12 
No. 4, JUNE, 1900. 
THE CANTALOUPE BLIGHT. 
BY H. H. GRIFFIN, 
Rocky Ford, Colorado, has long been famous for its 
cantaloupes. Until of late the industry has moved along at 
a rapid pace, little disturbed by insects or plant diseases. 
The blight, or rust, was first noticed on a few patches in 
1896. There was an increase of the disease in 1897, more 
especially on the same fields, but its spread was not suffi- 
ent to cause much alarm. There was a vast extension of 
the disease in 1899 and the severity was much greater. The 
disease seemed to spread from a few well defined centres 
and grew less with distance from these centres. Many 
points in the Arkansas Valley report no injury. All evi¬ 
dence shows that the disease is not caused by any particular 
soil conditions, mode of irrigation, or peculiarity of climate. 
The station began to investigate the question in 1898. 
Prof. Crandall, in 1899, pronounced the trouble due to a 
fungus, a new species named by Ellis and Everhart “ Mac¬ 
ro sporium cucumerium” 
Seed taken from diseased melons was planted in 1899 
to see if the disease was communicated by the seed. Three 
rows, each 250 feet long, were planted May 12th. The mid¬ 
dle row was sprayed with Bordeaux mixture to test its effi¬ 
cacy as a preventative, or, should the disease appear, for its 
control. Sprayings were given to the middle row June 22nd, 
June 30th, July 22nd, July 31st and August 11th. At the 
time of the first spraying there was no appearance of the 
blight, but at the time of the second spraying it was noted 
that “something on the leaves that looked like blight” had 
appeared. Previous to the 19th of June the weather had 
been very dry, so that if any infection had been present it is 
not probable that its spread would have been rapid enough 
to become apparent. After this moisture was plentiful; 
seven inches of rain fell in July; 5.14 inches in the week 
commencing July 14th. These rains submerged the vines 
and could not fail to wash off the spray. At the third spray¬ 
ing the blight was strongly in evidence. In August 2.22 
inches of rain fell and dews were prevalent. A decided 
benefit was derived from the sprayings made after the 22nd 
of July. The sprayed vines held up comparatively well, and 
