FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
The writer saw, what now appears to 
have been the first citrus canker seen in 
Florida, at Monticello 1 , Sept. 30, 1912. 
Specimens were collected, as the thing 
looked suspicious, and referred to plant 
pathologists, who diagnosed it as common 
citrus scab. No stock was sold out of the 
block, less than one acre, as the owners 
became financially embarrassed and the 
stock was temporarily abandoned. 
In April, 1913, specimens from Silver 
Palm, South Dade county, were received 
at the Experiment Station (Bui. 122) and 
the disease recognized as something dif¬ 
ferent than scab; but the Nursery Inspec¬ 
tor did not learn of this until he had him¬ 
self received specimens from there. In 
July, 1913, under date of the 18th, the 
first specimens and a letter were received 
from Deputy Inspector, E. V. Blackman, 
appraising the inspector of a new disease 
in a nursery at Silver Palm, On July 28, 
the Inspector personally visited this 
nursery, saw the disease and collected 
specimens. Certificate was withheld and 
treatment recommended which resulted 
in materially reducing the amount of in¬ 
fection. The nursery was again visited 
on December 15, 1913 and April 21, 1914, 
and comparatively few specimens of the 
disease found. 
On Sept. 23, 1913, the block at Monti¬ 
cello in which the suspected material had 
been found on Sept. 30, 1912, was again 
visited and the infection recognized as 
being the same as the one in Dade county. 
Certificate was withheld and the block 
later grubbed up and burned. Two other 
isolated blocks at Monticello found in¬ 
fected in Sept., 1913. were later volun¬ 
tarily burned by the owners. 
Preliminary reports on the presence of 
a new citrus disease in Florida were made 
at the Citrus Seminar at Gainesville in 
Oct., 1913, by Prof. H. E. Stevens and 
the writer. On February 11, 1914, the 
disease was discussed by the writer at a 
Farmers’ Institute at Lakeland. In 
March, 1914, Bui. 122, Citrus Canker, 
Fla. Expt. Station, was published and 
mailed to the public in April. The dis¬ 
ease was again discussed in April, 1914, 
at the Palatka meeting of this Society. 
In May, 1914, the first specimens were 
received at the Experiment Station from 
a grove in South Dade County. On May 
19th, the writer conducted Mr. Frank 
Stirling, a deputy inspector of nursery 
stock, but under pay of the Florida Grow¬ 
ers and Shippers League, to Silver Palm, 
Dade county, to look up infected places, 
and to advise and assist in the treatment 
of infected stock as directed in Nursery 
Inspector Circular 8. On June 4th, 1914, 
citrus canker was discussed at a large 
meeting of growers at the Redland P. O., 
Dade County. Mr. Stirling has told us 
in Bulletin 124, Florida Exp. Station, 
what happened after that and will tell us 
more today. 
DISTRIBUTION IN FLORIDA. 
In view, of the fact that Mr. Stir¬ 
ling will give details on the distribution of 
citrus canker in Dade county, I shall limit 
myself to the distribution outside of that 
county. 
When at the Citrus Seminar on Sept. 
23, 1914, the growers of the state had 
taken steps to raise funds for the purpose 
of tracing and inspecting every suspected 
