58 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



thus far without success ; apparently it does not flourish 

 under ordinary culture methods and conditions. Neverthe- 

 less, we have here, to all appearances, a genuine bacterial 

 disease. 



No remedy can be given for this trouble, beyond good 

 cultivation and the production of vigorous plants. Cases 

 have been seen where affected plants lost most of their leaves 

 and produced a new crop, the latter more or less diseased, 

 but still sufficient to present a fairly good appearance. The 

 use of fungicides has no apparent value in such a case as this. 



Mushmelon Fa ilures . 

 Much complaint has been heard during the past season in 

 this and other States of trouble with muskmelons. In our 

 last report we described a disease of this plant caused by a 

 fungus (^Allernaria) . The disease appeared again this year 

 in the same and other places, and some weeks earlier than 

 before, so that spraying experiments which we had planned 

 were begun too late to be of value. Besides this disease, 

 the common anthracnose {ColleiotrichumlagenariuTn (Pass.) 

 E. & H.) has been abundant, and very destructive both on 

 muskmelons and watermelons. We saw one field of water- 

 melons of unusually fine appearance completely ruined by 

 this disease within a week. The stems and fruit were the 

 parts most aff"ected. There is every reason to believe that 

 the Bordeaux mixture can be used with profit in these cases ; 

 but our experience this year has shown that if the treatment 

 is not begun by July 1 or earlier, before any sign of disease 

 has appeared, it will be entirely useless. 



The Maple Leaf Blight. {Phyllosticta acericola C. & E.) 

 This disease, which affects several species of maple, has 

 been known for some time, but has been much more abun- 

 dant than usual during the past season. We have received 

 it on sugar maple from several different parties. Large dead 

 spots are produced in the leaves, which become curled and 

 distorted, losing all beauty. Beyond this the actual injury 

 to the tree is probably in most cases very slight. 



