FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
4i 
complshed. Again spraying does not re¬ 
move the cause of the trouble and so long 
as the fungus remains in the trees there is 
a constant source from which the disease 
may spread at favorable opportunities. 
It seems then that the most reasonable 
way to avoid trouble from Melanose 
would be to remove the cause as far as 
possible. By pruning out and destroying 
the dead wood the fungus may be largely 
eliminated from citrus trees. If the prun¬ 
ing is continued each season the trees may 
be kept reasonably free from dead wood 
at a cost that should not be very great. In 
our pruning experiments we have ob¬ 
tained from two to four times as much 
bright fruit from trees in which the dead 
wood has been kept down to a minimum 
as was obtained from trees that were not 
pruned. We have not been able to pre¬ 
vent Melanose entirely even by pruning, 
but we have increased the percentage of 
bright fruit and greatly improved the ap¬ 
pearance of that which was infected over 
the fruit obtained from our check trees. 
It is possible that spraying made in con¬ 
nection with pruning would give more 
satisfactory results. This will apply more 
particularly to those groves in which 
Melanose is abundant. Whether the 
pruning has been made during the winter 
or summer season a thorough clean-up 
spray should be given the trees just be¬ 
fore the new growth appears in the spring. 
Either Bordeaux Mixture 3-3-50 strength, 
or the Ammoniacal Solution of Copper 
Carbonate may be used. This spraying 
will take care of the spores that have 
lodged on the foliage and on the surface 
of the bark. Such a program may be 
satisfactory during any normal season, 
but at present conditions are quite differ¬ 
ent. 
The Melanose fungus has probably 
never been more abundant in citrus trees 
than we find at this season, especially in 
localities where it was formerly prevalent. 
In general all citrus trees contain an unu¬ 
sual amount of dead wood as a result of 
the freeze, and there has been an enor¬ 
mous development of the fungus in this 
during the past few weeks. Dead twigs 
and branches and patches of dead bark on 
the limbs and trunks are filled with fruit¬ 
ing bodies of the fungus. In fact any dead 
wood associated with the citrus tree seems 
to contain a maximum amount of this 
fungus. Trees that have set fruit will not 
mature a single bright fruit if allowed to 
go through the rainy season in this condi¬ 
tion. Unless this dead wood is removed 
and extra precautions are taken, Florida 
has the prospect this season of producing 
the largest cull crop in its history. This 
unusual fungus development indicates 
trouble ahead and the situation is probably 
more serious than we realize. The ab¬ 
sence of Melanose injury on foliage that 
has developed since the freeze is no as¬ 
surance of safety from further trouDie, 
for this is due to weather conditions rath¬ 
er than absence of cause. When injury 
does become evident it will be too late for 
remedial measures as far as the present 
citrus crop is concerned. 
As a means of prevention, I can only 
suggest that such trees be cleaned up as 
soon as possible. Pruning should be done 
immediately for a delay now only further 
endangers the crop and may result in a 
more weakened condition of the trees. 
A thorough pruning is necessary to re- 
