412 PLANTS AND MAN 



and rutabagas, sometimes causing them to rot in the field and 

 at other times developing during storage of such vegetables. A 

 CUCURBIT WILT attacks members of this plant family such as the 

 cucumber, squash, pumpkin, and cantaloupe. As its name sug- 

 gests, the disease causes wilting and death of entire plants, 

 sometimes destroying 75% of the crop. 



From the above discussion the reader may be inclined to 

 regard bacterial plant diseases as very important and severe 

 plant pests. However, the real destroyers of man's cultivated 

 plants are the fungi, a discussion of which is found in the next 

 chapter. 



