O->0 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



.Tn.Y 3, 1915. 



FUNGUS NOTES. 



THE INTERNAL DISEASE OF 



COTTON BOLLS. 



The ition of this trouble having reached a - 



•where it seems likeh that the Bourse oi future research will 

 follow entomological as well us mycological lines, it seems 

 advisable to summarize the history, and state the p 

 position with regard to it. 



The essential character of the affection consists in the 

 discoloration, partial or total, of the lint in unopened bolls, 

 without any sign of disease or injury occurring on thi exterior 

 . t the boll. 



Recognition of this condition as a distinct affection 

 appears to have been confined to Montserrat and Antigua, 

 and almost entirely to the former of these islands, until 

 recent enquiries led to it- recognition in St. Vincent and 

 Tortola, In the first named island the earliei accounts, 

 while evidently including this affection, do not always avoid 

 i in with sheddiug, with that type oi failure of bolls 

 ji,,u attributed to Bw erium malvacearum and known as 

 bacterial boll disease, and with the Montserrat soft rot due to 



i Peronosporaceous fungi This seems to have led to the 

 adoption of the misleading name 'black boll' under which the 



tffection has been until recentlj described, which has 

 doubtles tended to prevent the identification of the same 

 trouble in the other islan Is with that occurring in Montserrat. 

 The first reference to 'black boll 1 in the mycological riles 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture goes baci to 



December 1903, whin specimens of bolls which rotted before 

 opening were sent for examination by Mr. C. Watson, of 

 Montserrat. In January 1904, Mr. Watson reported that the 

 disease had spread, and that the whole of the cotton on the 

 Windward side of the island, some 100 acres, was affi 

 In going through the fields ami picking fine-looking bolls 

 from the most promising trees, only about 10 per cent, were 

 tnuuil tn In sound. 



The .specimens were examined by .Mr. L. Lewton Brain, 



then Mycologist tu the 1 tepari meiit, who reported the presence 

 of Cercospora blotching and a small amount of anthracnose, 

 but did not suggest these as the cause of the trouble. He 

 recommended experiments with Bordeaux mixture. 



In Decembet 1904, two reports a- to the disease in 



Montserrat wen- made by Mr. A. J. .Ionian, and one by 



Mr. W. II. Patterson, Curators of the Botanic state 

 Montserrat and Antigua, n ipectively. Jordan's first report 

 contains no information on the subject; I associates 



a mis-shaping. and hardening t the pods with the disease, 

 gives evidence of it- rapid development, and -low 

 rotation of crops and manuring have apparently no effei I 

 upon its incidence. Jorda cond report, made in connex- 



ion with Patterson's visit, describes the affected '"'11- as 



'oval cuspidate' in all but one instance, but records the 



finding of healthy bolls al shape. The sprouting of 



the seeds in some of the ro is mention* d I n 



January 1 905 Patte d I he occurr n< of what he 



ided a< ti in Antigua. 



In Februarj 1905 ition 



of the affection in An Vti rrat. His i 



printed in the W \ ol. VI, pp. 1 20-23. 



1 1,- re i distinct disea e bolls, 



ntirely fron 



up', thi ! with the ! i alluding to 



the deformation of thi which 



I. ' la 

 ; oils Oi 



healthy external appearence, ending in a condition in which 

 the enlarged partiajry germinated seeds are separated onlj by 

 a thin film of decayed lint. Such bolls usually drop about 

 the time they should be opening, and fields were seen which 

 had lost every boll in this way. Sometimes the bulls dn u] 

 on the plant and opsp slightly, when they are distinguishable 

 bj the appi irain of the lint. The disease could not be 

 ascribed to climatic cAnditi it had occurred in very 



dry and very we4 nor could the condition 



of the soil be responsible, since I on both lime 



and clay, and on poof and rich land He 



was unable to connect the disease with any insect 

 attack, or with any of the known disea cotton. 



A plant might have one Or two hulls affected while the 

 remainder continued healthy, and plant- which had lost 

 every boll might afterward- bear -omul bolls in the second! 



crop. No corresponding affection oi -t i li tves could be 



found. He reported the presence in affected bolls of a rod- 

 shaped bacillus, which he regarded ibable primary 

 cause of the disease, suggesting the possibility of flower 



ion by the agency of wind or insects. Heoutlineda series 

 of field experiments to ascertain the which infection 



place, but there is no record of their having been car- 

 ried out. 



From the time of Lewton-Brain s report the subject does 

 not appear to have been brought to the notice of the [mpi rial 

 Department until 1911. The narrative of subsequent 

 developments will be continued in the next issue of this 

 journal. 



W.N. 



THE ITALIAN TOMATO TRADE. 



The tomato was given to the world by America, but 

 Italy is to-day teaching the rest of the world by example how 

 it should be raised and how it should be preserved. Italian 

 canned tomatoes have practically pushed the American 

 product out of the English market, and have gained an 

 enormous market in the United State-. The Italians raise 

 a -olid meaty tomato of fine colour, and it is so packed in the 

 cans that the consumer is not obliged to pay for a large 

 percentage of water. 



• 'aimed tomatoes, however, are put 141 principally for 



the export trade. The Italians themselves prefer their 

 tomatoes in the form of sauce or paste, which 1- nothing more 



nor less than boiled-down t ato pulp, minus the skin- and 



seeds, asset forth in an interesting mannet in a report by 

 Commercial Agenl J-. Uexis Shriver, entitled 'Canned-Tomato 

 Industry in Italy', recently issued by the Bureau of Foreign 

 and Domestic Commerce. This sauce is put up in can 



is used by the Italian- in a great variety of dishes, of which 



spaghetti is, perhaps, the most familiar to Americans. 



According to fairly accurate statistics the area planted 



iii tomatoes iii Italy is about 22, acres, producing abouj 



385,000 tons. The exports to the United States amount to 

 20,000,0000). of canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, 



and- 8,000,000tt>. of the product go to South Am 



The total value of the total export 1 ily is well ovei 



g6,000,000 



The -],in- and -ceils that were formerly wasted are now 



utilized, thi 



of oil. The crude .>il is suitable I'm soap making and for 

 lamp-, and the refin A oil is -aid to he edible. Commercial 



Orl 'Special V \ 93^ ma y 



be obtained - : | tendenl of 1 1 lovern- 



Prit :e, w ashingl it 1 copy. ( The 



lliii' I March 1915. ) 



