Ox Plant Patiioi.ogy and Bacthriology 121 



homelike, the people are so cordial, niui doctrine is so much to my liking 

 that I sh.dl go to church regularly. 



The four members of the faculty with whom Smith was best 

 acquainted were Professors Vau<;han, Steere, Harrington, and 

 Spalding. For the purposes of this book, his work under Spalding 

 was, of course, most important. Burrill and Arthur had phiced 

 before scientists studies of not only pear blight but also of peach 

 yellows '^^ and other serious crop maladies. Smith soon knew 

 what his specialt)- in 'botanical research and his life work were 

 to be. He first finished the required courses for his degree, and 

 with the completion of the first semester he looked forward to the 

 end of the "' grind." 



The "interesting group of parasitic fungi" which he studied 

 were the Peronosporaceae. At the twentieth annual sessions of the 

 American Pomological Society which had met in September of 

 that year at Grand Rapids, Bessey, Burrill, Arthur, and Riley had 

 discussed various aspects of plant disease research. Smith and 

 Spalding were acquainted with many of the delegates who at- 

 tended these meetings. Arthur, after he had returned to Geneva, 

 had written Smith on October 1 and expressed special interest in 

 his university studies. He or Spalding, Garfield, Bailey, Beal, or 

 Cook might have recommended the Peronosporas for study. 



In December 1885 Smith published in the Mkhigan Crop Re- 

 port'''^ the results of his microscopic study of "The Potato Rot," 

 caused by the fungus Phytophthora [Peronospora'] infestans. He 

 based his study of the fungus' life history on the work of DeBary, 

 and so "very carefully prepared and concise [was his] statement 

 of this disease, and preventive measures " he thought possible that 

 it was reprinted, at least in part, in the third annual report ^'" of 

 the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station where W. A. 

 Henry was now director. 



^"^ See, T. J. Burrill, Bacteria as a cause of disease in plants, America?! Naturalist 

 15: 527, 1881. In this he added ""yellows' of the peach with much confi- 

 dence," admitting, however, that, as yet, the " full investigation " given to pear 

 blight had not been completed for peach yellows. Also J. C. Arthur, Pear bhght, 

 its cause and prevention," Proc. Neir Jersey State Hort. Soc. 11th Ann. Meet., 

 Dec. 29, 30, 1885: 133-147, 1886. In a letter to Smith of December 4, 1890, 

 Arthur said that his and Goff's studies at Geneva of peach yellows were mentioned 

 at several points (pp. 44, 45, 51). 



"" 50: 3-5. 



'"' (1886), pp. 56-59. 



