52 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



agreed by owners of large colonies to remove them to a distance of 

 5 miles from the orchards during the season of bloom, which in Cali- 

 fornia is largely synchronous with the season of growth. This 

 experiment, which will be made the coming season, should supplj'^ 

 data for future action, and in order to collect it records of several 

 orchards will be made in a comparative way to show the number of 

 infections before and after the removal of the bees. This work will 

 have to be done on a large scale and continued through several years. 

 It is also i^roposed to shortly determine the identity or nonidentity of 

 pear blight and the new blight of the loquat, the bacterial nature of 

 the latter being already known. 



Tuberculosis of the olive. — This destructive disease has been 

 studied in both the field and the laboratory during the past year, and 

 the work has led to the conclusion that the disease may be practically 

 controlled in the State, and that naturally resistant varieties of olives 

 may be found. It is proposed to conduct spraying experiments for 

 the control of this disease the current year, and as soon as suitable 

 quarters for infection experiments are secured it is also proi)osed to 

 test the comparative resistance of different varieties of olives to the 

 disease and to study the action of germicides. A specially con- 

 structed hothouse, so planned that it can be easily disinfected, will 

 be necessary for this work. 



Diseases of the vine. — A serious disease of vines, which is now 

 destroying thousands of acres of vineyards in the Santa Clara Valley, 

 has been studied, and the field work has resulted in the selection of 

 a resistant root. These facts have alread}^ been given to the vine- 

 yardists through the California press, and will probably enable the 

 vine growers to reset their vineyards with ultimate success. There 

 are many reasons for believing that this root will save the vineyards 

 of southern California from the ravages of the California vine disease, 

 and numerous vine growers are already preparing to test it on a scale 

 commensurate with the heavy interests involved. Should these tests 

 prove that the root is able to successfully support a tender top in the 

 affected district one of the most obscure and destructive vine diseases 

 known will be overcome in a simple and practical manner. Hundreds 

 of acres of vines are also being grafted in the Sacramento Valley upon 

 roots of vines found to be resistant in southern California to the 

 disease in question. These extensive experiments are being directed 

 and followed with interest. The coming season the testing of vine 

 roots supposed to be resistant to the California vine disease will be 

 greatly extended and the work on the vine trouble in the Santa Clara 

 Valley will be continued. 



A new raisin and table grape of fine quality, the result of crossing 

 the Muscatel with the Almeria, is also being tested in the district in 

 southern California where the California vine disease is prevalent. 

 Thus far, it is growing finely, with no evidence of disease, but too 

 little time has elapsed since planting to admit of any proper estimate 

 of its hardiness. The testing of this grape will be continued in south- 

 ern California. 



Blight of sugar beets. — A thorough field study and careful laboratory 

 investigations of a so-called beet blight, which caused heavy losses 

 and considerable alarm in California during the .season of 1900, have 

 been carried on. The results obtained from the work have been 

 against the opinion that the trouble is of a parasitic nature, but sup- 



