THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 513 



In Louisiana Bulletin 150, Professor Edgerton says, "It may be that 

 we will find some method of control which will be satisfactory, but from 

 our present knowledge of the trouble it appears that this disease is going 

 to be the most serious of all of the citrus pests. ' ' 



As the climate of Florida and the Gulf States is so much more moist 

 than that of California, it is not likely that it would ever prove such a 

 menace to California, but the state should certainly use every possible 

 means of keeping it from getting in. The disease known as "scab" so 

 common on sour orange and grapefruit in Florida never became estab- 

 lished in California, although it is known that in the earlier days thou- 

 sands of sour orange stock was brought into the state with scabs on the 

 leaves. But citrus canker is due to an entirely different fungus and 

 it is not known Avhat it might do if it once got established in California. 



Stevens describes the appearance of the citrus canker as small, circular 

 spots, from less than one sixteenth to one quarter of an inch across. The 

 spots are raised above the surrounding tissue, are light brown, and com- 

 posed of a spongy mass of dead cells covered by a thin membrane that 

 finally ruptures and turns outward, forming a ragged margin around the 

 spot.' The general appearance of the spots is much the same whether 

 they are found on the leaves, fruit or twigs. 



The disease somewhat resembles the citrus scab and may be mistaken 

 for it by those not acquainted with both diseases. The roundness of the 

 typicalcanker spots, however, which are white to a grayish color, and 

 file fact that they do not distort the leaf or cause wart-like projections, 

 distinguish them from the scab. 



The Florida growers at the present time are making a serious fight 

 to eradicate this disease in the two localities where it has been found. 

 The disease was first found in about 40,000 young trees in two citrus 

 nurseries. Later it was found to have spread to many trees in orchard 

 form. These were first cut back to the stump and sprayed with Bordeaux 

 mixture, with the idea that this would eradicate the disease. When these 

 trees came out again, however, it was found that some of them w^ere again 

 affected. The method now used is to destroy the trees completely by 

 spraying them with distillate, setting them on fire and burning them 

 down to the roots. 



Quoting from a recent number of the Florida Grower, ' ' For this pur- 

 pose they have invented a large blow torch that is fed with distillate and 

 a tree is consumed in a very short time, branches, leaves, stem and fruit, 

 down to the very roots. "In all there h£i?N^£n destroyed up to Sep- 

 tember 10th, over 1,500 trees in orchard form and 100,000 nursery 

 trees in one of the affected localities. The Growers and Shippers 

 League of Florida appropriated $2,000 for inspection work, and it 

 is stated that the work carried on by the growers themselves is cost- 

 ing from $40 to $500 per week. At a recent meeting of the Florida 

 citrus growers held at the Florida Experiment Station, a resolution 

 was passed that each grower in the state be asked to donate one dollar 

 for each acre of citrus fruit ov.ned by him for use in this fight. 



An inexpensive prevention is better than an expensive cure. We are 

 fortunate at this time in California to have had a strict quarantine 

 against citrus stock from the Gulf States. 



As stated above, it is not likely that we are in great_ danger of 

 getting in this disease, with our present quarantine protection in Cali- 

 fornia, but the citrus growers should be informed in regard to it so that 

 if anything suspicious should come up, it would be known at once 

 and dealt with accordingly. 



