AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 393 



use in the next in case there were not enough male flowers formed 

 to produce pollen. 



Professor S. A. Beach, of the Geneva, N. Y., Station, discussed 

 the spraying of plants in bloom. In 1898 a law was passed in New 

 York making it a misdemeanor to spray trees in bloom, but this has 

 been rendered obsolete by the fact that it is shown that spraying 

 when plants are in bloom thins the fruit, since the Bordeaux mix- 

 ture prevents the germination of the pollen. It has been found that 

 even in a solution containing not more than two parts Bordeaux 

 mixture to ten thousand parts of water, apple pollen would not 

 grow. When spraying with Bordeaux mixture is very complete and 

 repeated so that every flower is treated as it opens, the crop will be 

 completely destroyed. 



Mr. M. B. Waite, of the Department of Agriculture, spoke es- 

 pecially on the distribution of plant diseases, and held that bees and 

 wasps were the important factors in distributing the disease known 

 as "plum rot" and also the common "fire blight" of pear and apple 

 trees. In order to get a clear idea of the action of these insects in 

 distributing pear blight, it will be necessary to review somewhat 

 its life history. The spores get into the trees through the flowers, 

 through the growing tops of the new growth and through cracks in 

 the bark. The infection is generally through the flowers, and as a 

 result of it we have what is known as "spur blight," which is only 

 one form of the common "fire blight." The disease generally dies 

 out in the tree at the end of each season, but in some cases may hold 

 over in the thick bark and start the infection for next year. The 

 spores of this disease are found in the exuding gum which is seen in 

 the small postules found on the diseased wood. Pear blight some- 

 times will grow in the nectary of the flowers and no puncture is 

 necessary on the part of the bees in order to carry the infected nectar 

 from one flower to another. Mr. Waite demonstrated this by care- 

 ful experiments. In one case he plucked out the glands from bees 

 and found the germs of pear blight in them. In no case did he find 

 that pear blight was distributed by the win(^, and in no case were 

 flowers infected which were protected by netting against insects. 

 This would show plainly that the disease was not distributed by the 

 wind. The virus which contains the germ is sticky and cannot blow 

 except it be perfectly dry, and then it loses its vitality quickly. 

 However, the helpful side of the bees in the distribution of pollen he 

 regarded as very important, and thought that since many of our 

 varieties of apple and pears are sterile, or partially so, to their own 

 pollen, that bees should be looked upon as a benefit rather than as 



