128 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



so that the fruit may reach the consumer in full possession 

 of its delightful flavor and aroma. 



PESTS AND DISEASES 



The commonest and most troublesome enemy of the mango 

 in tropical America is anthracnose. This is a parasitic fungus 

 (Colletotrichum gloeosporiMes Penz.) which attacks many 

 different plants, and is particularly known as the cause of 

 wither-tip in citrus fruits. It is a species of wide distribution 

 which springs up with no evident center of infection whenever 

 the weather is warm and moist. On the flowers and flower- 

 stalks of the mango it appears in the form of small blackish 

 spots. Often it causes many of the flowers to drop. On the 

 leaves, spots and sometimes holes are produced; these begin 

 as minute black dots and enlarge until they are about an eighth 

 of an inch in diameter. Young fruits may be attacked and 

 made to drop in large numbers, while older fruits become spotted 

 with black or streaked, and their keeping qualities are impaired. 



S. M. McMurran, who studied anthracnose control methods 

 in Florida and reported his results in Bulletin 52 of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, says : 



"Spraying before the buds begin to grow is of no value so far as 

 protecting the inflorescence, and later the young fruit, is concerned. 

 These must be kept covered with the fungicide (Bordeaux mixture) 

 while growing, if fungous invasion is to be prevented. The difficulty 

 of so protecting the inflorescence is at once apparent. Elongations of 

 the panicle continue for a period ranging from 10 to 15 days. Those 

 which were sprayed every third day were practically all disease-free 

 when the flowers began to open. This, however, required four spray- 

 ings in one case and six in the other. Those sprayed every fourth 

 day showed but little more disease than those sprayed every third day, 

 but those on which the spray was applied at five and six day intervals 

 had traces of disease, showing that they were less perfectly protected. 



" The spraying of the inflorescence at least three times, beginning 

 when the buds are just swelling and repeated every fourth day until 

 the flowers open, will help to prevent the dropping of fruit caused by 

 the disease on the peduncles and pedicels. 



