198 Investigations in Plant Pathology 



Fairchild diseased pear flowers and leaves that he might make 

 some cultures of a fungus and inoculate pear flowers there when 

 they opened. May 7, Fairchild, at Geneva, wrote to Smith, still at 

 Dover: 



I have not yet had time to examine the pear blossoms, but will, of 

 course, attend to them this morning the first thing. I am very much 

 interested indeed in the disease, and have spent some time in growing it 

 in culture media. It seems to me possible that we can follow this fungus 

 through its whole life history, and perhaps find a number of very interest- 

 ing points in connection with it. I have just been looking at a culture 

 which I made of a fungus I found very abundantly, in fact almost uni- 

 versally, growing within the hairs situated just below the buds of apples, 

 especially the fruit buds. If possible, I wish to establish the connection 

 between this fungus and the scab beyond a doubt. 



Director Peter Collier of the Geneva station had placed at 

 Fairchild's disposal the station's facilities, and he was inaugurating 

 some far-reaching experiments. The substance of these- — treat 

 ments of pear leaf-blight, cracking, and scab, treatments of 

 nursery-stock diseases of cherry, plum, quince, pears, apple, and 

 peach— would be reported, together with work on grape black 

 rot at Sterling, Virginia, some nursery work exammations at 

 Mullikan, Maryland, and results of E. S. Golf's experimental 

 studies of treatments of apple scab m Wisconsin, in bulletin 3 of 

 the Division, prepared by Galloway and styled, " Report on the 

 experiments made in 1891 in the Treatment of Plant Diseases." ^^ 



One Saturday night, on June 27, 1891, Fairchild, in a mood to 

 put aside his work for a while and chat with Smith, exchanged 

 congratulations. Some inoculation experiments which Smith had 

 started in Georgia the year before to study the new disease often 

 confused with peach yellows, peach rosette, had exceeded even the 

 fondest hopes. "Now for the specific germ of the trouble," 

 Fairchild suggested. 



When is it to be found and will it grow upon anything but living peach 

 tissue.'' It seems to me you are gradually nearing your goal. Smith, and 

 must corner the cause soon. 



My indoor work has been spent mostly in studying upon the philosophy 

 of the fungicides. I find little has been done in the matter and find also 

 that the investigation of biological questions is no easy task. 



Last week I spent several days at Cornell looking through the library 



" Washington, Gov't Print. Office, 1892. 



