I'UKVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS. 11 



gestion a considerable variety of substances ivas tried by the cran- 

 berry growers, including lime, copperas, salt, and sulphur. Little 

 or no benefit, however, seems to have been derived from these appli- 

 cations, and the diseases continued to cause serious loss, varying 

 somewhat in different seasons as the climatic and other conditions 

 chanced to be favorable to their development or otherwise. 



Schroeter, 8 in 1879, in discussing a sclerotium disease of the fruit 

 of Vaccinium myrtillus, mentions the American cranberry disease 

 which had been described by Taylor and expressed his belief that the 

 trouble was due to a parasitic fungus, either the same or one similar 

 to that which he found in Europe. He had seen no specimens, how- 

 ever. Supposing the disease to be due to Sclerotinia, he recom- 

 mended the application of lime and suggested flooding the vines just 

 before the spores are formed. 



Woronin 9 in 1888 in treating of Sclerotinia oxycocci refers to the 

 cranberry disease of the eastern United States and suggests that it 

 is caused by this fungus. This opinion was not based on an examina- 

 tion of specimens, however, but on Doctor Taylor's accounts of the 

 disease. If the disease were caused by Sclerotinia he thought it 

 could be eradicated by collecting and burning all the mummied 

 berries. 



Xo species of Sclerotinia has yet been found on cranberries in the 

 East so far as known, but, as will be seen later, one has been found 

 in Wisconsin. 



In 1889, Dr. Byron D. Halsted, 10 of the New Jersey Experiment 

 Station, undertook a study of the cranberry diseases, arid as a result 

 published a bulletin and several briefer reports on the subject. 

 Doctor Halsted 8 recognized the parasitic nature of the disease, and 

 described and illustrated, without name, the tw r o stages of the fungus 

 which produces cranberry scald. On account of his finding fun- 

 gous hyphse in the stems and roots of plants bearing rotten or scalded 

 berries, he concluded that the parasite infested the soil and perhaps 

 gained entrance to the plant, in part at least, by way of the roots. He 

 consequently thought that remedies should be directed chiefly toward 

 the improvement of soil conditions, 11 though later he recommended 

 spraying with a solution of ammoniacal copper carbonate. 12 In his 

 later publication 13 he says: "It seems well established that the 

 fungus infests all parts of the plants and may enter the berry by 

 means of the filaments which grow from the stem directly into the 

 green berry, or by spores lodging upon the surface, the germ threads 

 penetrating the fruit." Doctor Halsted 10 also investigated the cran- 

 berry gall disease, which will be referred to later. 



Some work on cranberry diseases has also been done at the Wis- 

 consin Agricultural Experiment Station. This will be referred to 

 later in discussing the diseases, 

 no 



