INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1916-17 53 



meetings on the 5th, when the proceedings were opened by 

 the Agricultural Adviser, and on the 9th, to discuss the 

 Rome Phytopathological Convention of 1914; on the other 

 days the Mycologists met separately, and the sittings ter- 

 minated on the 10th. Practically all those interested in 

 Economic Mycology in India attended and much useful 

 work was got through. This was the first occasion on which 

 an attempt was made to bring together all the workers in 

 the science in this country ; the response and interest taken 

 in the proceedings were most gratifying; and it is hoped 

 to arrange similar meetings at periodical intervals, as part 

 of a larger scheme for sectional meetings to be discussed at 

 the next meeting of the Board of Agriculture. A report of 

 the proceedings is in the press. 



IV. Diseases of Plants. 



The investigation and the demonstration of methods of 

 control of plant diseases formed, as usual, the major part 

 of the work of the Section. Crop parasites were collected 

 and identified and advice given to the officers of the Depart- 

 ment and the general public as occasion required. 



(1) Paddy diseases. The investigation of ufra, a 

 disease caused by an eelworm, Tylenchus angustus, Butl., 

 was continued, in collaboration with the officers of the Ben- 

 gal Department of Agriculture. During the past year, it 

 has been traced across the Meghna into the districts of 

 Backerganj and Faridpur, extending westwards as far as 

 the river Madhumati. The area now known to be infected 

 is, from east to west, from the Mahari river, near the Chitta- 

 gong border of Noakhali, to the Backerganj -Khulna bound- 

 ary, and, from south to north, from near Noakhali town, to 

 the Dacca-Mymensingh boundary. Extension into Mymen- 

 singh, Khulna and Sylhet is probably going on. The Col- 

 lector of Dacca reported that part of the winter rice crop 

 was so severely damaged on the eastern side of the Madhu- 

 pur Jungle and near the Lakhya river that it was not worth 

 harvesting. 



