths are short and spindling, the leaves are small, yellowish 

 green, and inclined to roll, and, when the fruit is about an inch in diam- 

 eter, its growth stops. Instead of being premature as in the case of 

 yellows, the fruit, if it ripens at all, is much later; it shows no red spots 

 and streaks, and seldom reaches one half its full size. 



About mid-summer the trees will send out numerous shoots from the 

 main branches. As a rule they are short, but, if the trees are young and 

 growing in good soil, they may make a growth of several feet, forming 

 what are commonly called " water sprouts." The bark on the growths 

 two or three years old will be found dry and cracked; the cambium (or 

 new ring of wood) very thin and the older wood dry and discolored beyond 

 the normal. 



After a year or two, young and vigorous trees seem to recover, but the 

 old aDd especially the neglected trees gradually succumb to the disease, 

 although they generally live for several years. 



By many growers the disease is regarded as highly contagious and 

 even more dangerous than yellows, and they recommend the prompt 

 removal of the infected trees. 



While the writer is not certain that the disease is contagious, such may 

 be the case, and, especially if the trees are old and the wood seems to be 

 badly injured, it will certainly be advisable from an economical stand- 

 point, as well as safest, so far as the other trees are concerned, to imme- 

 diately destroy them. 



In some instances the writer has observed the disease upon young 

 trees, and even on older ones, when the trouble seemed confined to por- 

 tions along the middle of the branches, and, when cut back bolow the 

 injured portions, new and healthy growths were made. Even when the 

 branches have been but slightly shortened back, marked benefits have 

 been secured, but it can be readily seen that the best results cannot be 



