1911.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 59 



the i>alls is, according to Smith and Townsend,' a s])ccies of 

 bacilhis; and, if true, this would exphiiu the readiness with 

 which the disease spreads and infects heretofore uninfected 

 areas. It appears to be doubtful, however^ whether the organ- 

 ism causing crown gall of the raspberry is identical with that 

 causing the galls on the apple, at least in this territory, since 

 i-aspbcrries have been affected for many years in this State, and 

 fruit trees only recentl}' ; moreover, raspberries have been grown 

 for years in close proximity to fruit trees in all stages of de- 

 velopment without the slightest evidence of gall infection. 



I'nusual interest is now being shown in fruit growung in this 

 State, and the appearance of a disease of this nature must be 

 given consideration. Considerable difference of opinion exists 

 in regard to the effect crown gall may have upon a tree, and 

 there is still much to be learned in regard to the seriousness of 

 this trouble. Some authorities claim that crown gall does no 

 harm whatsoever, while others give alarming accounts of the 

 serious damage it causes. It would appear, however, that crown 

 gall is less to be dreaded in New England than in some other sec- 

 tions of the United States. This is the opinion of F. C. Stewart 

 of the Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y., 

 who has had unusual opportunities to observe crown gall in the 

 New York orchards and nurseries. The most intelligent or- 

 chardists, however, prefer stock free from the disease, and most 

 of them refuse to accept contaminated stock from a nursery 

 firm. A very large amount of infected nursery stock has, how- 

 ever, undoubtedly been shipped into this State and planted with- 

 out the buyer knowing that it was affected. 



We have had many opportunities recently to observe crown 

 gall on apple, pear and peach trees, and in some cases on the 

 Carolina poplar, but we have seen only one or two instances 

 where trees have been so badly affected that they have died from 

 the effects of the disease. Much affected stock has been thrown 

 away and burned, not being considered suitable to place on the 

 market. Crown gall on fruit tree stock has become so general 

 in nurseries at the present time that one large concern has found 

 it practically impossible to obtain stock free from it, and this 



» E. F. Smith and C. O. Townsend, Science, n. s., Vol. 25, April, 1907, pp. 671-673, also Vol. 

 30, No. 763, Aug. 13, 1909, p. 223. 



