INSTITUTE AND COLLEGE, PUSA, FOR 1912-13. 57 



to nothing else can replace paddy as a food crop, and in cer- 

 tain parts the distress that has been caused is undoubtedly 

 very great. The most hopeful method of attack appears to 

 be the destruction, by burning, of the stubble from diseased 

 fields, and the Bengal Department has arranged to expend 

 a considerable sum in experiments in this direction. A 

 small area has been selected near Comilla for further ex- 

 periments, especially in cultivation and trial of varieties. 

 The enquiry will be treated as the most important on 

 which this section is engaged, and efforts will be made in 

 particular to fill up the gaps in our knowledge of the life 

 history of the parasite. An account of the work up to date 

 has been included in a Bulletin on rice diseases, now in 

 the press, and a less technical paper has been contributed 

 to the Agricultural Journal. 



Amongst other diseases of rice investigated during the 

 year, " bunt " (caused by Tilletia horrida Tak.) was found 

 to be widely prevalent in Burma, though usually in such 

 small amount as to cause little loss. Its detection was the 

 result of complaints received from Germany, of the pre- 

 sence of black spores in rice meal imported from Rangoon 

 and Moulmein. The disease is one which may well increase 

 in virulence as time goes on and it is useful to know that 

 we have a safe and assured preventative in a seed steep, 

 similar to one employed against the allied wheat bunt. 



The false smut of rice [caused by Ustilaginoidea virens 

 (Cke.) Tak.] was found to occur throughout a large part 

 of the rice-growing tracts of India. It does rather more 

 damage than bunt, but still not enough, usually, to repay 

 treatment. This is fortunate, for no treatment is known, 

 and experiments to follow out the life history of the fungus 

 and ascertain how it infects the host plant have failed. 

 These experiments will be continued as opportunity offers. 



Probably more important than either of the two last 

 mentioned diseases is that caused by Sclerotium Oryzce 

 Catt., which I found in Burma and Madras and which also 

 occurs at Pusa. Its symptoms are obscure and it can 



