REPORT OF DIRECTOR J. H. STEWART TO DEC. 30, 1911.

Morgantown, W. Va., Dec. 30, 1911.

To His Excellency WILLIAM E. GLASSCOCK, Governor of West Virginia: SIR-I beg to submit a report of work done by myself and assistants in carrying out the provisions of Chapter 33 of the Acts of 1901, as amended by the Legislature concerning the inspection of orchards and nurseries and devising and enforcing means for the control of insect and plant diseases of nurseries, orchards, etc. Also report of work done by means of a special appropriation of the last Legislature to the Experiment Station for the promotion of the horticultural and trucking industries of the sate.

A detailed statement from the Auditor of the State is herewith submitted showing amount appropriated for the fiscal year 1911 and the fiscal year 1912 from October 1st to January 1st, for carrying on the work above mentioned and an itemized statement of the disbursements, all of which were made and certified as required by the Auditor as a part of this report. Vouchers for all of said disbursements are in the hands of the Auditor at Charleston. The statute requires that the money appropriated for the above purposes must be paid out of warrants to the Auditor upon the presentation of accounts certified as directed by him.

I include as a part of this report statements from a number of the Experiment Station staff and other asistants who have aided me in carrying out this work.

A large amount of work done has not been sufficiently near completion for publication in bulletin form and for lack of time since the close of this season it has not been possible to print bulletins covering several phases of the work, but this doubtless will be done in order and such bulletins may be incorporated in the succeeding report of this work. Very much of the work, therefore, under these Acts is yet actively in progress and should not be discontinued. Indeed, additional facilities should be provided for carrying them on in the future. In fact the protection of the orchards and nurseries and the promotion of the horticultural and trucking industries of the State is something which cannot be absolutely completed and all of these interests are so important and are of such increasing interest and value to the people of the State that every assistance that the State can afford should be devoted to them. As a result of the appropriation made by the recent and preceding sessions of the Legislature. which has greatly facilitated the work of the Experiment Station in this behalf, a tremendous interest has been aroused in horticulture and trucking throughout the State. Orcharding has become a commercial undertaking all over the State. Many large corporations have been formed for carrying on the business extensively, involving many thousands of dollars of investment and hundreds of individuals have engaged already in the business in a commercial way and from the correspondence which we have there are still many more who contemplate going into one phase of another of this business. Millions of trees have already been planted and from our information a still larger number will be planted during the coming season. As shown by statements in this report numerous spraying demonstrations and experiments have been conducted in a number of the counties for the purpose of stimulating this necessary practice in successful orcharding, potato growing, etc., and a number of carefully con

ducted experimental investigations in spraying for the control of enemies of the orchard and of potato fields have also been made. As a result of the Station's activities in carrying out the provisions of these Acts the industries of orcharding and trucking have been wonderfully stimulated. Hundreds of new people have been drawn into the business, many of whom are more or less experienced, many others who have had very little or no experience in the business have simply invested large sums of money. This has produced a broader field with greatly increased opportunities and necessities for a continuance of this work by proper authority in the future.

I submit a tabulated statement of the nurseries inspected in this biennial period, together with a discussion of the condition of these nurseries. The inspection of these nurseries has been entirely under the management of W. E. Rumsey, of this Station.

Chapter 33 of the Acts of 1901 imposes a number of duties upon the Director of the Experiment Station and his assistants, among which is that of the annual inspection and certification of the nurseries in the State. This statute also requires that the Director of the Station and his assistants shall annually visit the several countics of the state and make inquiry as to the existence among the orchards of the state of any of the diseases and insects mentioned in the Act, and to make careful inspection of these orchards, prescribing treatments etc., whenever the same may be found. Work has been done just as far as the appropriations would permit. In fact the wonderful increase in the commercial aspects of orcharding in the State and the manifest confidence in the work of the Experiment Station has been such as to enforce upon the management of the Station the anticipation during the year 1911 of work which ordinarily in the past might have been deferred until the summer and fall season of 1912. Not withstanding the Legislature has always responded generously to requests for appropriations for conducting this sort of work during the past the demands have so grown that larger appropriations in the future will be absolutely neces

sary.

The arunal inspection for peach yellows, a destructive disease of the peach, has been thoroughly carried out in all of the counties where peach growing is carried on to any extent commercially and in addition thereto in the counties of Brooke, Hancock, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants, Wood, Jackson, Mason, Cabell, Wayne, Putnam, Roane, Ritchie, Doddridge, Wirt, Calhoun, Gilmer, Braxton, Upshur, Lewis, Harrison, Taylor, Marion, Monongalia, Prestor, Barbour, Randolph, Nicholas, Webster, Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Pendleton, Tucker, Mineral, Hardy, Grant, Berkeley, Jefferson and Monroe.

The inspectors made careful examination of all peach, cherry and plum trees. Primarily their inspection had reference to the existence of various diseases which affect these several varieties of fruit trees and incidentally to locate and determine the extert of the existence of the various insects injurious to any of these trees. They have made careful tabulated reports showing the number of trees inspected in the several counties and of their condition, age, the names of their owners and the kind and condition of treatment administered to them, also reports were made by the inspectors of the extent and condition of the trouble upon each lot of trees inspected. These reports, however, do not show detailed inspection of the larger commerical orchards, since the owners of these have become so advanced and skilled in the management and care of their

orchards as to make such inspection unnecessary. The number of trees in the commercial orchards, therefore, are not included in the following statement. The reports of inspectors show that they made examination of 43,595 plum trees, 19,876 cherry trees, 831,451 apple trees, and 1,436,475 peach trees. The influence upon horticulture generally made by the activities of these inspectors during a single season's work is almost beyond estimate. Numerous statements in the press and from individual land owners by letter and otherwise show a great appreciation of this sort of work. When to the number of trees above stated has been added the much larger number found in the commercial orchards, it will be seen that West Virginia is already a great fruit growing State. Gratifying results were made by the inspectors showing a great increase in the number of up-to-date spraying outfits among the farmers and fruit growers in the various parts of the State. The trees found to be infected with the disease are marked by the inspector and written notice is given to the owrer to remove the trees and destroy them within the time mentioned in the notice, or otherwise treat them as printed in the notice. This is necessary in order to prevent the spread of the disease and insects to nearby trees in that orchard or on adjacent land. With rare exceptions this station has had the hearty co-operation of the citizens and fruit growers in carrying out this work.

While there have been marked improvements in the proper selection of soils and varieties of fruits and in the packing of fruits for the market there is much yet to be done in order to bring the packing and marketing of fruit and vegetables up to the proper standard. In most of the counties there is no organized plan among the growers as to the manner of packing and marketing their products and in none of them as yet have the practices been brought up to the highest standard. The state can and I believe should continue to aid in every possible way in promoting and protecting these industries.

In this connection a number of co-operative experiments with fertilizers, leguminous crop, tests of the mulching method have been carried on with a number of garden and orchard owners at a number of points in the State. This work is progressing but in some instances has not been carried on suffici ently to justify a firal report in the form of a bulletin but it is expected that it will all be worked out and reports will be published in bulletin form by the Station from time to time within the next two years, and incorporated as a part of the biennial report at the end of that time. There is much important work which should be carried on vigorously for bringing the diseases which are so destructive to the potato industry under control, and this the Station has under way at this time and has the work well in hand. The most destructive of the enemies of the potato is the blight which probably reduces the yield of potatoes any where from one to fifty per cent. and more than is caused by all other diseases combined. It is a controllable disease and thorough and efficient spraying is what is necessary to keep it in check. Already a number of the best growers in the State have acquired the proper equipment, have learned the materials to be used and the method of application and are doing good work.

May I suggest that the State could well afford to expend a few thousand dollars each year in promoting the collection and installation of exhibits of fruits and other agricultural products at different fairs throughout the State, coupling the exhibits with appropriate lectures, publications and personal con