24 Bulletin 125. 



termiued, therefore, that the writer should visit the locality of the 

 trouble in Chautauqua county to observe its effects upon the cur- 

 rant bushes, and to obtain material for study. Accordingly, on 

 the 26th of June, 1895, the fruit-farm of Mr. I. A. Wilcox was 

 visited, and notes taken upon the disease as it appears in the field. 



Effects of the Disease. 



The currant plot was found to be about one acre in extent. It 

 originally consisted of several acres, but the death of the plants 

 reduced it to the present size. About two-thirds of the bushes in 

 the area at the time of the visit were either dead or manifestly 

 diseased. The plants which had died the previous year were re- 

 placed in the spring of 1895 by new plants, which at this time 

 were apparently unaffected. 



The first effects of acute disease in the plant are seen in the 

 wilting of the foliage, and the premature coloration of the fruits. 

 The leaves turn yellow, dry up and fall away. The fruit clusters 

 on affected plants are usually much smaller and more thinly 

 fruited than on healthy ones, while the berries are colored prema- 

 turely, shrivel and fall away with the leaves, so that the canes are 

 barren (Fig. 2.) The latter then die rapidly and soon dry up. 

 Frequently the central canes of the bush die in the manner des- 

 cribed, while the outer ones still retain their leaves. In nearly 

 all such instances, however, the leaves of the living parts show 

 indications of disease. Sometimes the plants die before the leaves 

 unfold, so that the unopened flower and leaf buds maj^ be seen 

 upon the dead branches. In the worst cases, where all the canes 

 are dead, the roots also die. Occasional instances were noted 

 where fresh sprouts had been sent up around the base of the dis- 

 eased canes. 



Cuttings made from apparently healthy bushes in this plot were 

 unusually slow in growth, many of them not starting at all. 

 Those which did start were very backward and amounted to but 

 little. Two-year-old plants were also backward and slow in 

 growth. The action of the cuttings suggests that the mycelium 

 of the disease may be perennial in the tissues of the host plant, 

 or, at least, that the vitality of the branch maybe impaired before 

 the effects of the disease begin to be noticeable. 



