26 BULLETIN 1434, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
GREEN BERRIES 
The Office of Fruit Diseases of the Bureau of Plant Industry has 
for several years been making cultures from green cranberries at 
intervals during the growing season in an effort to clear up the prob- 
lem of infection by storage-rot fungi (13). As part of this program 
similar series of cultures were made in the Pacific coast region. 
Beginning about blooming time, green berries were collected at weekly 
intervals, surface sterilized for five minutes in a l-to-1,000 solution 
of mercuric chloride in 70 per cent alcohol, and planted in test tubes 
of corn-meal agar. As soon as the berries became large enough to 
be conveniently cut in half, cultures were made from blossom and 
stem ends as well as from entire berries. The results of these cul- 
tures are given in Tables 18, 19, and 20. 
The results of these cultures agreed with the results obtained in 
eastern cranberry districts, namely, that storage fungi infect berries 
in the field rather early in the season. Usually the cultures made 
just after blossoming developed almost as high a percentage of stor- 
age-rot fungi as those made later in the season. The high percent- 
age of sterile cultures from the stem-end half of the berry indicates 
that infection takes place largely at the blossom end. Guignardia 
alone occurred more frequently in stem-end cultures than in those from 
the blossom end. Fusicoccum appeared much more frequently than 
any other fungus. Botrytis ranked next in importance, and Pleo- 
spora, rarely found in mature-berry cultures, was sometimes common 
in the earlier part of the season. In all, 1,000 cultures were made 
from half and whole berries, and storage-rot fungi appeared in 222 
of these. 
It is perhaps needless to point out the relation between these 
green-berry culture results and the results obtained in the spraying 
experiments. In the latter it was found that hook-stage and after- 
blossom applications of Bordeaux mixture invariably improved the 
keeping quality of the berries; the former showed that storage-rot in- 
fection had largely occurred some time during: or soon after bloom. 
SUMMARY 
Four years' study of cranberry-disease problems in the Pacific 
•coast region led to certain conclusions which are summarized below: 
Six diseases of vines and leaves are described and control measures 
for the more important of these are suggested. 
Field rots of berries are of comparatively little economic importance. 
Hard rot, caused by Sclerotinia oxycocci Wor., sometimes causes loss 
in local areas. The life history of the fungus causing this disease is 
presented and control measures are suggested. 
Storage rots, caused by various fungi, are a very serious cause of 
loss, both in quantities of berries and in effect on the good will of 
the trade. 
A series of spraying experiments followed by storage tests demon- 
strated that two applications of Bordeaux mixture, the first just 
before blossom and the second immediately following blossom, will 
control the development of storage rots satisfactorily. 
Dusting with a lime-copper mixture, in less extensive experiments, 
failed to give as consistently good control of storage rots as spraying. 
