March, 192 1 



BETTER FRUIT 



Small Fruit Diseases and Their Control 



By H. P. Barss, Plant Pathologist, Oregon Experiment Station 



LOGANBERRY Anthracnose: Small 

 spots with light centers and dark 

 margins on canes and leaves. May at- 

 tack fruit, causing discoloration and 

 shrivelling of drupelets of berry. Dry- 

 ing up of fruit due to dry weather or 

 lack of soil moisture, or root-cutting 

 or borers may be mistaken for anthrac- 

 nose effect. Caused by a fungus. Spread 

 by spores produced in spots on canes 

 and leaves. Favored by damp weather. 

 Carried over on dead leaves and old 

 canes. Control: Cut out old canes and 

 badly spotted new growth immediately 

 after picking. Spray with Bordeaux 

 (4-4-50) with soap or other spreader (1) 

 when first new leaves in spring ap- 

 proach full size; (2) just before bloom; 

 and if necessary spray (3) about two 

 weeks after petals fall with Burgundv 

 (2-3%-100). If disease has been bad, 

 spray new canes with Bordeaux soon 

 after cutting out old growth in summer. 



Bluestem of Black Cap: Dark discol- 

 oration of cane followed by wilting and 

 drying up. Cause: A soil fungus which 

 attacks roots and growing up inside 

 canes plugs sap tubes. Spread in soil. 

 Control: No preventive known. When 

 started will gradually take whole patch. 

 Growers must abandon old ground, 

 starting new on healthy soil with sets 

 from healthy plants in healthy fields. 



Gooseberry Mildew: Whitish powdery 

 growth on foliage and fruit turning 

 dark brown. Ruins fruit. Worst on 

 European sorts. Cause: A fungus which 

 lives over winter on branches and with- 

 in the buds and spreads on leaf and 

 fruit surface like a mold. Spreads also 

 by spores carried by wind, rain, insects, 

 etc. Control: spray with lime-sulphur, 

 1 to 25 or 30 when first leaf clusters be- 

 gin to open out. Cover everything all 

 over. Spray again with lime-sulphur 

 (1-40) just before bloom. Repeat if 

 necessary. Bordeaux will not kill mil- 

 dew. Dusting the bushes at intervals 

 with the finest grade of dusting sulphur 

 will also keep down the mildew. 



Currant and Gooseberry Anthracnose: 

 Small angular leaf spots. Worst on cur- 

 rant. May cause very severe dropping 

 of leaves. Cause: A fungus spread by 

 spores from new and old leaves. Con- 

 trol: Clean up or turn under old leaves 

 before buds begin to open in early 

 spring. Spray as for mildew, but fol- 

 low fruit harvest at once by another 

 spray, preferably of Bordeaux, 4-4-50. 

 (Lime-sulphur burns worse as the hot 

 weather comes on.) 



Grape Mildew: Whitish growth over 

 foliage and fruit. Causes stunting, dis- 

 torting and hardening of fruit. Caused 

 by a surface mold carried over on old 

 leaves, canes, etc., and possibly in buds. 

 Control: Dust thoroughly with dusting 

 sulphur (finest obtainable). Begin when 

 new shoots are 6 or 8 inches long and 

 repeat at intervals. An application just 

 before bloom is a good thing. Others 

 should be given whenever inspection 

 shows any live mildew anywhere. 



Crown Gall: Irregular tumor-like 

 swellings on roots or breaking out from 

 canes. Caused by bacteria getting into 

 wounds, mostly below ground. Spread 

 from plant to plant by cultivation or 

 pruning. Control: None. Pull out and 

 destroy affected plants as soon as dis- 

 covered. Before replanting remove in- 

 fested soil and replace with good soil. 

 Do not set out plants with suspicion of 

 galls on roots or crown. 



NICOTINE DUSTING. 



The Bureau of Entomology, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, has 

 been conducting experiments with nico- 

 tine sulphate applied in dust form. Mixed 

 with kaolin to give the poison bulk, 40 

 per cent strength nicotine sulphate did 

 remarkable work in controlling melon, 

 cabbage, and pea aphis, onion thrips, 

 and western cucumber beetles. All these 

 insect pests are hard to reach with ordi- 

 nary sprays, but the floating dust settles 

 upon the under side of the leaves as 

 well as on the surface. The experi- 



Page II 



ments show that much larger areas can 

 he treated in less time than is required 

 by spraying. Moreover, the equipment 

 necessary to apply the dust is much less 

 expensive than a spray outfit and its 

 cost of application is less than by the 

 older method. It weighs less than spray 

 and is more conveniently handled. It 

 can be mixed with arsenate of lead or 

 sulphur for use against insects and fun- 

 gus diseases. 



0. A. C. Experiment Station Notes 



It is not economy to skimp in the use 

 of spray materials in orchard insect and 

 disease control. Growers whose reports 

 show less than average spray materials 

 per tree invariably report poor control 

 and losses. Those that show a uniform 

 usage throughout the season just as 

 regularly report good results. 



All brown rot mummies and dead 

 spurs are removed in pruning stone 

 fruit trees on the Oregon Agricultural 

 College experiment station farm. Like- 

 wise all mildewed twigs are cut away 

 in pruning the apple trees. A large 

 amount of infection arises from these 

 sources unless controlled when the trees 

 come out in the spring. 



Most plant diseases are more easily 

 controlled if the host tree is pruned to 

 thin out the top well, leaving such dis- 

 tribution of branches as favor entrance 

 of sunshine and circulation of air. This 

 type of pruning also makes spraying 

 easier and more thorough, and allows 

 the fruit and foliage to dry off more 

 promptly, which hinders germination of 

 disease-bearing spores. 



This is the time to look over the har- 

 vesting equipment, for in thirty to sixty 

 days the spring work will commence 

 and from then on there will me no let 

 up. Give all working parts plenty of 

 oil. Tighten nuts, and replace any that 

 are missing. Do not wait until you are 

 ready to use it, do it now. 



Simply stir into any spray solution. 

 "SPREADO" produces a uniform, inconspii uous 

 coating completely protecting the fruit, but no 

 leaving an objeel lona bl< appeal 



"SPREADO" Increases thi adhesiveness of the 

 gpray, especially desirable In rainy sections, 

 "SPREADO" Increases the wetting 

 power in" spray, more than paying i"i itself in the 

 saving of spray materials. 

 "SPREADO" acts ;is i deterrent to aphid 

 "SPREADO" is also an el i ireader with lime- 

 sulphur, 1 Hack 1 leaf 1 1 '>" deai 



"SPREADO" does not in any way Injure ill, foliage 

 or fruit. 



MANUFAC] ORED i:v 

 Portland, Oregon, Box 983 MILLER PRODUCTS COMPANY Grants Pass, Oregon 



SOLO i:v 



OREGON GROWERS CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION, Salem, Oregon 



