Fungous Dishasks of Plants, Placii Yellows 165 



trainini; as a stiuicnt and investigator of tlic sciences whicli underlie 

 these pursuits peculiarly ht you lor the position. I sliall take pleasure in 

 lending my intluence to secure your appointment, not only because 1 think 

 you will lind it a suitable place in which to exercise your powers, but 

 because I believe the interests of the state, particularly the fruit interests, 

 will he promoted by your appointment. Consider me at your service. 



In the spring of 1SS8 Bailey, at first refusing the directorship 

 of the agricultural experiment station at Cornell University, 

 accepted an offer from there of the first American professorship 

 of experimental and practical horticulture. At Michigan Agri- 

 cultural College he had built and equipped, if not the first, one 

 of the first American experimental laboratories devoted exclusively 

 to work in horticulture. His ambition was to remain in research, 

 and on May 16 he wrote Smith his belief that any directorship 

 was not desirable for the specialist because of the excessive amount 

 of time required for "purely executive matters." 



Nevertheless, Smith was interested in the Delaware position 

 because in March he had been advised by Fulton that the state 

 might appropriate special funds for an investigation of peach 

 yellows. As late as May he was not definitely sure that the federal 

 investigation would be resumed. Early in March he submitted to 

 Scribner a copy of his report " so far as written " and received his 

 general criticism that what was wanted was " an account of the 

 investigations [he] had made in the field and laboratory together 

 with a brief history of the disease." He learned from several 

 sources that Congress was being asked for funds to renew the 

 investigation sometime in the spring or at the beginning of the 

 next fiscal year. In fact, on March 30, Scribner requested from him 

 a special statement for Congress "as to what [he had] accom- 

 plished and the probability of reaching definite results within a 

 reasonable period." He returned to the Section of Vegetable 

 Pathology his microscope, note books, and a package containing 

 forceps, shears, and other equipment. But he retained his "dried 

 and alcoholic specimens, negatives and photos," probably to pre- 

 pare slides to illustrate his account of his histological examinations. 



Since the spring of 1887 he had had in mind taking advanced 

 study in biology at Johns Hopkins or in fungi at Harvard. He 

 had done neither, and now with an opportunity before him he 

 had chosen to continue his orchard studies at his home at Hubbard- 



