54 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



Opium Department in the United Provinces. The speci- 

 mens were infected sometimes by Rhizoctonia and more 

 rarely by Peronospom arborescens (Berk.) de Bary. I visit- 

 ed Basti in March and concluded that the diseased condition 

 of the poppy crop was due rather to the practice of keeping 

 certain fields under poppy year after year than to any 

 parasitic infection. The fungi found on the plants are a 

 symptom rather than a cause of the condition of the crop. 

 Investigation will be continued next season. 



(5) Cotton and Sesamum wilts. — An attempt was made 

 to define the southern limits of extension of cotton wilt, 

 which the previous year had bsen traced from the Central 

 Provinces to Belgaum. It was found to be present very 

 sporadically in Bellary District, presumably as an exten- 

 sion from the Dharwar side, but a careful search at 

 Guntakal in Anantapur District and Nandyal in Kurnool 

 District failed to show any trace of the disease. As no 

 reports of its occurrence elsewhere in Madras have been 

 received, it may be assumed that only the extreme north- 

 west of the Presidency has been reached. On the other 

 side typical cases have been received from the Nadiad 

 Farm near Ahmedabad though the disease appears to be 

 little prevalent in Gujarat. Cotton wilt is, therefore, 

 present in the western part of the Central Provinces, 

 practically the whole of Bombay, exclusive of Sind, and the 

 north-west corner of Madras. It is severe in parts of the 

 Berars and threatening in parts of Khandesh, but else- 

 where, at present, does little damage. The cause was 

 definitely established during the year to be a species of 

 Fusarium, successful inoculations with pure cultures of 

 the fungus having been secured. Through the kindness 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture an oppor- 

 tunity was obtained of comparing the Indian cotton wilt 

 fungus with Fusarium vasinfectum Atk., the organism 

 which is the cause of cotton wilt in America. There are 

 considerable differences between the two parasites and it is 

 probable that the Indian fungus is a distinct species. It is 

 also probable, though accurate information on this point is 



