458 



American Gooseberry Mildew. 



[NOV., 



but in two of these, at any rate, the sodium sulphide did not 

 appear to have had much effect in checking the spread of 

 the disease, which had developed in one case on the leaves 

 and the shoots, and in the other on the berries. In the former 

 case the affected shoots had not been pruned off in the winter, 

 but in the latter case, at Lenchwyck, all the affected shoots 

 had been carefully pruned off and burnt. It is true that 

 at another plantation at Lenchwyck, where the young bushes 

 had been very carefully pruned and the affected shoots burnt, 

 there were no signs of the mildew up to this time. It was at 

 this plantation that spraying with the potassium sulphide had 

 been continued right up to 8th July, and no sodium sulphide 

 had been used at all. The spraying experiments were now 

 brought to a close, for the Worcestershire County Council 

 decided to discontinue the work, partly owing to the spraying 

 having failed to check the spread of the mildew on the leaves 

 and shoots at several places, and partly owing to the possible 

 danger in spraying the bushes with the sodium sulphide while 

 the berries were ripening. Moreover, some difficulty was 

 experienced in obtaining water and tubs from some of the 

 growers, who did not believe that the fungus injured the 

 bushes. It was then decided that as the young leaves and 

 shoots were covered with the mildew, they should be cut off 

 and burnt before all the leaves fell off, previous to the regular 

 pruning in the following winter. 



Accordingly, on 9th July, the Worcestershire County Council 

 commenced to prune off and destroy all the shoots seen to be 

 affected with the mildew. The work was begun at the planta- 

 tion already referred to at Lenchwyck, where practically 

 every shoot on each bush was more or less affected with the 

 disease. The labour of pruning off every shoot from these 

 bushes, which were very large, was considerable, and the 

 work proceeded very slowly. As far as could be ascertained 

 the mildew attacked the berries in the first instance, from 

 which it spread in a few days to the leaves and wood of the 

 shoots. The leaves were mostly attacked on the underside. 

 It was noticed also- that where the disease appeared on the 

 tips of the shoots, the fruit even in those cases where it was 

 not attacked was smaller in size than usual. The berries 

 that were affected were most usually those growing near the 



