114 HISTORY OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY 



eminent American pathologist, W. A. Orton. 1 During the 

 decade from 1899 to 1909 he obtained by selection and 

 breeding strains of cotton, melons, and cowpeas resistant 

 to Fusarium wilt fungi. His results at once stimulated 

 wide-spread search for disease-resistant strains in many 

 other of our cultivated crops. 



The Epiphytotic of Chestnut Blight. This, the most 

 devastating disease of modern times, was first observed in 

 New York City abut 1904. At this time it was found to 

 be thoroughly established on Long Island and the im- 

 mediate vicinity of New York City. It then spread 

 rapidly in all directions from this center, and by 1914 had 

 extended throughout the southern New England States, 

 southern Vermont, New Hampshire, the Hudson Valley 

 and the eastern half of Pennsylvania, as well as south 

 through New Jersey, Delaware, eastern West Virginia, 

 Maryland, and northern Virginia. Its ravages aroused 

 general alarm among laymen as well as pathologists. 

 Large sums of money were appropriated both by the 

 Federal Government and by several of the states for 

 the purposes of investigation and control. While all 

 efforts to stay its progress have failed, it has served to 

 impress upon the people of the United States the danger 

 from such destructive plant diseases, and has resulted in a 



1 The following papers by Orton should be consulted: The wilt disease 

 of cotton and its control, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Veg. Phys. and Path. 

 Bui. 27 : 1-15, 1900; Some diseases of the cowpea, U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Bu. PI. Ind. Bui. 17 : 1-36, 1902; On the breeding of disease- resistant 

 varieties, Hort. Soc. New York, Mem., 1 : 41-52, 1902; Plant breeding as a 

 factor in controlling plant diseases, Amer. Breeders' Assoc., 1 : 69-72, 

 1905; On the theory and practice of breeding disease-resistant plants, 

 Amer. Breeders' Assoc., 3 : 144-156, 1908; The development of disease- 

 resistant varieties of plants, IV Conference Internat. de genetique, Paris, 

 1911, Comp. Rend, et Rapports, pp. 247-261, 1913. 



