31 
itory symptoms are excessive and rather late blooming, the flowers being small or 
mostly unfruitful, and arrested and unnatural development of the foliage, which 
becomes yellow and drops.* 
We could gain no evidence of its contagious nature. A resume of in¬ 
formation concerning this disease has been already published from the 
Department,! and only such additional or conflicting information as we 
have gathered will be here given. 
(2) Distribution .—Like the preceding disease, foot-rot is not confined 
to particular localities, but has a wide distribution. Bad cases occur at 
various points throughout the orange belt; it is more serious in the 
older trees, rarely appearing in trees less than 12 or 15 years old. In 
many places, especially in young groves, it is just beginning to appear, 
but has not yet attracted the attention it merits, for as groves grow 
older and present methods of fertilization continue it is likely to prove 
still more injurious and destructive. Contrary to popular and pub¬ 
lished opinion, it is not confined to sweet seedlings. We have seen bad 
cases in large sour stock budded 2 or 3 feet above ground, in the grape 
fruit, and even in the lemon. 
(3) Causes .—Nothing has come to light that settles upon any definite 
cause for the disease. From all that can be learned, however, it would 
seem that the cause is to be looked for in the defects of cultivation and 
fertilization rather than in any bacterial or fungous parasite. Some 
maintain that it is of a similar nature to die-back and is occasioned and 
cured by the same treatment. There is no visible proof of this state¬ 
ment and no facts to illustrate any genuine cures, as in the case of the 
former disease; it is doubtful if more than temporary relief can be 
gained by this method, for when the disease is well established in the 
tree it is almost certain to girdle it in time in spite of any treatment 
yet discovered. 
(4) Remedies .—Sweet seedlings affected by this disease are frequently 
assisted by planting one or more stands of sour nursery stock near 
the root and budding several branches into the trunk above the in¬ 
fected portion. This at best can furnish only temporary and partial 
relief, for the disease is likely to spread too rapidly in the main trunk 
to allow the budded support time to furnish sufficient nourishment for 
the tree before its own supply is cut off, or the sour stocks are likely to 
be ultimately affected themselves. 
Exposing the crown roots is another method of treatment in favor 
in certain parts. As a preventive it is more likely to be successful 
than as a cure, but it is doubtful if this method will be of any permanent 
value and there is some liability of its proving an injury to the trees 
in other ways. One method of treatment connected with the manner 
of cultivating the trees seems worthy of trial: Cultivate sparingly, 
fertilize more sparingly, and apply no fertilizer nearer than 6 or 7 feet 
* Bulletin No. 2, Florida Agr. Experiment Station, 1888. 
tU. S. Department of Agriculture, Botanical Division, Bulletin No. 8, pp. 51-54 
(1889). 
