The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-01-27
FUNGUS IN COLD
STORAGE

4
1t has been demonstrated that
spores of the red and brown fungus
PARASITES of the citrus whitefiy can be
kept alive in cold storage for about
six months 1t is therefore recon-
mended that those who expect to use
fungus next spring or early summer
should place plentiful supply in cold
storage, since it is frequently scarce
at that time. The fungus-bearing
leaves should be died in the shade
for week or ten days, put into tin
cans (coffee cans, baking-powder
cans, etc. and placed in cold storage.
For large quantities, tin lard cans
holding nearly a bushel would be suit
able.
The best time to place the fungus
IN cold storage is in the late fall and
early winter. before the fungus be-
gins to peel from the leaves. Deem
Der and January are indicated; Feb
ruary is also a good time.
Experiments with the yellow fungus
have not been carried on, hence its
keeping qualities in cold storage are
not known. But it is so nearly like
the red fungus in all respects except
color, there is little doubt that it
can be kept alive as we'll as the red.
The cinnamon fungus and the white
fringe fungus can probably also be
KEEP alive in cold stoarge.
Experiments with Cold Storage.
Hundreds of leaves we'll covered
with red fungus collected in January
and February, 1910, and allowed to
dry for about week on tables in the
Laboratory. They were then placed
in tin cans, and suspended in burlap
sacks from the ceiling in the cold
storage room of the ice factory in
Gainesville. The sacks with the tin
cans of fungus were suspended from
the ceiling in order that they would
not be in the way of the workmen
The location Immediately below the
frost-covered ammonia pipes proved
satisfactory Some dried leaves
which had been placed in paper sacks
became wet and rotten, hence the
necessity for tin cans to protect from
damp.
Results of the Experiments.
The fungus was removed from cold
storage on August is, or nearly seven
months after it had been placed there,
and found to be in good condition
Two days later spores of this fungus
were sprayed into some privet bushes,
a pomelo tree, and some small sour
orange trees infested with whitef1y
Some privet bushes were also sprayed
with spores of fresh fungus as a
check. The spraying on the privet
hedges gave no satisfactory results,
either with the cold-storage fungus or
with the fresh fungus This was in
part due to the hedges shedding a
large portion of their leaves soon
after spraying. But the fungus does
mot often make good growth in privet
hedges. The infection of the white
fly lavae in the pomelo was sufficient
to show that at least enough of the
fungus spores were alive to make it
worth while to use them for infection
purposes. There were few to doz-
en- growths of fungus pustules on
many leaves examined. More fungus
developed on the small sour orange
trees, but none on some neighboring
Isour trees, which had not been treat
ed, and were used as check.
Labatory tests demonstrated that
the spores from the fungus kept IN
cold storage terminated as readily as
spores from fresh fungus.
Experiments during the winter of
I1909 showed that green, undried
citrus leaves would mold and turn
black when kept in cold storage. This
resulted in the death of fungus.
Leaves dried for week or ten days
before placing them in cold stoarge
had some of the brown as well as
the red fungus of whitefiy present.
The brown fungus developed in the
trees with this lot, but none in the
trees treated with the other lot kept
alive in cold storage. E. w. Berger
of the University of Florida Agricul-
tural Experiment Station.