172 
stored in crates preparatory to sorting. It seems to spread in these 
large crates, and was found in the most active stage as forming a large 
per cent of the cullings from the packers.* 
Thus far it has been by no means a serious enemy to the grape, but 
the chief danger for the future seems to lie in the fact that it has proved 
so formidable on the apple and that the grape can not be considered as 
safe from its attacks if apples in the vicinity are diseased. 
It attacks neither fruit until the ripening process has begun, and 
with the apple as with the grape may develop and spread after they 
are packed and stored. 
Treatment .—From the foregoing it is evident that it is of great im¬ 
portance to carefully cull all fruit among which the presence of the 
disease is suspected, as a diseased fruit may infect the healthy ones 
that lie in contact with it. It has been shown, however, by one experi¬ 
ment, that this disease can be almost wholly avoided by the use of 
fungicides. 
In the summer of 1888 the Department commissioned Mr. Geo. Cur¬ 
tiss, of Stafford County, Virginia, to make a trial of certain fungicides in 
the prevention of the disease. Mr. Curtiss had repeatedly lost all of 
certain varieties by this fungus, and his orchard offered a good field 
for experiment. In order to make the value of the remedies used per¬ 
fectly clear he left some of the trees unsprayed, and in one case he 
sprayed only half of a tree, leaving the other half unsprayed as a check. 
The remedies used were potassium sulphide (one-half ounce to a gallon 
of water) and the ammoniacal copper carbonate. The sprayings were 
not begun until August 18 for the potassium sulphide, and August 27 
for the copper carbonate, too late in both cases for the best results, 
as the disease had already made considerable progress. But even 
under these unfavorable conditions the result was very marked. The 
apples that were not diseased at the time of spraying were perfectly 
protected, while the unsprayed trees dropped all their fruit. On the tree 
that was half sprayed the difference between the two sides was as 
marked as between the sprayed and unsprayed trees. If the spraying 
had been done a month earlier it is reasonable to suppose that with 
proper care in application the rot could have been almost entirely pre¬ 
vented. 
Where copper remedies are used for black rot or mildew it is not 
likely that the grapes are in danger from the ripe rot, and in cases 
where no remedies have been used, two or three sprayings will prob¬ 
ably protect the grapes. For this it will not be necessary to go to the 
expense of preparing the Bordeaux mixture, but the ammoniacal solu¬ 
tion or even the potassium sulphide will probably be satisfactory. 
* See Diseases of the Grape in Western New York, Journal. Yol, VI, No. 3, p. 
Referred to as the Grape glceosporium. 
