Excerpt from A Report on Plant Diseases of the State

Black Rot. This is another destructive disease, causing the fruit to rot and cankers on the branches. The young growth is some times killed, the twigs then resembling those attacked by the twig blight, for which it may be mistaken. The disease was found on apple leaves at Wellsburg. The black rot is similar to the bitter rot in general appearance, except that instead of the masses of pinkish spores that break through the Skin in the case of bitter rot, there are small black bodies imbedded under the skin in the case of'black rot. The shrunken and Shriveled apples often remain on the trees for a year or more. This disease has been Very destructive to quinces in several parts of the State. At a number of places where it was found on quinces, it was also found on apples near by. The same treatment is recommended as for bitter rot. It is possible that the black rot' might be controlled to some extent when it is found on quinces by picking the rotting fruit before the Spores have developed and become distributed. On apples this might not be feasible on account of the size of the trees.

Canker. The cankers are the dead and shrunken areas occasionally found on the branches and trunk. They are due to a number of causes. (see under Bitter Rot and Black Rot.) One of the common ones found in old orchards is known as the Illinois Canker. It may be recognized by the black round bodies that push through the dead bark on the branches and trunk. These bodies are sometimes nearly one-fourth of an inch in diameter, and attached to the wood, so that when they are broken off, a black ring remains. Keeping the cankers and dead branches cut out should prove effective.

Crown Gall. This has been reported as occurring on nursery stock shipped into the State. Several specimens of the disease have been received at the Experiment Station. It would be well to burn all infected stock, such as apple, pear, peach, cherry, raspberry and blackberry, that have hard, irregular, rough swellings on the crowns or roots, in order to prevent the introduction of the disease. The swellings or galls are sometimes covered with a large number of roots. A similar disease is produced by an insect called the woolly aphis.

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