CIbe flational lurser^tnaii 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK 
The National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated. 
Vol. XIX 
ROCHESTER, N. Y., APRIL. 1911 
No. 
CROWN-GALL OF PLANTS 
Caused by a Bacterium; Different Forms Readily Communicable; Causes 
and Remedy Fully Discussed 
Important Bulletin by Dr. Erwin F. Smith, Pathologist U. S. Department of Agriculture 
A very important 
contribution to our 
knowledge of the nature 
of this disease has re¬ 
cently appeared from 
the press of the Bureau 
of Plant Industry in 
Bulletin No. 213, under 
the authorship of Erwin 
F. Smith, Nellie A. 
Brown, and C. O. Town¬ 
send. This was issued 
February 28, 1911. It 
is a bulletin of 215 
pages, including the in¬ 
dex, and some 3 6 plates. 
This subject is one of 
great interest to nur¬ 
serymen. It formed an 
important part of the 
discussion at the last 
annual meeting in Den¬ 
ver, and the information 
in the nature of experi¬ 
ence of nurserymen with 
the disease contributed 
by the practical growers 
was significant and very 
important. It will be 
remembered that the 
Department of Agricul¬ 
ture placed a special 
agent in charge of the 
investigation of this 
disease some six or seven 
years ago, and that this 
agent, Mr. George G. 
Hedgcock, has published 
two or three bulletins 
giving the results of his 
investigations. These 
studies were not conclu¬ 
sive as to the cause of 
the disease,'but the last 
bulletin, a review of 
which appears in The 
National Nurseryman 
for January, 1911, pre¬ 
sented a number of 
recommendations based 
upon the above studies 
for the control of the 
disease in nursery and 
orchard. It did not, 
however, make any 
definite statements as 
to the primal cause of 
the different forms of 
the galls. Mr. Hedg¬ 
cock recommended the 
use of the best grades 
of seedlings, the avoid¬ 
ing of blunt ends of the 
root and scion, and 
wrapping with unwaxed 
cloth. He also recom¬ 
mended the packing of 
the grafts in sand, and 
the avoidance of those 
varieties like Wealthy, 
Yell o w Transparent, 
Wolf River, Ben Davis, 
and Northern Spy, 
which appear to be most 
susceptible to crown- 
gall. Such precautions 
as given above were 
the means of decreasing 
the percentage of 
diseased trees some 
Plate XI, Bul. 213 , Bureau of 
Pl. Ind., U. S. Dept. Agr. 
1. Peach on peach; inoculated 
Dec. s. ’° 7 - Time: 41 days. 
2 . Daisy on peach; inoculated 
Apr. 6.’07. Time; 3 months, 
6 days. 
3. Peach on peach, second series 
inoculated Jan. 13 , ’08. Time 
so days. 
