244 VEGETABLE GARDENING 
be of the best quality because this will vaporize without 
any residue. The vapor of this substance is very in- 
flammable and the work should, therefore, be done at a 
distance from other buildings and no light of any kind 
be brought near.” 
317. Anthracnose (Colletotrichum lagenarium) is the 
most common and the most destructive of the bean dis- 
eases. It is a fungous disease, which attacks all parts 
of the plant except the roots. Diseased seed is often 
the source of the malady. The young 
tender stems may become affected and 
the plants killed when conditions are 
favorable for the parasite; or it some- 
times appears later on the pods, as well 
as on other parts of the plant. The 
disease is very noticeable on the yellow 
pods of wax varieties, which are reduced 
in value or rendered unfit for market 
purposes. Figure 62 illustrates the dis- 
eased pods. The Cornell Station (Cor- 
nell Station Bulletin 255, p. 436) makes 
the following statement in regard to 
this disease: “The spots or cankers are 
fig 62. bean black with reddish or yellowish mar- 
anthracnose gins. Most growers are also familiar 
with the disease on the seed itself, espe- 
cially on the white beans, where it makes rusty, red spots 
of various sizes, sometimes involving nearly the entire seed, 
though ordinarily only producing a slight discoloration 
on one side. The disease enters the seed by Avay of the 
pod, the fungus penetrating from the outside into the 
young and tender seed. . . . When the diseased 
seeds are planted in the soil, and first come through the 
ground, they are sure to show the small black cankers 
on the cotyledons or seed leaves and a little later on the 
stems.” 
