282 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



belt, I have not been able to find out. I saw some very fine late 

 peaches that were shipped from Webster county, grown on the farm of 

 €ol. Lisenby. There were several kinds among them, but all were 

 seedlings, some of which would compare favorably with our budded 



fruits. 



Speaking of seedlings, a new one, originating in Polk county, was 



introduced in a small way the present season. The fruit ripens a little 



earlier than anything we have, is of better quality, and is said not to 



rot so bad as those varieties belonging to the Hale family. It is a kind 



of half and half between a free-stone and cling, and is called the Gallon 



peach, the name of the originator. The crop of fruit north of what is 



known as the peach belt, except in some few localities, was light. The 



severe winters of the past had so injured the older trees that they had 



either been cut down or were in no condition to bear, were the season 



ever so favorable. The trees set since are not old enough to bear. 



We cannot advise our northern friends to set peaches extensively 

 for commercial purposes. It is too uncertain. But plant some every 

 year; you will hit it some time, and what a reminder it will be of "ye 

 olden time.'' In a quarterly published by the section of vegetable 

 pathology of the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. Erwin 

 Smith contributes a paper on "peach rot and peach blight." He takes 

 the position that the disease is caused by a parasitic fungus, which pro- 

 duces many small ash-gray tufts on the discolored surface of the rotting 

 fruit. These tufts consist principally of spore dust, which is washed 

 by rains and blown about and causes the rot to develop in sound 

 peaches whenever it falls upon them under proper conditions. Hot 

 and moist weather are the most favorable conditions for the germina- 

 tion of the spores and the rapid spread of the rot. 



The Doctor finds that the fungus lives over the winter in the de- 

 cayed fruit, and in this way is reproduced year after year. The prac- 

 tical importance of this discovery is very great. Could the rotted fruits 

 of one season be entirely destroyed, the fungus would disappear and 

 the rot with it. For this reason all rotting peaches should be re- 

 moved from the trees and buried or burned as soon as discovered. 



These remarks also apply to the rot of plums and cherries, which 

 is caused by the same fungus. ' 



Not being very well posted on fungus and spore dust, I will leave 

 the question to the scientific gentlemen of the society. 



The peach trees have made a strong and vigorous growth the pres- 

 ent season, and notwithstanding the excessive late raius, the young 

 wood seems to be ripening up in fair condition for winter. We hope 

 that the buds will not be injured, and that next year we shall have a 

 bountiful crop of this most delicious of all fruits. 



