New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 87 



INTRODUCTION. 



The principal object of this bulletin is to give an account of 

 some recent field experiments on the treatment of the black rot^ 

 of cabbage by the prompt removal of affected leaves. This line 

 of treatment, having been wholly unsuccessful, will hereafter be 

 abandoned; but experiments on the treatment of the disease, on 

 both cabbage and cauliflower, will be continued along other lines. 

 There are in progress also, supplementary investigations on the 

 disease itself and on a soft rot^ frequently associated with it. 

 Inasmuch as other and more exhaustive publications on black 

 rot are contemplated by the writers only a brief account of the 

 disease will be given at this time. Those wishing a more com- 

 plete account should consult Wis. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 65, A Bac- 

 terial Rot of Cabbage and Allied Plants; and U. S. Dep't of Agr. 

 Farmers' Bui. 68, The Black Rot of the Cabbage. 



THE DISEASE. 



economic importance in new YORK. 



An epidemic of black rot on cabbage and cauliflower occurred 

 on Long Island in 1895-6 and in 1898 the cabbage raising sec- 

 tions in the central and western portions of the State were swept 

 by this trouble. In some cases entire fields were totally destroyed 

 by this disease and the loss throughout the State amounted to 

 many thousands of dollars. Since 1898, while the damage has 

 been less universal, there have been each year isolated fields where 

 the loss was considerable. The financial loss upon cabbage occurs 

 principally upon the later varieties, the Danish being especially 

 subject to attack. 



PREVIOUS investigations. 



This disease of cabbage and cauliflower was first reported by 

 Garman^a in 1890, was studied by one of us on Long Island in 



"^ Pseudoinonas campestris (Pam.) Smith. 



2 A preliminary report of the investigations on soft rot was published in Science, 

 N. S., 16: 314-315. Aug. 22, 1902. 

 *a Garman, H. A Bacterial Disease of Cabbage. Ky. Exp. Stat. Rep. 1890; 43. 



