126 REPORT OF THE BOTANIST OF THE 
on new canes it seems scarcely possible that the canes could be so 
generally infected and not show it in the early spring. Inoecula- 
tion experiments Nos. 8 and 9 (pages 120-122) show that the 
fungus grows readily in fruiting canes and kills them when arti- 
ficially inoculated as late as June 3 and under conditions such as 
might easily occur in nature; that is, in uncovered wounds. 
However, the results of the spraying experiment at Charlotte 
(page 132) tend to show that infection does not occur on fruiting 
canes. This question must still be considered an open one. 
As to the manner of natural infection it may be said that it | 
often occurs in wounds of various kinds. <A careful examination 
of an affected plantation will reveal the fact that in a large per- 
centage of cases there is some break in the epidermis of the cane 
at the point of attack. With black caps, the disease very fre- 
quently starts in the dead stubs which result from the “ heading 
back” of the young canes. As the disease works downward the 
lateral branches are killed one after another. Some fruit growers 
have attributed this form of cane blight to a green bee which 
is often found burrowing in the dead stubs during May and June. 
Frequently, the dead stubs have a hole in the top and upon 
splitting open such canes the burrow is found to extend down- 
ward from one to four inches and contain one or more green bees 
about one-fourth of an inch in length. This insect is the carpen- 
ter bee, Ceratina dupla,‘ and is harmless, inasmuch as it bores only 
in dead wood. It is found, also, in the stubs of blackberry canes. 
Cane blight often starts in wounds made by the “ heading 
back ” of new canes, by the removal of branches, by the rubbing 
of canes against each other or against supporting wires, and par- 
ticularly in crotches where the branches are more or less split 
apart and in wounds made by the snowy tree cricket, Oecanthus 
niveus, during oviposition. The snowy tree cricket forces its 
ovipositor into the cane in such a manner as to kill the tissues 
and cause the cane to split. The wounds thus made furnish a 
lodging place for Coniothyrium spores and also for water neces- 
sary to the germination of the spores, making the condition excep- 
tionally favorable for infection. That infection does actually oc- 
% Determined by V. H. Lowe. 
