Family Cucurbitaceae 225 



lighter color, and are more angular in form, being 

 limited by the veins of the leaf. The methods of 

 control are the same as for leaf blight, see p. 223. 



Southern Blight 



Caused by Sclerotium Rolfsii Sacc. 



Southern blight, a disease that attacks a large 

 variety of hosts, is a serious cantaloupe disease in the 

 Southern States. The injury in most cases is con- 

 fined to the foot of the stem, resulting in its girdling 

 and rotting and the final dying of the affected plant. 

 With the cantaloupe, the disease attacks the fruit, 

 infection usually taking place at a point where it 

 touches the ground (fig. 38 h). The disease appears 

 first as a slight soft spot which enlarges quickly, 

 changing the entire mass of the fruit to a mushy pulp. 

 The exterior of the affected melon is seen to be cov- 

 ered with a white cottony growth consisting of the 

 mycelium of the fungus. Later there appear numer- 

 ous whitish bodies known as sderotia which turn 

 yellowish and then brown. They help to carry the 

 fungus over the winter. For methods of control, see 

 tomato, p. 353. 



Root knot, see nematode, p. 49. 



Care in the Shipping of Cantaloupes 



As a rule, the greatest per cent, of the cantaloupe 

 crop is shipped to distant markets. Growers often 

 15 



