148 



only fungus disease that need be mentioned here, is the 

 so-called rust or leaf spot. This causes white, red-bordered 

 spots on the leaves ; if suflBciently abundant, it finally kills the 

 foliage, bntits greatest damage is done by attacking the fruit 

 stems and calyx, causing them to become brown and brittle. 

 Such fruit is always inferior in flavor and appearance. Seri- 

 ous damage is often done in this way, when the foliage is but 

 little injured- This disease occurs in all parts of the country. 

 Some varieties are much more injured by it than others, and 

 probably our best means of combating it is by selecting 

 resistant varieties. It was at one time held that dusting the 

 fields with air slacked lime in the spring, helped to hold the 

 disease in check. It will often be noticed that mulched plants 

 are less injured than those that are unmulched. At the north 

 many growers practice setting fire to the mulching after the 

 crop is picked, thus burning off the leaves entirely. This plan 

 is very effective in destroying leaf diseases and insects. It 

 should, however, be tried with great caution, if at all, on our 

 light soils, and only when the ground is thoroughly moist- 

 ened by recent rains. The remedy now universally recom- 

 mended for rust is to spray with Bordeaux mixture (6 lbs. 

 copper sulphate, and 6 lbs. quick lime, to 50 gallons of water.) 

 There can be no question that this is often useful, though 

 spraying strawberries at this station, has so far yielded only 

 negative results. More experimentation is needed to deter- 

 mine when and how often to spray under our conditions. 



Marketing. 



Little need be said here under this heading further than 

 to call attention to the general remarks on this subject in 

 Bull. 79, pp. 103-110. No fruit requires greater care in han- 

 dling than the strawberry. It is necessary to pick the fields 

 all over carefully every day, or every other day at fartherest, 

 in order to prevent getting over- ripe fruit in the boxes. For 

 the same reason the pickers must be carefully watched to see 

 that no ripe berries are left on the vines and that no over-ripe 

 ones go in the boxes. When many hands are used an overseer 



