New Yore AGRICULTURAL Experiment Station. 159 
The only other beet leaf disease with which leaf scorch is likely 
to be confused is a fungus disease known as leaf spot.* This is 
a common and destructive disease of beets in New York State 
and is more prevalent in wet seasons than in dry. It forms cir- 
cular, brown or gray dead spots on the leaves. If the spots are 
numerous a part or the whole of the leaf may die and turn black 
in a manner closely resembling leaf scorch, but in such cases the 
outlines of the spots are plainly visible until the leaf is fully 
decayed. 
In the advanced stage, the effects of leaf scorch on the beet 
root might easily be mistaken for scab. In general, it may be 
distinguished from scab by the light brown discoloration of the 
sound tissue but when the brown discoloration is absent the 
diagnosis must be based chiefly upon the shape and location of 
the affected areas. In leaf scorch the affected areas occur prin- 
cipally upon the upper portion of the root and are usually more 
or less V-shaped with the opening toward the crown; whereas, 
in scab the spots occur on any part of the root and are more 
often irregular or circular than V-shaped. 
Concerning treatment it is needless to say that proper irrigation 
is a sure preventive; but where irrigation can not be practiced 
avoid planting on light, sandy soil and in dry weather conserve 
the moisture by stirring the soil frequently and especially after 
every shower. 
LEAF SCORCH OF CHERRY. 
Late in September of the present year a Geneva fruit grower 
called our attention to a scorching of cherry foliage which he 
feared might be an infectious disease like the fire blight of the 
pear and apple. On trees of all ages more or less of the foliage 
was brown, crisp and dead. ‘The dead leaves remained attached 
to the twigs which were neither blackened nor shriveled. A 

4¥or an account of beet leaf spot and scab and their treatment, see Cornell 
Exp. Sta. Bul. 163. Three Important Diseases of the Sugar Beet. 
