289 
the literature, much careful observation has been recorded,. 
which in the light of present knowledge, becomes specially 
interesting and of practical importance. A few selected 
titles of the more important articles which have appeared 
from time to time are appended to this report, and will 
serve to outline the trend of thought upon the subject from 
the earliest record yet found to the present. The early his- 
tory of the disease is obscure, only one item having yet. 
come to hand antedating 1800. The writer will be glad to- 
receive information of articles or items on the subject. 
printed in the last century. 
Summary.—The salient results of the year’s work may 
be summed up as follows: The direct proof that the disease. 
is due to specific bacteria has been strengthened. H:xperi- 
ment has shown that the wild crab-apple is susceptible to: 
the disease, while the elderberry, Abele poplar and balm- 
of-Gilead are not. The bacteria are able to grow in the: 
presence of a relatively large amount of fruit acids, which 
may partially account for their adaptability to the acid 
tissues of the living plant... There is found to be a rather 
constant ratio between the percentages of water in the 
branches of the several kinds of pome fruits, corresponding: 
to some extent with their liability to blight, but this rela- 
tion is not yet established for the several varieties of a. 
single kind, e. g. pears, although it appears to be essentially 
true, if the percentages of water in the fruit alone are con- 
sidered. The popular opinion, that the more rapid the 
growth of shoots, the more succulent their tissues and the: 
more liable to bight, is confirmed by trial. The amount of 
sugar in the tissues is found to be diminished by the dis-- 
ease, being presumably converted into gum by the bacteria.. 
It is shown that no true poisons exist in connection with 
the disease.. The bacteria may keep alive in branches cut. 
from the tree and remaining in water or moist ground till 
the following season, and they may also be cultivated in 
solutions of garden soil, indicating the desirability of- 
promptly destroying all blighted limbs. 
ROTTING OF TOMATOES. 
Another year of observation on tomatoes strengthens the: 
opinion that the rotting of the fruit is not brought about by 
a single agency, but by several, sometimes combined, but. 
more usually acting independently. No rotting of the 
green fruit occurred this season among the sixty or more 
varieties grown in the Station garden, although there was. 
the usual, possibly more than the usual, rotting of the ripe: 
or nearly ripe fruit. 
