234 Report of the Horticulturist of the 



where it produces small brown spots. The curling and browning 

 ©f the leaves is often caused by anthracnose but it is usually the 

 result of a diminished sap supply, caused by the attacks of the 

 disease on the canes below rather than by a direct attack on the 

 leaves. The disease also frequently attacks the leaf stems and 

 small fruiting branches where it appears as small, dark or gray- 

 ish patches on the bark the same as on the canes. If the attack 

 is severe the leaves may wither and die and the fruit dry up on 

 the bushes. 



Where a plantation is badly diseased the casual observer may 

 not notice that there is anything wrong with the plants the first 

 two years from setting. In the third year when they should bear 

 their largest crop of fruit the plants may still look fairly well, 

 the new canes make a moderate growth and the fruiting stems 

 give promise of a good yield of fruit, but before the berries have 

 a chance to ripen they shrivel and dry on the stems and the foli- 

 age assumes an unhealthy color. If the plants are not removed, 

 the next spring the foliage is scant and pale, and before mid- 

 summer the leaves become shriveled and dry and many of the 

 plants die. 



Fortunately, however, it is not often that anthracnose is so 

 disastrous in its effects. In many localities it remains about the 

 same from year to year without killing the plants or causing the 

 fruit to dry up on the bushes. Yet the unsuspecting grower 

 complains that his crops are not what they used to be. The 

 plants, enfeebled by the disease, are more liable to winter-injury; 

 and the constant drain on their vitality tends in many ways to 

 lessen the fruit production. Then, again, traces of anthracnose 

 may be found in a great many plantations where it has never 

 spread enough to do any appreciable amount of injury. 



The disease is more prevalent in some locations than in others, 

 and some varieties of berries are more susceptible to its attacks 

 than are others. While anthracnose is more severe on black 

 raspberry it does not confine its attacks to this species but occurs 

 on the other species that are commonly cultivated as well as on 

 the blackberry. 



