6 BULLETIN" 829, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUBE. 



but only about one-fourth of the cane fields in this county harbor 

 the infection at all. The affected area is quite sharply delimited, all of 

 the disease being confined at present to farms located on the high- 

 ways leading out from Cairo. The cane fields in Georgia consist 

 usually of a few acres grown for sirup making. It is quite possible 

 that by prompt and energetic action this community could free 

 itself from the mosaic disease in short order. 



Cane fields are distributed over practically the whole State of 

 Florida, but the crop is grown largely for sirup for home use and 

 the cane patches are even smaller than those in Georgia. Mosaic 

 has been widely scattered over the State by the distribution of cut- 

 tings from experimental plats grown for the purpose of testing 

 varieties. There are only two points, however, where the disease 

 has spread so as to include any considerable area, namely, the vicini- 

 ties of Marianna and Bristol. Other points in Florida where mosaic 

 has been found include Apalachicola, Tallahassee, Punta Gorda, 

 Palmetto, De Land, "Winterhaven, Chattahoochee, Muscogee, and 

 Canal Point. These are all purely local infections, and in some cases 

 the disease has not yet spread more than a few rods from the 

 original plantings shipped in from other States. An eradication 

 campaign would be entirely practicable in Florida. 



Mosaic has been discovered at only one point, Biloxi, in Mississippi. 

 From the farm on which it first appeared it spread to one other farm 

 in the vicinity. 



In Alabama similarly, it was found only on one place, near Mus- 

 cogee, Fla. It was confined to the farm where it first appeared. 



Final reports on the results of the inspection in Texas must be 

 deferred, since the survey is still under way in that State. 



The survey has also been very illuminating concerning the prob- 

 able time of introduction of the disease into this country and the- 

 method of its subsequent spread here. Since 1913 a prohibitory 

 regulation has been placed upon the introduction of sugar cane into 

 the continental United States, and it is probable that no cane has 

 been introduced since that time. Prior to 1913 varieties of sugar 

 cane were imported many times by private individuals and by various 

 Government agencies. The Sugar Experiment Station of the Louisi- 

 ana State University, at Audubon Park, has been particularly active 

 in importing new varieties, with the idea of securing some higher in 

 sugar content and yield than those already grown here. Whether the 

 mosaic was introduced by the experiment station or by private indi- 

 viduals no particular blame attaches to those who are responsible for 

 the importation of this obscure disease. There is no known method 

 by which the presence of the disease in cuttings can be positively 

 established. It is merely pointed out that such an importation 

 would be practically impossible with the present quarantine against 



