Accession No
6662.26
Brief Description
Folder of 42 paintings, drawings and photographs labelled "Fruit Trees," no. 26 of 35, by Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston, English, 1930s
Origin
England; Cambridgeshire
Maker
Dillon Weston, W. A. R.
Class
natural history
Earliest Date
1932
Latest Date
1938
Inscription Date
Material
paper
Dimensions
365mm x 250mm
Special Collection
Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston Collection
Provenance
Inscription
Many pages have typed notes; see Description Notes.
Description Notes
Folder of 42 paintings, drawings and photographs labelled "Fruit Trees," no. 26 of 35, by Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston, English, 1930s
NOTE: all objects have been transferred into archive folders for conservation purposes; original folders were photographed (see Images) and are stored separately.
6662.26.a --
Three paintings of infected apples pasted onto a smaller (100 x 250mm) piece of paper, unlabelled.
6662.26.b -- "Apple and Pear Canker. Nectria galligena, Bres."
Drawing of an infected apple tree branch.
6662.26.c -- "Brown rot. Sclerotinia cinerea f. mlli."
Four watercolours of infected branches pasted onto the page, with typed labels and descriptions of the fungus.
6662.26.d --
Unlabelled drawing of a tree branch.
6662.26.e --
Unlabelled drawing of a tree branch.
6662.26.f --
Unlabelled drawing of a tree branch.
6662.26.g -- "Red Spider Eggs."
Watercolour of a apple tree branch with red eggs. Dated 4 April 1934 with brief description of the spider.
6662.26.h -- "Apple and Pear Canker Nectria galligena Bres."
Five watercolours of apple branches pasted on the page, with labels.
6662.26.i -- "Pear Canker Nectria galligena Bres."
Two b&w photographs of pear tree blossoms.
6662.26.j -- "Brown Rot of pears. Sclerotinia fructigena"
Watercolour of a rotting pear on a branch with typed description. September 1934.
6662.26.k -- "Pears."
Watercolour of pear tree trunk and roots, and of a bacterial culture in a test tube. Typed notes describe a set of samples received, tests performed, and diagnosis.
6662.26.l -- "POLYSTICTUS VERSICOLOUR, (Linn.) Fr."
Watercolour of an infected tree branch. Typed description of the fungus, dated May 1933.
6662.26.m -- "Surface Canker of Apple and Pear Myxosproium corticola, Edgert."
Watercolour of a section of tree bark. Typed description of the specimen and disease. Dated 5 May 1934.
6662.26.n -- "Frost of Spray damage."
Watercolour of a damaged pear branch. Typed notes describe the specimen, dated 27 April 1934.
6662.26.o -- "FROST DAMAGE."
Five watercolours of pear fruitlets.
6662.26.p -- "Bordeaux Injury."
Watercolour of a pear twig with typed description of the tree specimen, dated 3 November 1933.
6662.26.q --
Unlabelled drawing of tree branch and leaves.
6662.26.r --
Unlabelled drawing of tree branch and leaves.
6662.26.s --
Unlabelled drawing of a leaf.
6662.26.t --
Unlabelled drawing of a branch segment. One section of the drawing lifts up to reveal an interior section of the branch.
6662.26.u -- "Damage by either the Goat Moat or the Wood Leopard moth."
Two watercolours of tree trunks and one section of a trunk. Dated July 1934.
6662.26.v -- "BIRD DAMAGE"
Half-finished watercolour of a pear fruitlet on a branch. The typed notes describe the problem and farm of origin.
6662.26.w -- "POMES POMACEUS (Pers.) LLoyd."
Watercolour of a tree trunk and of a section (?) of the trunk. Typed notes describe the disease
6662.26.x -- "DAMAGE TO CHARLES ROSS IN COLD STORAGE."
Watercolour of a damaged apple, dated 17 January 1934.
6662.26.y -- "BORDEAUX INJURY ON DURONDEAU PEARS"
Watercolour of pear branch and leaves, with infected fruit; typed note describe the injury, dated 30 May 1933.
6662.26.z -- "BLOSSOM WILT, SPUR BLIGHT, WITHER TIP AND BROWN ROT OF STONE FRUITS. Sclerotinia cinerea."
Watercolour of a tree with leaves, blossoms and fruit. Long typed description of the fungus and its effect, prevalence, and method of control.
6662.26.aa --
Unlaballed drawing of a fruit tree branch pasted on the page. It contains a small design at the bottom that may be a signature (?).
6662.26.bb --
Unlaballed drawing of a fruit tree branch pasted on the page.
6662.26.cc --
Unlabelled drawing of a green fruit.
6662.26.dd -- "SHOT HOLE OF PLUM"
A watercolour of a plum leaf, with typed description of the specimen. Also several sketches showing magnified leaf sections.
6662.26.ee -- "PLUM RUST. Puccinia Pruni-spinosae, Pers."
Two watercolours of plum branches with leaves, labelled upper and under surface. Typed description of the rust and methods of control.
6662.26.ff -- "BROWN ROT OF PLUMS SCLEROTINIA CINEREA."
Watercolour of an infected plum fruits. Typed description of the disease.
6662.26.gg -- "PEACH LEAF. Shot Hole and Sulphur Shot."
Watercolour of a peach leaf.
6662.26.hh --
Unlabelled watercolour of an infected leaf.
6662.26.ii --
Unlabelled watercolour of an infected leaf.
6662.26.jj --
Unlabelled watercolour of an infected leaf.
6662.26.kk -- PEACH LEAF. Shot hole and Sulphur Shot.
Watercolour of an infected leaf. Wax paper, with label, is separated.
6662.26.ll -- PEACH LEAF. Shot hole and Sulphur Shot.
Watercolour of an infected leaf. Wax paper, with label, is separated.
6662.26.mm -- "Crown Gall. Bacterium tumefaciens."
Watercolour of an infected tree, with notes on farm of origin and dated 24 November 1934.
6662.26.nn -- "Crown Gall. Bacterium tumefaciens. Smith and Townsend."
Watercolour of an infected nectarine tree root. Dated April 1934.
6662.26.oo --
Several unlabelled watercolours of infected tree branches.
6662.26.pp --
Unlabelled watercolour of an infected tree branch section.
References
Events
Description
Dr. W.A.R. Dillon Weston spent all of his professional life in Cambridge. After obtaining his degree in Natural Sciences at St. Catharine’s College, Dr. Dillon Weston gained employment as a mycologist (an expert in the study of fungi) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Ministry Pathologists at that time were stationed at universities, where teaching and supervision of students were included as part of their duties.
During the 1930’s, Dillon Weston produced nearly 1,000 watercolour paintings of plants suffering from a wide variety of afflictions: mostly various fungal infections, but also pest attacks, nutrient deficiencies, and bad farming practices. These drawings were produced in connection with his position at the Ministry, which he described as forming a “link between the farm and the research station.” Farmers would send samples of afflicted crops to the Ministry, and Dillon Weston would diagnose the problem and offer solutions. This work was an example of the emerging school of “New” or “Economic” Botany, in which economically important plant diseases were studied with an eye to increasing crop yields.
Typed notes accompanying the paintings suggest that many of them were depictions of samples received by Dillon Weston at the Ministry, though it is unclear why he made them. Like his glass fungi models, also held by the Whipple (Wh.5826), the paintings may have been a hobby undertaken during bouts of insomnia. Some of the paintings are demonstrative or didactic in nature, and Dillon Weston may have used them in his lectures at the university, which he endeavoured to make “as interesting as possible,” according to a 1952 profile in Varsity, the Cambridge student newspaper.
The paintings demonstrate a careful attention to detail and a desire for accurate representation, which sometimes led Dillon Weston to push up against the limits of flat, two-dimensional representation. For example, he used painted cotton stuffing underneath layers of paper to imitate spores bulging up underneath a scab on an apple tree (Wh.6662.28, Wh.6662.29), and splashes of blue watercolour paint to demonstrate how far fungal spores can be spread by raindrops (6662.10).
12/09/2018
Created by: Matthew Green on 12/09/2018
FM:47350
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