150 Report oF THE DEPARTMENT OF BoTANY OF THE 
account was published by Smith.4 The latter article has been 
widely quoted in the horticultural journals. Thus far no remedy ~ 
for the disease has been found, and even the cause of it is still 
unknown. However, it is announced that Mr. M. B. Waite, an 
expert connected with the United States Department of Agri- 
culture, has the subject under investigation and it is confidently 
believed that we shall know considerably more about the disease 
in the near future. 
Since so much has been said about the disease and it is known 
to occur in various parts of New York State, particularly in 
Niagara County, our fruit growers are constantly on the look- 
out for it. . 
During the past season a fruit grower of Penn Yan suspected 
that the “little peach ” disease had made its appearance in his 
orchard. Upon investigation it proved to be simply a case of 
imperfect fertilization. Of course imperfect fertilization is com- 
mon among peaches, but this case had some unusual features 
making it worthy of record. Moreover, there are undoubtedly 
many fruit growers, like the one at Penn Yan, who have read of 
the “ little peach ” disease, but having never seen it are unable 
to distinguish it with certainty from the effects of imperfect fer- 
tilization. Hence, it seems desirable to give a detailed account 
of the Penn Yan case. 
The orchard was composed of 150 ten-year-old trees of the 
variety Globe. Occasional trees of several other varieties were 
intermingled. The owner stated that enough fruit had set to 
make a full crop. In fact, he expected to be obliged to thin it; 
but the great majority of the fruits failed to develop, although 
most of them remained hanging on the trees until ripening time. 
He estimated that the yield of marketable fruit was between 
one-eighth and one-sixth of a full crop, the money loss being 
about $500. Our observations were made September 25. At 
that time most of the marketable fruit had been gathered, but 
the majority of the small imperfect fruits were still on the 

*Smith, Erwin F. Notes on the Michigan Disease Known as “ Little 
Peach.” The Fennville (Mich.) Herald. Oct. 15, 1898. 
