118 POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



Diseases of the Strawberry. 



Leaf Spot, Rust or Sunburn (Sphaerella fragariae) is a dis 

 ease which lives in the tissues of the leaves and stem. In the 



early spring small 

 purple or red 

 spots appear on 

 the new leaves. 

 About the time 

 the plants are ex- 

 hausted by fruit- 

 ing, or perhaps, 

 before the fruit is 

 fairly ripe, these 

 spots increase 

 rapidly in siz6 

 and in a few 

 days what was a 

 promising straw- 

 berry bed is dried 

 up and worthless. 

 Many varieties 

 that are hardy 



otherwise have foliage that is susceptible to this dis- 

 ease, and some kinds should not be planted unless some fungi- 

 cide is used to protect them from it. Our growers at present 

 prefer to obviate the necessity of using fungicides by planting 

 only those varieties that are very robust and healthy. How- 

 ever, it may be desirable to grow some varieties with weak 

 foliage. In such a case the newly set plants should be sprayed 

 three or more times the first season, commencing as soon as 

 the young plants are well established and twice the following 

 spring, with Bordeaux mixture or some other fungicide, begin- 

 ning as soon as the leaves appear. To do this requires no more 

 labor or expense than it does to spray for the potato bug the 

 same number of times, and the grower will be well repaid in 

 the increased crop. Highly cultivated plants are less liable to 

 disease than those that are neglected. 



Fig. 52 Rust or leaf spot of strawberries. 



