THE FRUIT-DISEASE SURVEY 



W. A. MURRILL 



(With Plate 3) 



Encouraged by the success of the field meeting on Long Island 

 in 1919 for the study of potato diseases, the American Phyto- 

 pathological Society decided to hold a similar meeting in 1920 for 

 the study of fruit diseases. The region selected was the Great 

 Valley, extending from Staunton, Virginia, northward into Penn- 

 sylvania, one of the richest and best known fruit-growing dis- 

 tricts in the United States ; and the time was the first week in 

 August, which proved to be a most fortunate selection because of 

 the perfect weather. 



Early Monday, August 2, phytopathologists began to arrive at 

 Staunton from all parts of the country, as well as from several 

 foreign countries, until about 75 had assembled; the attendance 

 being further augmented by horticulturists, entomologists, and 

 other specialists. The mornings and afternoons were devoted to 

 inspection work and the evenings to informal discussions of the 

 fungi causing the diseases observed and the various methods of 

 control. No better method could be devised for meeting the 

 problems which pathologists have to face, and, in my opinion, the 

 meeting under discussion was the greatest in the history of plant 

 pathology. 



I have prepared a popular account of this survey for the 

 Garden Journal; and Dr. G. R. Lyman, who was mainly respons- 

 ible for its success, has published a brief report on it in the 

 November number of Phytopathology. The following paragraph 

 is taken from his report. 



August 3 was devoted to a tour of the Staunton-Harrisonburg 

 district in Virginia, and included the inspection of interesting 

 demonstrations of apple root-rot and cedar rust, and comparative 

 dusting and spraying experiments for control of various apple 



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