334 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



GOOSEBERRY MILDEW. 



This disease proves so destructive in most sections of the country that 

 the better ( English ) varieties can not be grown. The fungus is one of the 

 easiest of all to destroy, as it lives on the exterior of its host. The disease 

 yields readily to the copper solutions and these are perhaps best for the 

 first applications, while after the fruit is half grown it is better to rely on 

 the use of potassium sulphide. If the bushes are sprayed, as soon as 

 the disease appears, it can easily be destroyed. 



DISEASES OF THE SMALL FRUITS. 



The strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry each have one or more 

 troublesome diseases attacking them, and although the use of fungicides 

 undoubtedly destroys their spores, and lessens the injury, we have not 

 found them entirely satisfactory. 



The strawberry leaf blight, is particularly injurious in old plantations, 

 and when they are to be kept over to the third year, it is generally a good 

 plan to burn over the bed, whenever practicable, after gathering the crop. 



The leaves should be cut off with a mowing machine, and if there is a 

 small amount of mulch between the rows, the beds will burn over clean, 

 and not only the spores of the fungus, but the weed seeds are destroyed, 

 and the land is in good shape for cultivation. It is advisable to select 

 varieties that are least subject to the leaf blight, and if it is then likely to 

 be troublesome, spray the vines thoroughly before growth starts, and 

 repeat the application once in two weeks until the fruit sets. If the new 

 leaves, that form after the patch has been burned over, show signs of being 

 attacked, they should at once be sprayed. 



The anthracnose of the raspberry is also most injurious to old planta- 

 tions, and, when it becomes troublesome, a new one should be made, using 

 plants free from contagion, if possible. While the copper solutions will 

 probably keep the disease in check, if taken in time, we have had no 

 success in preventing the development of the disease in new canes, on 

 diseased plants. 



The yellow rust of the blackberry, in some respects, resembles the 

 anthracnose, in its manner of working. The spores appear in pustules on 

 the stems and under side of the leaves, and the plant is quickly destroyed. 

 As a rule, it is not particularly troublesome in Michigan, but it sometimes 

 destroys entire plantations almost before its presence is noticed. The 

 diseased plants should be dug out and burned, and the healthy plants 

 sprayed with some fungicide to destroy any spores that may have reached 

 them. 



RUSTS AND SMUTS OF GRAINS. 



Nearly all of our grains are more or less subject to the attack of various 

 fungi, that may be included under the names of rusts and smuts. Among 

 the most injurious is the rust of wheat. 



WHEAT RUST (Uredinece), Fig. 11. 



Perhaps no group of fungi is so little understood as the one to which 

 our common wheat and oat rusts belong. Although the real nature of the 

 disease was pointed out by Sir Joseph Banks, nearly one hundred years 



