
          VII

In this connection it may be of interest to
pathologists to call attention to early records
which the manuscript and drawings contain
relating to plant diseases, some of which were
not described or apparently were but little
known at that time to botanists or mycologists, 
and one of which at least was not
recognized until fifty years later. There were
few mycologists in this country or Europe at
that early period and many diseases were not
of sufficient economic importance to attract
their attention. In fact most of the growers,
if they paid any attention to fruit spots at
all, considered them a part of the fruit. Many
of the diseases now well known were doubtless
of common occurrence even then, and perhaps
much earlier. Microscopes of any decided
magnification were then unknown, and scientists 
of those days can hardly be blamed for
failing to make such observations.

In Coxe’s published work of 1817 but one
disease is mentioned, the fire blight of the
pear (Bacillus amylovorus (Burr.) De Toni)
which evidently then as now was a serious disease 
towards the eradication of which but little
progress apparently has been made in the 100
years which have followed. In the season of
1915 which was unusually wet, this disease
swept over a large part of the apple-producing
section of the country, doing great damage to
the trees. Stevens and Hall state¹  that this
has been known over 100 years. It is probable
that much earlier records could be found by
the examination of older literature. The organism 
that causes the blight was not described 
until 1888.

In the unpublished colored drawings and
the manuscript accompanying them are found
descriptions or very accurate colored illustrations 
of the following fungous diseases:

Leaf Blight (Fabraea maculata (Lev.) Atk.).
—The species was first issued in exsiccati by
Léveillé in 1843 as Entomosporium maculatum
and described somewhat later. The characteristic 
fruit spots are well depicted on both the
pear and apple.

Pear Scab (Venturia pyrina Aderh.). —This
was for many years confused with the apple
scab and was not separately described until 
1896.

¹ Stevens, F. L., and Hall, J. G., 11 Diseases of
Economic Plants,’’ 101, 1910.

Apple Scab (Venturia inæqualis (Cooke)
Winter). —This was first described under
Sphærella by Cooke in 1871.

Flyspeck of Apple (Leptothyrium pomi
(Mont. & Fr.) Sacc.). —This was first described 
under Labrella in 1834. The sooty
blotch (Phyllachora pomigena (Schw.) Sacc.)
according to Duggar is only one stage of the
flyspeck, and was first described by Schweinitz
under Dothidea in 1832. Both are well illustrated 
on a number of varieties of apples.

Bitter Rot (Glomerella rufomaculans
(Berk.) Spauld. & Von Schrenk). —This was
first described by Berkeley under Septoria in
1854.  Spaulding and Von Schrenk did not
discover an earlier reference to the disease.
In the Coxe manuscript under date of May
30, 1829, the bitter rot is referred to as common, 
with the statement that the author had
been told by John Hoskins the elder that
slaked lime was a good remedy for the disease. 
In accordance with this suggestion he
spread a peck of slaked lime around each of 21
apple trees and worked it into the soil. No
notes were made as to results, owing to his
early death.

Fruit Spot (Cylindrosporium pomi Brooks).
This disease is well illustrated on several varieties 
of apples and has been identified beyond
question by Mr. Brooks. The disease was first
discovered by Brooks in 1896. He states that
it was first reported in Germany by Sorauer in
1879 and in this country by Jones in 1891. It
was evidently not previously distinguished
from the bitter rot.

Peach Scab (Cladosporium carpophilum
Thüm.). —This was first described by von .
Thümen in 1879.

Probably other fungi are figured on the various 
fruits but none that can be identified with
accuracy.

A reference is also made in the manuscript
to worms around the roots of peach trees which
are said to cause an exudation of gum. This
probably refers to the larvae of some boring
insect. An attempt was made to get rid of
them by applying a handful of salt around the
roots once or twice a season with the only result,
however, that the larvae were more numerous 
after the application than before.

P. L. Ricker

Bureau of Plant Industry
        