42 Horticulture. 



Bureau of Soils of the United States Department of Agriculture 

 kindly co-operated to the extent of making the soil observations. 



(2) Experiment with little peach and peaeh yellozvs. — The myste- 

 rious little peach disease has become a serious menace to the peach 

 industry about Youngstown, where peaches form one of the most 

 important and profitable crops among the numerous fruit growers, 

 and a three-year experiment in the Youngstown orchards has been 

 undertaken by this department in co-operation with the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry at Washington, D. C, looking to the control of its 

 ravages. Experiments in other places have shown eradication to 

 be the only promising line of treatment, and that is accordingly the 

 one pursued in this experiment. The method, in brief, is to inspect 

 each orchard twice each year, late in August and about the middle 

 of September, blazing with an ax each diseased tree and requiring 

 the grower to remove it immediately. The second inspection serves 

 to catch any new cases, or any that were overlooked the first time, 

 as well as to enable a final decision on doubtful cases which were 

 allowed to pass the first time, since the approaching maturity of 

 the fruit makes diagnosis easier. A careful count is made of both 

 diseased and healthy trees, and the ratio between the two as the 

 experiment advances shows at once the efficacy of the treatment. 

 Peach yellows is more or less prevalent at Youngstown, and has 

 destroyed many trees, though it is not at present as abundant and 

 menacing as the little peach. The same inspections served for 

 both diseases, and the treatment was identical. It is too soon yet 

 to report on the results of the experiment. The figures show a 

 considerable reduction in the percentage of diseased trees, but this 

 is, of course, in some measure accounted for by the destruction of 

 large numbers of marked trees. On the other hand, the removal 

 of infection centers last year seems, in many cases, efifectually to 

 have checked the spread of the disease. Another year should show 

 .decisive results. 



(3) Vegetable garden survey. — The uiKiuestioned value of the 

 orchard survey at present being conducted by this department has 

 suggested the organization of a similar survey of vegetable gardens. 

 Preliminary steps were accordingly taken this summer to begin 

 such a survey on Long Island, one of the imjHjrtant trucking re- 

 gions in the State, and undoubtedly destined from its favorable 

 location, san(h- soil, and long season to assume a leading position 

 in this industry. S])ecial blanks lia\e been devised for gathering 

 the data. A reconnaissance of the island was made to gain a gen- 

 eral idea of croj) conditions and the location of the trucking areas. 



