21 



except on "hard bottom." Vine growth is always accelerated 

 by the use of nitrate, and this acceleration is likely to be un- 

 desirably great on peat bottom, especially if the bog is new. 



Fungous Diseases. 

 There are numerous fungous diseases which affect cranberry 

 vines. Some of them seriously aft'ect the vitality of the vines 

 and some reduce the crop either by blasting the blossoms and 

 young berries or by causing the decay of the larger berries both 

 on the vines and in storage. As has already been indicated, 

 the use of sand encourages the development of such diseases, 

 but it is so great a help in other directions that it must be 

 used in spite of this difficulty. One of the best ways to reduce 

 trouble from fungous disease is to maintain good drainage 

 during the growing season. For this reason, bogs which are 

 troubled seriously by such diseases should be kept as dry as 

 they safely can be throughout the summer, after the winter 

 flowage has been taken off. It seems to be the general experi- 

 ence on the Cape, however, that late holding of the winter 

 flowage (to the 20th of May) markedly improves the keeping 

 quality of the berries. Care in the handling of the fruit during 

 the harvesting, and in the processes of separating, screening 

 and packing for the market will certainly do much to keep 

 down the rotting caused by fungous diseases during transpor- 

 tation. The matter of spraying bogs for the curtailment of 

 fungous diseases is, at present, in a condition of confusion. It 

 is found that Bordeaux mixture, made according to the formula 

 which is used in New Jersey, and which has been recommended 

 by the experts of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, apparently causes a cumu- 

 lative injury to the root system of the cranberry when used on 

 Cape Cod. It is to be hoped that some modification of this 

 formula will in time be found which will not cause this injury, 

 and which can be safely used to keep down fungous diseases 

 on the Cape bogs. Spraying is found to be uniformly success- 

 ful in improving the keeping qualities of the berries and in 

 reducing the rot on the vines. 



