110 



THE AORICULTUKAL NEWS. 



March 29, 1913. 



FUNGUS NOTES. 



FUNGUS FLORA OF THE SOIL. 



The followirg abstracb of the results of work by 

 C. N. Jensen on the fungus Hora of the soil is taken 

 from the Experiment Station Record for December 

 1912. The subject is an important one, particularly in 

 the West Indies, where root diseases are so prevalent 

 and further in\estigation in the Tropics along the 

 lines indicated in the following abstract might lead to 

 results of considerable interest'and importance. 



The fungus flora of the soil was found to consist of 

 obligate saprophytes and facultative parasites, the former 

 being l-y far tht- more abundant. According to the autlior 

 a fungus should nipt be considered as belonging to the .soil 

 flora unless it has been directly isolated or has been shown 

 under control experiments to live in the soil. In this con- 

 nexion he demonstrated that Phoma lietae, one of the causes 

 of root rot of sugar beets, winters on the seed balls and not 

 in the soil, while Py/hinm deharyanum and Ai^hanomyccs 

 laems, other organisms which attack the sugar beet, winter 

 as saprophytes in the soil and not on the seed balls. 



The presumable facultative parasites and the obligate 

 sapriphytes determined, number 132 species and varieties, 

 many of which are recognized as a cause of injury to 

 economic plants. 



A study was made of the effect of sulphur on the fungus 

 flora of the soil, but three months after its application the 

 soil yielded the same species of fungi as did samples which 

 had received no application. 



CITRUS GALLS. 



Early last December specimens of lime branches bear- 

 ing abnormal growths somewhat resembling crown galls, 

 were sent to this otfice from Dominica. The appearance of 

 the galls seemed to indicate that they might be caused by 

 the fungus which produces lime and orange knot (Sji/iae- 

 ropsis tiniiefaciens) in Jamaica, or possible by llacterium 

 tumefaciens with which 0. O. Smith has succe.ssfully made 

 inoculations in America. Fawcett, writing in the Mont/dy 

 Bulletin of the State Commission of Jlnrticnltiire for Decem- 

 ber lit 12, refers to the recent occurrence of these citrus 

 galls in California, and his illustrations cigree closely with 

 the appearance of the specimens collected in the West Indies. 

 While in Florida, Fawcett was able to produce the Jamaica 

 type in his inoculation experiments, but culture tests made 

 from the California galls have failed to show the presence 

 of Sphaerojisis tumifariens. Definite experiments are now 

 being conducted by Smith to see if Bacterium tiiinefarieiis, 

 the cause of crown gall of peach and other plants, can 

 actually produce the California disease. 



Soon after their receipt, the Mycologist to this Depart- 

 ment and W. It, Dunlop (now acting Scientific Assistant to 

 the Department) carried out culture tests and inoculation 

 experiments with the Dominica specimens. The results were 

 similir to those obtained by Fawcett in California in that 

 Sphaeropsis linnefacii us was not found to be present. 

 Bacteria and a Diplodia were isolated, however, but inocula- 

 tion experiments conducted on young lime plants about one 

 year old gave negative results. 



In most of the diseased specimens where part of the 

 baik on a gall or the gall itself was dead, a dark-brown or 

 black discoloration occurred in the bark and a brown or 



grey on the surface of the wood. Several galls had apparently 

 perfectly healthy green bark and healthy colourless wood. 

 They seemed in many cases to contain the remains of thorns 

 embedded in the gall and on one specimen several thorns 

 were observed with swollen bases. 



Accordingly in the inoculation experiments already men- 

 tioned healthy thorns were removed, and in each series 

 respectively, mycelium and bacteria were placed on the 

 wounds thus made. The inoculations were kept moist and 

 sterile by a wrapping of waxed tissue paper. In the case of 

 the Diplodia series the inoculated plants in one or two cases 

 showed slight swellings as compared with the controls but 

 these did not develop. With the bacteria there was no 

 difference shown between the inoculated and control plants. 



As pointed out by Fawcett, the disease is not of much 

 importance, but it is desirable nevertheless to establish 

 whether there is any specific relationship between the different 

 forms. 



SEA ISLAND COTTON IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



From time to time spasmodic attempts to grow cotton 

 have been made in the province of the Cape of Good 

 Hope but it was only recently that extensive trials were 

 instituted to determine whether there exists any real 

 commercial prospect of success. The site chcsen for the 

 experiments was in the district of Port of St. Johns, 

 I'ondoland. Several kinds of cotton have been tried 

 including Egyptian Mitafifi cotton, American Toole cotton, 

 Nyasaland l^pland cotton and the Sea Island varieties. 

 The results obtained with the latter kind are naturally of 

 greatest interest and importance in the West Indies. 



Five acres of Sea Island cotton were planted, and a stand 

 of 99 per cent, was obtained. The Nyasaland cotton gave 

 only a .52 per cent stand. The yield of seed-cotton per acre 

 was 1,3G9S tt). this being higher than the yield from the 

 other varieties except American Toole which gave 2,OG7 5 fb. 



The growth of the Sea Island cotton is said to be almost 

 too luxuriant, since the enormous development of lateral 

 branches excludes the sun to a great extent and thus 

 prevents the bolls ripening. The [jicking of Sea Island cotton 

 is said to be more expensive than in the case of the other 

 varieties owing to the lobes standing upright which makes 

 the collection of cotton a matter of some difficulty. 



The Agricultin-al Journal of the Union of South Africa, 

 December 1912, from which the above information is taken, 

 also contains the following figures showing the co.st of pro- 

 duction and estimated profit per acre for Sea Island cotton in 

 that country: Preparation of land and ploughing, 10s.; 

 harrowing, l.<.; planting, l.« : seed, !.«.; chopping (thinning 

 out), 2s.; cultivating and hand hoeing, 12s ; picking, 3()s.; 

 transport, is.: wear and tear of implements. Is.; sundries, 2s., 

 making a total of £3 lOs per acre. The returns are estimated 

 at 1,369 111. of seed-cotton at 'id. per lb. making £17 2s. 3d. 

 the gross return; and this, less the cost of production (£3 10s.) 

 leaves an estimated net profit of £13 12s. 'id. per acre. The 

 estimated profit from an acre of American Toole cotton is 

 £22 6s, 9rf., whilst the profit from llerlong variety is estimated 

 at £7 7s. Gd. 



The live weight of cattle can be a.scertained by measure- 

 ment by employing the following fornmla: girth- x length in 

 feet X one of the following factors according to the quality of 

 the animal: for a working animal, 23; in the case of a well 

 fed animal fit for the butcher '27 should be used. The 

 product gives the approximate weight in Imjierial stones. 



