2 BULLETIN 52, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



this material were examined by Mrs. Flora W. Patterson, Mycologist 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, who pronounced the fungus to be 

 CoUetotriclium. gloeosporioides Penz. 



Hawaiian-grown mangos which were affected by this fungus were 

 received by Mrs. Patterson in 1904, and from time to time during the 

 past four years Miss Clara Hasse, of the Office of Fruit-Disease Inves- 

 tigations, has received mango flower clusters, leaves, and fruits from 

 Porto Rico and Florida which were affected by this fungus. 



The disease has been reported by several writers. Fawcett ^ says 

 that the trouble was recognized in Florida by officers of the State 

 experiment station in 1893. It has been reported from Porto Rico 

 by ColUns,^ Hawaii by Higgins,^ Cuba by Cardin,* and Trinidad l)y 

 Rorer.^ Of the aforementioned writers, Higgins and Cardin state 

 that the disease may be controlled by spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture, but their recommendations are not definite and do not 

 give the times and nimiber of treatments necessary, or the experi- 

 mental data on which the conclusions are based. 



Wester ® reports that he has had successful results in preventing 

 the blighting of the blossoms by spraying. His work was done in 

 Florida and will be discussed in another part of this paper. 



It is the purpose of this paper to report in detail such data as have 

 been gathered during the past two years in regard to the behavior of 

 the disease a/id its control, together with an analysis and discussion 

 of the main limiting factor of the mango in Florida. 



SOURCE OF INFECTION. 



Colletotrichum gloeos'porioides is probably one of the most widely 

 distributed pathogenic fungi in the Tropics. In Florida it causes the 

 weU-known wither-tip of citrus fruits and is pathogenic on at least 

 several other fruits. 



Bessey ^ has the following to say in regard to its distribution in 

 Florida: 



We see, therefore, that it is not a fungus confined to one or two hosts in a limited 

 area, with which we have to contend, but one of wide distribution and capable of 

 attacking a great many kinds of plants. I have found apparently the same fungus 

 on over 50 plants at Miami, some of them common weeds. This explains why, when 

 the weather conditions or other circumstances are favorable, the disease springs up 

 everywhere without any very apparent center of infection. 



1 Fawcett, II. S. Mango. Jiloora. hMg^ii {Gloeos'poTium mangifcrae). Florida Agricultural Experiment 

 Station Report, 190(i, p. 2.5. 1907. 



s Collins, O.N. The mango in Porto Rico. U. S. Department, of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 Bulletin 28, p. 20, 1903. 



3 HiggiiLS, J. E. The mango in Hawaii. Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 12, p. 22, 

 1900. 



* Cardin, P. P. Bloom blight of mango in Cuba. The Cuba Review, v. 8, no. ."), p. 28-29, 1910. 



""Rorer, J. B. Annual Report of the MycologLst, Board of Agriculture, Trinidad, p. 7, 1910. 



•Wester, P. J. Bordeaux mixture for mangos and avocados. The Florida Agriculturist, v. 34, no. 14, 

 p. 1-2, 1907. 



' Bes.sey, E. A. Report on plant disoa.ses. Proceedings, 21st Aimual Meeting, Florida State Horticul- 

 tnral Society, p. 97, 1908. 



