20 PEACH LEAF CURL: ITS NATUKE AND TREATMENT. 



Sixty-three per cent of these (158 growers) reported that their 

 orchards were affected, and 37 per cent (93 growers) reported that 

 their trees had not' been troubled by it. Of the 158 whose trees 

 were affected, Qid per cent (101 growers), or about 42 per cent of the 

 251 orchardists reporting on this disease, reported more or less loss. 

 The growers who reported loss were residents of 21 States, and were 

 scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The losses sustained varied 

 from a small amount of fruit to the entire crop, and in some instances 

 many of the young trees were killed. Of the entire number of reports 

 received as to the presence or absence of curl in the orchard of the 

 grower, 93 came from States or sections of the countrj^ where little 

 leaf curl prevails, as Texas, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, etc., so that 

 the data should be strictly representative of the peach-growing coun- 

 try as a whole. The replies received were from Alabama, Arizona, 

 Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Geor- 

 gia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, 

 Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jer- 

 sey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, 

 Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. 



The amount of loss sustained by the 12 per cent of the growers 

 reporting losses is given in the replies in various waj^s. Some 

 growers have reduced their loss to dollars and cents; others have indi- 

 cated the loss in percentage of crop; while still others have used some 

 term, such as "slight" loss, '" small" loss, etc., as a reply to the 

 inquiry. In estimating the true loss sustained by these growers a 

 uniform system has been adopted. Where the loss has been stated in 

 dollars the amount has been recorded as given. Where the loss is given 

 in percentage of crop the cash loss has been determined from the basis 

 used by the United States Census Bureau in determining the value of 

 peach crops for the Eleventh Census. A full peach crop was valued 

 at i>150 per acre, and all portions of a crop at the same rate. Where 

 the report of the grower was indefinite, the statement being that the 

 loss was small, it has been placed at $2.50 per acre, which amounts to 

 about 2i cents per tree as usually planted. It is probable that this 

 is much below the average loss in such cases, as a loss so small as 

 this would usually escape notice. In all the calculations in these esti- 

 mates an effort is made not to overrate the loss. These calculations 

 gave a loss to the growers averaging $10.95 per acre for the acreage 

 reported as suffering from the disease, or 12 per cent of the full area. 

 This IS equivalent to about ^.60 per acre for the entire acreage, or 

 about 1 cents per tree. At first thought this may seem high, but this 

 is more apparent than real. If one 10-acre orchard loses its crop from 

 curl, valued at $150 per acre, the loss amounts to $1,500. There may 

 be 32 other orchards of 10 acres each all alwut this orchard where not 

 a peach is lost, yet the average for such a district is the same as that 

 stated. This is perhaps a clearer manner of putting the matter than 



