460 DISEASES OF ECONOMIC PLANTS 



500. This should be done before noon, so that the plants 

 may dry before night. 



Botryose {Botrytis sp.). — A brown mold similar to that 

 upon lettuce sometunes attacks the carnation bud, rotting 

 it before it opens. 



The only remedy available is to burn all infected refuse 

 and to give thorough ventilation. 



Bud rot, sporotrichose {Sporotrichum anthophilum Peck). 

 — In this malady some buds never open, others fail to ex- 

 pand to perfect flowers, still others deviate only shghtly 

 from the normal. Badly affected flowers, if not picked, 

 wither and turn brown, — first the petals, then the sepals. 

 All parts of the flower within the calyx are eventually 

 affected with a rot, and in some cases, though not always, 

 hyphae of the causal fungus may be seen with the naked 

 eye. Mites are usually present, but they are not the true 

 cause of the disease. 



Neglect is among the prominent predisposing causes, 

 especially the presence of too much water in the soil or air, 

 and the accumulation of debris, leaves, trimmings, and other 

 organic matter on the benches. 



The Lawson and Queen Louise are mentioned as especially 

 susceptible.* 



The disease may cause considerable damage; thus a 

 daily loss of from $1.50 to $2 is recorded in one small 

 house. Since the buds only are affected, not the plants 

 themselves, no permanent injury is done, and clean culture, 

 destruction of all refuse which might harbor the fungus, 

 maintenance of the moisture at the minimum, and the pick- 

 ing and burning of all infected buds will soon bring relief. 



' Heald, F. D., Neb. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 103. 



