The Blackberry Pest

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 21, Issue 90, 6 December 1910, Page 5

The Blackberry Pest

A SUPPOSED REMEDY. New Plymouth, Last Nighfc. Considerable interest is being taken in Taranaki in an alleged natural enemy of the blackberry, and several meetings have been held in regard to the matter. Particulars of this enemy of tbe blackberry have been furnished in the following communication from America to the Taranaki Agricultural Society :—The disease to which you refer is probably our orange rust of the blackberry, which very often partly destroys and sometimes wholly destroys plantations of certain varieties of cultured blackberries in this country. It is a native disease on our wild blackberries and other speoies of bramble. Our interest in this disease has been to find means for controlling the disease, preventing its injuring the blackberries, which are cultivated for their fruit. They are only occasionally a pest, yielding- readily to cultivation. It might be possible to introduce the orange rust of the blackberry into your country by the same methods which are used in importing nursery stock — that is, take the dormant infected plants, pack them in moss, shipping them by sea and then transplanting so as to make the plants grow 'where introduction is desired. The life history of the blackberry fungus is not too well worked up. It might not be possible to secure full virulence of this disease without getting it to fruit in its mature form, which is supposed to be puccinia peciante. The destructive form of this fungus is tha " accidial." The mycelium of this form lives perennially in tbe stem and undergrown root stocks of the blackberry. An is being sent to America for a consignment of tbe affected plants.