24° THE DISEASES OF FRUITS. 



centres becoming ashy gray (see Fig. 293). The fungus also 

 attacks the fruit-stalks, cutting off the supply of nourishment 

 and thereby injuring the crop. During winter the fungus 

 remains in the affected parts, particularly the old leaves. 



Hemedies. — Many remedies have been used upon the straw- 

 berry, some of them with indifferent results, probably because 

 of the difficulty of reaching the under surface of the foliage. 

 Bordeaux, however, is recommended, and cupram at times 

 when the fruit might be defaced with the lime of the former 

 mixture. Some growers with scythe and rake remove the 

 blighted leaves in the autumn and burn them, while others 

 have employed a weak solution of Sulphuric acid as a spray, 

 and thus destroy the foliage, letting the new spring growth 

 supply the fresh healthy leaves for the production of the com- 

 ing crop. 



There are other fungous diseases of the strawberry, but they 

 are indistinguishable from the leaf-spot except by close in- 

 spection. 



The Cranberry. — Scald. — There are several fungous dis- 

 eases of the cranberry, but as this crop demands peculiar con- 

 ditions, is limited to few localities, and does not admit of the 

 ordinary^ methods of treatment, only a word need be said. 

 The Scald, or Rot, as' it is sometimes called, attacks the fruit 

 and other parts of the plant, causing upon the former a soften- 

 ing of the fruit, usually first upon the sun-exposed side. 



Remedies. — All attempts to check the Scald by the use of 

 fungicides have failed. The fact that the land is under water 

 for much of the time, and a bog at best in the dry period of 

 the year, renders it difficult to apply fungicides satisfactorily. 

 Besides, the cranberry bogs are often large low-priced areas, 

 with many weeds, and the industry is extensive instead of 

 intensive, making spraying improfitable no matter how effec- 

 tive the applications might be. 



Root Galls. — As a last word, and going to the root of the 

 subject, it may be said that of late years much complaint has 

 been made of galls upon the roots of various orchard plants, 

 especially the peach. The subject has been studied by Prof. 

 J. W. Toumey, of the University of Arizona Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, with the result that the disease has been 

 found to be caused by a species of slime-mould living in the 



