178 



DIVISION OF BOTANY. 



RED LEAF OR BLIGHT OP OATS. 



During the past season, as well as to a certain extent last year, a peculiar disease 

 was noticed upon oat plants from about the 1st June until winter set in, and all 

 volunteer or chance plants were destroyed by frost. This disease manifests itself by 

 the tip of the leaf taking a purplish-red tint, and there are also semi-translucent 

 blotches on the leaf. Although it has not been veiy virulent or destructive in Canada, 

 it has been a serious tax in some pai-ts of the United States. It has been carefully 

 studied in the United States Department of Agriculture, and we have no doubt that 

 before long some practical remedy will be suggested. The following memorandum 

 upon this disease has been specially prepared by Mr. Galloway at my request. 



" The Blighting of Oats. 



" One of the diseases which has been under investigation the present year 

 (1890) by the Division of Yegetable Pathology in the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, is the so-called Blight of Oats. Complaints of this trouble began to 

 arrive as early as the middle of Ma}'^, and by the middle of June cor^e^^pondents in 

 nearly all the principal oatgrowing States had written us about it. Later it was 

 leported as occurring destructively in various parts of Canada. So far as we are 

 aware, it caused little or no damage in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and 

 the States further west. East of Kansas, however, the loss from it, in several of 

 the States, was from 50 to 80 per cent. Briefly summing up the results of our inves- 

 tigations, it may be stated that the disease is caused by a minute parasitic organism 

 belonging to the group known as bacteria. The bacteria are extremely minute 

 plants, and as is now well known, some of the most destructive diseases in the animal 

 and vegetable world are caused by them. In the case of the oat disease, a bacillus 

 swarms in the juices of the leaves, and by its action upon them produces the sickly 

 yellow or reddish color of the foliage. As a result of this, the oats remain almost at 

 a standstill, and in consequence the heads, if they appear at all, are small, while the 

 grain is comparatively worthless. 



" The germ has been repeatedl}' obtained from diseased oats and grown in 

 various artificial culture media, such as nutritive gelatine, oat broth, hay infusion, 

 etc. Inoculations with this material have produced the disease in every case. In 

 shape, the organism is sometimes nearly round, although, as a rule, it is several 

 times longer than bioad. So very minute is it that when magnified a thousand times 

 it is little larger than the head of a pin. 



" Such problems as how this organism passes the winter, how it infects the 

 young oats, together with questions as to treatment, are now being woi-ked out. It 

 is hoped that in the near future we shall be able to publish a fall i-eport on the 

 subject, in the event of which we will gladly send it to anyone applying for it." 



GEASSES. 



Few agricultural products are of more importance to farmers than the various 

 grasses which provide food for their live stock. Notwithstanding this, there are few 

 branches of their business concerning which the generality know so little. In 

 addition to over 300 different kinds of grasses* found wild or naturalised in Canada, 

 there are many valuable foreign grasses from other countries suitable to our climate, 

 which can be sown to great advantage in pastures in mixtures or alone. There is, 

 however, amongst these a very large proportion of varieties which are useless or 

 unsuited to most parts of Canada. Many of these are in the market, and are sold to 

 fi\rmers in high-priced mixtures by seedsmen, who sell them on their European repu- 

 tation, without having ever tested them in thiscountiy. The following experiments 

 have been undertaken to test the value of all available grasses for this locality, and 



* Macoun, J. M. Check-list of Can. Plants. Ottawa 1889. 



