Pascal Pompey Pirone records

Pascal Pompey Pirone (b. 1907) was a plant pathologist, urban horticulturist, and educator who worked for the New York Botanical Garden from 1947 to 1974. “Pat” Pirone was born in Mount Vernon, NY 7 October 1907 and received his B.S. (1929) and Ph.D. (1933) at Cornell University. His doctoral dissertation was “A study of the leaf blight of carrots caused by Macrosporium carota.” During his graduate education he worked with Long Island vegetable growers through a fellowship awarded by the Nassau County Farm Bureau. Upon graduation he joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a project leader in the Dutch elm disease eradication program and returned to Cornell University as assistant professor of plant pathology (1934-38).

From 1938 to 1947 Dr. Pirone served as associate professor at Rutgers University where he invented the “aero (plant) propagator.” He joined the staff of the NYBG in 1947 succeeding Bernard O. Dodge. As plant pathologist his primary duties were to keep indoor and outdoor plant collections in good health; to diagnose and treat diseases of trees, shrubs, vegetables, and flowers; and to conduct research on the causes and control of such diseases. He discovered several species of fungi and bacteria harmful to trees, lectured widely, and wrote hundreds of scientific and popular articles on plant diseases and pests, gardening, and plant care. An authority on diseases of herbaceous ornamentals, Pirone is best known for Diseases and Pests of Ornamental Plants (originally with B. O. Dodge and H. W. Rickett) and The Maintenance of Ornamental and Shade Trees.

Early in his career at the NYBG Dr. Pirone conducted tests of pesticides to eradicate the Dothiorella canker disease of London plane trees (Platanus acerifolia) in New York City and was a landscape consultant for the United Nations headquarters in Flushing Meadows. He investigated and treated many plant diseases such as begonia mildew, coleus wilt, and Rhododendron leaf-spot, and he researched the role of peat moss as a carrier of parasitic fungi. From his research he developed practical horticultural innovations such as methods of foliar feeding, i.e. the application of plant nutrients and antibiotics directly to foliage, and air-layering plants to develop roots above ground.

Pirone assisted manufacturers in testing the toxicity of fertilizer sprays and the efficacy of pesticides, soil conditioners, and growth inhibitors. In 1957 he investigated natural gas leaks injurious to vegetation in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey and was an advisor to commercial florists and nurserymen, and the NY City Dept. of Parks. His clients included the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the Ford Foundation, General Motors, IBM, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Sleepy Hollow Restorations, Triboro Bridge Authority, Union Carbide, and scores of country clubs, shipping lines, public utilities companies, and private citizens. He did private consulting work as “The Plant Doctor.”

Apart from his professional career Dr. Pirone was personally committed to research on poliomyelitis, believing that infectious diseases of fruit trees had a causal link in the epidemiology of polio. He collaborated with Dr. John A. Toomey of Cleveland City Hospital and Western Reserve University. In 1963 he was appointed Administrator of the NYBG Charles B. Harding Laboratory and served as Senior Plant Pathologist and Senior Curator of Education (1968-1974). He received the Award of Merit of the International Society of Arboriculture (1980) and was the first recipient of the Gold Medal of Horticulture of the NY State Nurseryman’s Association (1982). He was a member of the American Phytopathological Society and an editorial advisor to Trees Magazine. The NYBG honored him with its Distinguished Service Award in 1982.