FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
27 
Those of you who are older will bear 
me out when I say that many of the trou¬ 
bles which gave promise of becoming real 
and grievous have faded away, and many 
insects and diseases which once disturbed 
us greatly are now relatively unimpor¬ 
tant. Let me refer more particularly to 
our citrus and other trees. 
Foot-rot, or mal-di-goma, owing to the 
planting of budded citrus trees on resist¬ 
ant stocks, has become an almost un¬ 
known disease. Had we continued to 
plant seedling orange trees it might have 
done for Florida what it once did for 
others of the world’s citrus districts—it 
might have wiped out the citrus industry. 
The very fact that sour orange trees were 
so numerous in the early days in districts 
where our citrus culture was first estab¬ 
lished was a providential provision of no 
mean importance. In using them for 
stocks, the early growers acted more wise¬ 
ly than they knew. 
Writing in 1883, Moore says: “Per¬ 
haps the most formidable disease which 
lias yet made its appearance is the ‘Die- 
back.’ In 1900 it was still a disorder of 
considerable importance. Yet I venture 
to say that in 1911 it is comparatively 
unknown. More intelligent culture, fer¬ 
tilizing and selection of soil and perhaps 
•other and unknown forces have driven 
it out. Will it ever again become so 
prevalent as it once was? It may, but I 
believe not. Other and newer diseases 
are attracting our attention, but so ably 
are these being handled by our investiga¬ 
tors and so accurately and quickly are 
their causes being determined that I be¬ 
lieve their natural course will be greatly 
shortened. 
Among our newer fruits the pecan is 
assuming a place of very considerable im¬ 
portance. Early in the last decade pecan 
rosette, a mysterious disease, aroused the 
attention of pecan planters. It appeared 
to be gaining headway at an alarming 
rate. Today it is far less common, and I 
verily believe that within a few years it 
will have almost disappeared. Pecan scab, 
another pecan disease, was pointed out as 
a serious menace to the welfare of the in¬ 
dustry. And a real menace it is to any 
variety of pecan susceptible to the whole 
force of its attack. Such a variety is 
doomed. But it has been pointed out in 
the last two or three years that certain va¬ 
rieties are entirely exempt from its at¬ 
tacks and some others so slightly affected 
that they may for all practical purposes be 
classed with the immune varieties. The 
way out is clear. 
Already we are at the dawn of a new 
era in the handling of plant diseases. I11 
this new era the resistant and immune 
plant will take the place of the suscepti¬ 
ble weakling that succumbs to the inroads 
of its fungous enemies. A stronger race 
of plants will be reared to take their 
places. 
Turning from the fungous to our in¬ 
sect problems. When the long scale made 
its appearance at Mandarin, Fla., about 
1857, it was believed that it threatened 
the destruction of the citrus industrv. 
J 
While I do not wish to minimize the in¬ 
jury caused by this or any other insect, 
yet the industry has survived the attacks 
of this and related scale insects. Years 
ago it was pointed out by Rolfs and oth¬ 
ers that various scale insects were in 
nearly all cases being ably taken care of 
