FUETHER STUDIES OF THE EOTS OF STRAWBERRY FRUITS. 



9 



fruit by many growers was unfortunately less rigid, however, and 

 during a few days some shipments contained large numbers of such 

 culls. 



In a field of the Russell variety in the same locality the moisture 

 relation was still more evident. The soil was heavy and rather im- 

 pervious, and in about 20 rows which had been coarsely cultivated 

 just before the rain the ground was left rough and uneven. Following 

 the rain, the water stood in pools under and around the plants in 

 these rows after the smoothly packed uncultivated part of the field 

 was drained and fairly dry. On the morning of April 18 a large 

 proportion of the mature and green berries in the rough ground were 

 infected with Botrytis, while only a small percentage of those in the 

 rows on either side were diseased. 



The third and very interesting, though less marked, epidemic 

 occurred at Monett, Mo., dm-ing May, 1917. The first examination 

 of the fields in this vicinit}^ was made Sunday, May 20, following a 

 period of drought which threatened the strawberry crop. At that 

 tune no evidence of Botrytis could be found. During the following 

 week there was some rainfall nearly every day and comparatively 

 Httle clear weather, as is shown by the accompanying report of weather 

 observations at the near-by station of Springfield, Mo., kindly fur- 

 nished by Mr. W. B. Hare, observer at that station (Table VIII). 

 Throughout the week, May 20 "to 26, strawberries in that vicinity 

 were constantly under observation, and there was a more or less 

 regular increase in the amount of Botrytis on the fruits, until in fruit 

 picked Saturday, May 26, as many as 10 per cent of the berries in 

 some fields were found to be affected by Botrytis. 



Table YIU.— Meteorological data, Springfield, Mo., May 20 to 27, 1917. 



Date. 



Temperature (° F.). 



Precipita- 

 tion 







Maximum. 



Minimum. 



(inches). 



72 



61 



0.45 



68 



58 



.69 



62 



41 



.02 



62 



40 



.02 



68 



51 



.07 



66 



57 



..54 



80 



66 







67 



53 



.74 



Character of day. 



Percentage 

 of possible 

 sunshine. 



May 20 

 May 21 

 May 22 

 May 2.3 

 May 24 

 May 25 

 May 26 

 Mav 27 



Partly cloudy 



Cloudy 



do 



Clear 



Partly cloudy 



Cloudy 



Clear 



Cloudy.-- 



GROWTH OF BOTRYTIS ON STRAWBERRIES UNDER REFRIGERATION. 



As a cause of rot in transit Botrytis is of minor importance. Its 

 development on ripe strawberries is so slow that it seldom does much 

 damage in transit. Its presence in boxes is usually due to improper 

 sorting. ]\Iost berries attacked by Botrytis can be detected and 

 should be removed when the berries are packed. The importance 



