The record-union., 1898-03-22
OLIVE ORCHARDS IN DANGER.
TREES SHOULD BE CAREFULLY
LOOKED AFTER.
Investigations Being Made of the
Disease Known as Tuber-
cuIosis.

tackled by olive rot, OF dS II 10 SCileA eliiS
called, solive tuberculosis, was re-
Gently published in the Record I'm
ion" Since then Secretary Lelong OF
the State Board of Horticulture has
sent specimens of the diseased branches
to Newton 3. Pierce, Assistant Path
ologist of the Federal Pacific Coast
Laboratory at Santa Ana, and to AL
! bert f. Woods, acting Chief of Division
of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology
at Washington, d. c., and has re-
ceived replies from them.
Mr.. Lelong, who has made close
study of olive culture, does not think
the matter is as bad as is made to APP
| pear by the Government experts, ana
cites instances of trees in this State
! which have been attacked by the dis
ease and which finally recovered. lie
cites authorities to show that very lit
| tie is known about olive tuberculosis.
and is inclined to believe that the fun
| gus cannot thrive in California. Mr..
/ Woods letter is as follows:
LIKE THE ITALIAN DISEASE.
M B. M Lelong-Dear Sir: We
have now completed a careful examin-
alton of the olive branches sent with
your letter of March ID, and find that
| the disease with which they are af-
! fected agrees with the very imperfect
descriptions of olive tuberculosis and
also with the specimens of the disease
from Italy However, we have never
made a careful or scientific study of
the trouble and cannot say as yet
whether it is due to bacteria or not.
Judging from Italian experience, it
would seem wise to destroy all diseased
trees, as matter of precaution, but
until we know more about the trouble
we do not care to be put on record as
advising this procedure. 1t will be
well, however, to err on the right side
in the matter of destruction Of the dis
eased trees.
we wish to get some more speci-
MEMS especially of the younger knots,
in order to make cultures from them,
and will be obliged if you will send us
a supply The inclosed franks will
bring the material to US postage free.
Please pack the specimens as you did
those sent They came through in ex-
cellent condition.
I'm clipping from the San Fran
cisco Cali we notice that probably
the same orchard from which you col
lected the specimens sent has been ex
amined by Professor e. T. Bioletti Of
the Agricultural College at Berkeley.
The clipping states that the entire or
chard is to be uprooted and burned.
We hope you may be able to send US
more material before this is done"
PIERCE'S LETTER.
The letter from Mr. Pierce is inter
esting reading, in that that gentleman
/ <lo Ctn nf q
olive tree and the diseases to which 1T
is subject. 1t is as follows
Mr.. B. NJ. Lelong-Dear Sir: Your
two communications, one of February
2Sth and one of March I'd, came duly
to hand 1 note what is said relative
to the spring meeting of the State Hor-
ticulturai Society, and 1 turned the
letter over to the Secretary of the local
Chamber of Commerce for reply l
trust the meeting, wherever it may be
held, may prove a pleasant and profit
able one.
Il was very much interested in the
letter and material you sent relative
to the olive trouble. In the first place
| may say that the disease is tubercu
losis of the olive, a disease which
studied with great interest in several
Mediterranean countries in 1890 Upon
my return to the United States I pre-
pared a paper upon the same which
was published in the Journal of My
cology,'' vol. VI, No. 4, PIP. 1873.
In this paper are given a one-page
Photographic plate and four figures il
Illustrating the disease. A translation
of the leading Italian paper on the
subject will also be found there.
1 nh of the olive a baPtpr-
ial disease of wide extent in the Medi-
terranean countries. You viii find a
brief note on this disease in the De-
partment Year Book for 1886. p. 3S9.
Since receiving the material you
sent [ have already made cultures
from the tubercles of the bacillus caus-
ing the disease AS soon as pure cult
ures are obtained and young olive trees
may be had for experiments l will try
to reproduce the disease by inocula-
ton so as to get the needed demonstra-
ton of the causal nature of the germs
I have isolated However, it is not at
all necessary to await this work to
be able to determine the nature and
name of the disease, for the knots or
tubercles are especially characteristic
of olive tuberculosis.
NOV. relative to treatment, / can
not speak as fully as I would. like to for
fear of treading upon ground claimed
by other workers. If Mr.. Bioletti has
already visited the orchard it is prob
able that his suggestions respecting
treatment are already being followed,
and ! cannot feel it right to trespass
in any way upon the work of another.
However. if the owner wishes to have
the department outline line of limit
ing treatment, and the same would not
conflict with the wishes of those at
Berkeley I would be only too glad to
take the matter in hand for a syste-
matte line Of treatment. / wish to
know more of the situation, extent of
the orchard. its age, the extent Of the
disease or the number of trees affected,
and IN fact as full details as you may
be able to supply on all features of
the matter 1 would like to be put in
communication with the commissioner
in charge in that district, and with
the grover himself if it would be agree
able all round. / hope TO come north
this spring. and if it could be so ar
ranged I should be glad to stop at
MERGED and attend to such a line of ex-
perinents for the control Of the dis
ease as might seem best to institute,
always provided it would not in any
way conflict with the work of others
Il will send you number of franks
which viii bring material for examina-
ton free through the mails. If you
could make arrangements with some
one at MERGED or with the owner of the
orchard to mail me liberal number
of young and growing tubercles each
week for two or three weeks such ma
terial wonld be very Welcome indeed