46 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
fact which is of considerable interest to 
ns, especially since the avocado and man¬ 
go occur in the same region, and often 
in the same orchards, with the citrus. 
Mr. Neeld will remember that in 1893 
the mango bloom blight occurred pretty 
severely on the sub-peninsula. Up to that 
time the trees had fruited heavily. In 
1894 the bloom blight was so bad that 
only a small crop matured, and investi¬ 
gations were started at once with a view 
of establishing what caused the diseases. 
Some information was gotten as to the 
identity of the fungus, but in the winter 
of 1894-95 the trees froze to the ground, 
leaving us without an opportunity of 
carrying on the work already started. 
Since 1901 investigations on the same 
disease were begun in the mango or¬ 
chards of Miami. The mango bloom, 
when attacked b}^ this fungus,- soon turns 
black and falls off. 
During the period of bloom, various 
species of insects visit the mango blossoms 
for pollen and for honey. These crawl 
about over the blooms, passing from dis¬ 
eased blooms to healthy ones. As the 
insects pass over the diseased bloom, they 
come in contact with the spores of the 
fungus. Tliese adhere to their body or 
to their appendages, and the spores are 
then carried to the healthy bloom. In 
addition to the insects, the winds also help 
in disseminating the fungus spores. It 
therefore seems almost impossible for a 
single bloom to pass through this trying 
ordeal without becoming infected. As a 
rule, a small quantity of fruit sets in spite 
of all these adverse conditions. As soon 
as the calyx and corolla have fallen away 
from the flower, the young fruit is not 
in immediate danger of being infected. 
The recently set fruit stands in a perpen¬ 
dicular position, consequently the danger 
of fungus spores coming in contact with 
it is greatly reduced. When, however, 
the fruit has reached about the size of a 
pecan nut, the weight becomes too heavy 
and the fruit causes the peduncle to turn 
over and bend downward. This gives 
the fungus a chance again to attack it, 
since the spores from other portions of the 
tree may be carried, by moisture, down 
on to the fruit and infected. On some 
trees, where the fungus did not affect 
the bloom, or those which are not affected 
by bloom blight, the disease gets started 
sometimes on the young* fruit. In such 
cases the young fruit falls from the trees 
literally by thousands. While the fruit 
is quite small it turns entirely black be¬ 
fore falling off. As it advances in size 
to that of a hen’s egg, this blackening 
becomes less apparent. After the fruit 
has arrived at about the size of a hen’s 
egg the epidermis becomes too hard for 
ready infection. The fungus spores, 
however, are washed from the epidermis 
just as before. The fungus, however, in 
place of causing infection, merely causes 
irregular streaks over the fruit, or what 
might be called tear streaks. 
Treatment. —As soon as bloom blight 
makes its appearance on the mango, it 
is necessary to begin a vigorous campaign 
of spraying, using* the ordinary form of 
Bordeaux, going against all recommen¬ 
dations heretofore in regard to its appli¬ 
cation. Direct the spray here against the 
bloom and right into the open blossom, 
spray every third day, and continue this 
until a crop of fruit is set that is vastly 
heavier than the tree can bear. As soon 
as a very heavy crop of fruit is set, spray¬ 
ing may be discontinued until a large pro¬ 
portion of the fruit has become large 
