New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 235 



EXPERIMENTS IN TREATING THE DISEASE AT 



CLIFTON. 



In the spring of 1894, a communication was received from Mr. 

 S. A. Hosmer, of Clifton, N. Y., in regard to anthracnose on rasp- 

 berries. He kindly offered the Station the remains of his once 

 large plantation to use in experimenting with treatment for the 

 disease. 



The plantation at one time consisted of 25 acres and was re- 

 garded as producing one of the most paying crops of the farm; 

 but through the ravages of anthracnose the acreage was yearly 

 reduced until scarcely three acres -of badly infested plants re- 

 mained. Seemingly every cane was diseased, immense scabs and 

 blotches from four to eight inches in length and reaching nearly 

 or quite around the cane being not uncommon. This plantation, 

 consisting entirely of Gregg, was set out in the spring of 1890. 

 There were 50 rows in the patch remaining which occupied about 

 three acres of land. 



It would seem that here were ideal conditions for experiment- 

 ing with methods of treatment for combating the disease. Ac- 

 cordingly experiments were planned which were carried on 

 through three successive years. 



Plan of the experiment. — Primarily, the experiment was under- 

 taken to see if the disease could be successfully combated; 

 secondly, different solutions were used for the first treatment, so 

 that a comparison might be made as to their effectiveness in 

 treating the disease. 



Knowing that a remedy for any fungous disease must be a pre- 

 ventive rather than a cure, and that many fungi begin their work 

 very early in the spring, it was planned to give the first treat- 

 ment before the leaf buds opened; at this time strong solutions 

 could be used as there would be no foliage to be injured; accord- 

 ingly the rows were treated as shown in the accompanying table: 



The first three rows were sprayed with copper sulphate solu- 

 tion, using three pounds to eleven gallons of water. The next 

 three with a saturated solution of iron sulphate in water, while 

 the next three were left unsprayed for comparison. This plan 

 was carried on throughout the plantation until the last two rows 



