THE MANGO I2d 



" The inflorescence may be kept in a clean condition up to the time 

 of blooming; but, when this takes place, immediately there are 

 hundreds of points which are not covered by the fungicide and are 

 open to infection . . . spraying is of little or no value in controlling 

 the blossom blight form of the disease, and profitable sets of fruit 

 can be expected only during seasons which are dry at blooming time, 

 unless varieties which are resistant to the disease are developed and 

 cultivated." 



This disease is a serious obstacle to the production of market- 

 able mangos in the West Indies. J. B. Rorer, 1 who conducted 

 spraying experiments in Trinidad, found, however, that "All 

 of the sprayed trees set more fruit than the control trees, and 

 the greater part of the fruit ripened without infection, while 

 the fruit on unsprayed trees was for the greater part spotted 

 or tear-streaked. The fruit from sprayed trees matured a 

 little later than that from the unsprayed and was somewhat 

 larger in size. The foliage of sprayed trees was much heavier 

 than that of the unsprayed." If fruit is not sprayed to keep it 

 clean while it is developing, it not only is less attractive when 

 placed on the market, but is subject to decay. 



Anthracnose does not appear to be mentioned by Indian 

 writers on mango culture. It is known, however, to be serious 

 in Hawaii as well as in tropical America. Bordeaux mixture 

 used in its control can be made according either to the 4-6-50 

 or the 5-5-50 formula, using a small amount of whale-oil soap 

 to make it adhere more tenaciously to the foliage. 



Ethel M. Doidge, in the Annals of Applied Biology (1915) 

 describes a disfiguring and rotting disease of mangos which 

 occurs in South Africa. It is caused by Bacillus mangifem, 

 an organism which is carried by water or may be transported 

 from tree to tree by the wind. Woody tissues are not affected, 

 but small angular water-soaked areas appear on leaves, longi- 

 tudinal cracks are produced on petioles, and discolored spots 

 on twigs and branches ; while on the fruit the first sign of the 

 disease is a small discolored spot. This spreads, becoming 

 1 Trinidad and Tobago Bull. 5, 1915. 



