Vol. IX. No. 20 L 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



59 



for a sea.soii. However, it is for the owner or attorney to 

 decide whether the profit from one crop of ratoons shall be 

 lost, or whether the root borer shall be allowed to live out 

 its life-cycle and emerge in such numbers as to infest the 

 entire estate, and possibly cause the loss of the entire crop. 



It has already been stated that the stumps should be dug 

 out immediately after the canes are cut, and this-point should 

 be repeatedly emphasized, as it is of the utmost importance. 



Jt might be laid down as a rule that all the cane stumps 

 on infested estates, and in infested districts, should be dug out 

 before the first of .July in each year. If this were done, 

 the attacks of root borer and root fungus would be greatly 

 reduced. 



To guard further against attacks of root borer, a rotation 

 of crops should be established, so that sugar-cane, sweet 

 potatos, imphee, Guinea corn and ground nuts should never 

 follow each other immediatel}', on the same ground, or anj' of 

 them be planted tiro xcaxon-^ siimsfiiv/i/ in the same fields. 

 The rotation should provide that canes or potatos should be 

 followed by a crop, such as cotton, cassava, woolly pyrol and 

 yams, which is not seriously attacked by root borer. 



SUMMARY. The root borer is a serious pest, but 

 it can be controlled by estate practice, which includes, 

 firstl}', the digging of the stump.?, forking and liming 

 the holes from which they have been dug^ immediately 

 after the canes have been cut; and secondly, a rotation 

 of crops which provides that the favourite food plants 

 of the root borer, such as cane and sweet potato, ilo not 

 follow each other on the same land. 



Root fungus {Mdixiifmias). which is very abundant in the 

 West Indies at the present time, and which is always 

 associated with root borer, would be very effectually checked 

 by the treatment suggested for the root borer. 



The careful carrying out of these recommendations must 

 result in reducing the numbers of the root borer to such an 

 e.xtent that its presence in cultivated fields will not be noticed, 

 and the dumage done by root fungus will be greatly reduced 

 at the same time. 



FUNGUS NOTES. 



The Importance of Seed Improvement. 



The report of the American Breeders' Association for 

 1908 has recently ap[ieared. Among its contents is an 

 article by the Chairman of tlie Committee on Pure Bred 

 Seed and Plant Business of that Association, in which some 

 interesting points appear. It has been found that, in 

 connexion with work of promoting grain and vegetable 

 contests, practically the entire benefit come-s, iirstlj', from 

 the improvement which results from commencing with better 

 seed, and from the very careful selection of .seed grown fm 

 the home farm; secondly, from the education which the 

 grower receives through being brought into contact with 

 progressive farmers and breeders, and seeing what has been 

 accomplished already. A practically perfect sample of corn, 

 for instance, e.xhibited at a show or fair, in competition, 

 shows those who are interested that improvement is possible. 

 The stock-feeder, too, who goes to a .show and sees a u.seful, 

 meaty animal that is quite different from the type with 

 which he has always been familiar, has received an illustra- 

 tion of what can be done by following the principles of 

 selection, in breeding. 



The article is concluded by a contribution from another 

 member of the committee, which states : ' I am satisfied 

 that every farmer could improve his grain at least twenty- 

 five per cent, by hand-picking enough grains for a single acre 

 and growing his own seed, and the lesson he will have will 

 i)c of great benefit to him in general farming.' 



THE 'SMUT' FUNGL 



These fungi belong to the group Ustilagineae, and 

 cause well-kuown diseases of various species of the grass 

 family (Gramineae), more especially of the different cereal 

 crops. The mycelium grows through the tissues of the host 

 plant, between the cells, and gives rise to .small outgrowths 

 known as haustoria, which penetrate the cells and obtain 

 food from them for the fungus. In this condition, the fungus 

 affords no outward manifestation of its presence in the host 

 plant. When about to produce spores, however, masses of 

 mycelium are formed in the young parts of the host, very 

 frequently in the ovary, and large abnormal swellings are 

 produced in the portions so affected. These swellings are first 

 of a whitish colour but, after a time, they become dark- 

 greenish, or lirovvnish-black. This is due to the formation of 

 numerous spherical dark-brown or Ijlack spores under the 

 outer tissues of the host plant and within the hyphae of the 

 fungus. When these spores are ri[ie, the tissues of the host 

 gje usuall)^ burst, and the spores escajje as a black dust. 

 "When one of these spores germinates it may either form 

 a mycelial tube directly, or it rn.iy give rise to a four-celled 

 tube known as a promycelium, from each cell of which 

 conidia may ari.se. The formation of conidia may contiime 

 fur some time, and further, each conidium, if it falls on some 

 source of food-sui)ply such as portions of manure or decaying 

 pieces of the original host plant, may in many cases bud off 

 further spore-s, in the manner of yeast. The first-formed dark 

 spores do not usually germinate at once, but remain in the 

 soil from the autumn in which they are formed until the 

 following spring, and then germinate, thus infecting the 

 sucoeding crops. 



In the West Indies, Indian corn c,r .Maize {Zen Mais) 

 is occasionally attacked by one of these fungi {Ustilago May- 

 din). The disease has never been of any serious importance, 

 though occasional instances of it are fairly common. In the 

 United States, very considerable losses are sometimes caused 

 by it. The disease ajipears as whitish swollen galls on all 

 parts of the plant, especially on the cobs. These galls may 

 attain the size of a man's fist. Eventually, they turn green- 

 ish-black, and burst, setting free a mass of dark-brown spores. 

 The spores are spherical, and covered with delicate .spines. 



Grain from cobs infected in this way should not be fed 

 to animals for two rea.sons. In the first place it is very 

 injurious when given in any considerable quantity; in the 

 .-^econd, spores which have passed through an animal and 

 are returned to the land infect fresh plants more easily than 

 tho.se which have merely been Ij'ing ou the ground. Fresh 

 pen manure encourages the spread of the disease even when 

 uninfected. 



The best remedy is to burn or bury infected plants 

 before the galls burst. Seed from near infected plants should 

 never be sown. 



Sugar-cane is occasionally attacked by one of these 

 fungi (Ustilago saccltari); the disease is fortunately rare in 

 the West Indies. The plants are usually affected at the 

 growing apex of the stem, and exhibit a long whip-like 

 process, often .several feet in length and much curved on 

 itself. This process is at first covered by a silvery white 

 sheath, but it eventually turns black, owing to the formation 

 of numerous brown, smooth-walled spores, which are 

 liberated oy the bursting of the sheath. Diseased canes 

 give rise to fairly numerous secondary shoots from their 

 lower portions, which become affected, and the whole stool ia 

 rendered useless. 



