INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1918-19 81 



Some 900 tons of potatoes intended for Mesopotamia had 

 been dealt with in this manner very successfully. A field- 

 man has been placed in charge of experiments carried out 

 during the present hot weather in the Punjab. The whole 

 subject was discussed at length at the mycological meeting 

 in February, and the directions in which further work is 

 desirable were brought out. It seems probable that progress 

 will be difficult unless some method can be devised of stor- 

 ing the tubers at a lower temperature than that to which 

 they are habitually exposed in the areas concerned. 



Rust in wheat was first observed in Pusa on 23rd De- 

 cember, when a few plants were found infected with Pucci- 

 nia triticina. By the middle of January there were plants 

 with uredo sori scattered throughout the crop. The last 

 week of January was cloudy and 1^ inch of rain fell on the 

 30th and 31st. This led to a moderately severe outbreak of 

 orange rust, which brought out the varying susceptibility 

 of the varieties on the farm to a marked degree, some being 

 almost free from attack while the ground under others was 

 brown from the shed spores. Puccinia graminis was first 

 observed early in March and did relatively little damage. 

 Puccinia glumarum was not seen at all, a most unusual cir- 

 cumstance at Pusa. The Australian Federation wheat 

 proved highly resistant to both rusts, while Mundi of 

 Jullundar, Makhai of Chiniot, Pusa 4 and Cawnpore 13 

 were highly resistant to orange rust. 



Dr. Shaw's work on sclerotial fungi was continued. 

 The two diseases of sugarcane from the Central Provinces, 

 referred to in a previous annual report, appear to be iden- 

 tical with the diseases known as Het Zuur Rot and Het 

 Rood Rot in Java. The latter form, or one very closely 

 resembling it, has also been collected upon jute (Corchorus 

 olitorius) at Rajshahi, Bengal. 



Field experiments with the "tokra " (Orobanche) para- 

 sitic upon tobacco were continued. A crop of tobacco from 

 seed of Nicotiana rustica, obtained from Peshawar, was 

 grown in an infected field. In Peshawar District tobacco 



