4 BULLETIISr 395, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



than in the United States, the disease has received only mmor atten- 

 tion from foreign writers. Von Thtimen (1877) reported its occur- 

 rence in Austria; Cobb (1894, p. 385-386), in Australia; Craig (1898, 

 p. 40), in Canada; Oudemans (1901, p. 388), in Holland; Sorauer 

 (1908, p. 252), in southern Europe; and Evans (1911, p. 696), in South 

 Africa. 



ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE.! 



Badly scabbed fruit is seriously reduced in market value (1) by 

 its unsightly appearance (PL I, figs. 1 and 2) ; (2) by its lack of uni- 

 formity in size, shape, and evenness of ripening; (3) by the cracking 

 of individual or of confluent lesions (PI. I, fig. 1, and PI. II) and the 

 consequent increment in destructive fungal and bacterial invasions — 

 notably brown-rot (Sderotinia cinerea (Bon.) Schrot.) (PI. II, upper 

 figure) ; and (4), in severe cases, by its impaired flavor. Further loss 

 may be occasioned by the premature shedding or shriveling of fruits 

 which are badly scabbed about the attachment of the peduncle. 



Many -svriters have reported severe economic losses from peach scab. 

 Selby (1904, p. 63) recorded heavy losses in Ohio. KoKs (1909, p. 66) 

 states— 



At least 60 per cent of the Elberta fruit on the station ground during the season 

 of 1906 was ruined by this organism [Cladosporium carpophilum]. The loss was even 

 greater on a number of other varieties. 



Scott and Ayres (1910, p. 14) write — 



The damage done by this disease is apparently not fully realized by peach growers. 

 Scab spots are so common on the peach that most of the eastern growers have come to 

 take the disease as a matter of com-se and scarcely realize that their fruit is bringing 

 25 per cent less in the market than the same fruit free from scab would bring. * * * 

 In many localities it practically prohibits the growing of certain varieties * * * 

 and the growers have been obliged to confine their plantings of such late varieties as 

 Bilyeu and Salway to the high ridges in order to avoid scab. 



Scott and Quaintance (1911, p. 10-11) say — 



If the loss in the orchard and the reduction in market value are both considered, it 

 seems evident that a loss of 10 per cent of the total value of the i^each crop in the eastern 

 United States is caused by jjeach scab. 



In order to supplement the data from published records and per- 

 sonal observations, an inquiry concerning the economic importance 

 of the disease in the various States was included in the questionnaire 

 referred to on the preceding page. The answers showed a consensus 

 of opinion that, unless controlled, the disease may occasion serious 

 losses in practically every important peach-producing State east of 

 the Rocky Mountains. 



In formulating a more concrete conception of the economic impor- 

 tance of the disease, it is of interest to refer to the estimates of the 

 latest census report ^ from which the data in Table I are taken. 



1 See estimates and notes by Mr. M. B. Waite, p. 45-46. 



2 Thirteenth Census of the United States ... v. 5, Agrieultm-e, 1909-10, p. Vll, tab. 133. 1913. 



