North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

I have a short row of Fall Red raspberries, which is just about finished
bearing its fall crop.  I also have lots of small wild blackberries. 
The blackberries are a weed - rarely fruitful, and the fruit they do
bear is very small (typically 2-6 druplets per berry), seedy, and only
so-so in flavor.  They also have fierce thorns.  I can't get rid of
them, because they are rampant just across the property line in two
directions, but I do cut them back and occasionally pull them out.  (I
would pull them out more often if not for the thorns.)  The blackberry
plants on my property are all small, but there are some big canes in my
neighbor's thicket.  

I just noticed that many of the blackberries have leaves that look
freckled - lots of small yellow dots.  They are fairly round, less than
an eighth of an inch, and on close inspection, look very fungal to me. 
I haven't seen any freckles on the raspberries, but am worried about
possiible contagion.  There are more spots on the blackberries in my
yard, because most of the ones in the neighbors' yards have turned brown
for the year.  It's been very dry for the last three months, and my
blackberries have probably kept green because they are relatively close
to baby trees that I've been irrigating.  I haven't actually watered the
blackberries, but I'm sure the ground is damper by proximity to stuff I
have watered.  The blackberries grow in light shade.

Anyone know what this is, and whether I should worry, and if so, what I
should do?

Thanks,
Ginda Fisher
eastern Mass., zone 6

p.s.  To those of you who've wished me more berries:  The fall crop of
raspberries has been abundant enough to make it inside.  We've even
filled small dishes and given them to friends.  We haven't had enough to
make jam, but that's okay - this is the one crop that we can nibble on
for months, but that doesn't demand that we process it before it
spoils.  It did ripen much earlier this year than last - probably
because I've watered it.  I think raspberries (or at least, this
raspberry) just hold their little white berries until there is plenty of
water, and then ripen a few berries in each cluster.

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
FREE COLLEGE MONEY
CLICK HERE to search
600,000 scholarships!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Pv4pGD/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/VAOolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->





------------------LIST GUIDELINES----------------------

1) Please sign your posting.  Include climate and location information if 
relevent.
2) Attached files will be stripped from your messages.  Post attachments on 
the www.YahooGroups.com website.
3) To unsubscribe send a BLANK message to 
        nafex-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
4) Include only pertinent comments/questions when replying to a posting and 
NOT the entire message (especially if the initial posting was large). 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/