A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. «0TAmcAL j 



LIBRARY 

 NEW YOKIC H 



GARDEN. 



Vol. V. No. 117. 



BAKBADOS, OCTOBER 20, 1906. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Page. 



Fundus Diseases of Plants. 



'-c> ^^ n^l^ HE fact that great losses have been experi- 



cn i^P H!^ enced through fungus diseases of plants 



I ^yLSi\ has repeated]}' been pointed out in the 



^^ Agricidtaral News, and this should emphasize the 



^ importance of measures to prevent the spread of 



S fungus parasites. 



Though the existence of fungus diseases in plants 

 has been known from earliest times, attempts to pre- 

 vent their spread were practically impossible owing to 

 a lack of knowledge of the relationship between host 

 and parasite, but now various methods for the preven- 

 tion of their occurrence and spread are in common use. 

 It is now known that fungi spread in many different 

 ways, viz., by means of spores, which, owing to their 

 microscopic size, can be blown by the wind for con- 

 siderable distances; by concentrated masses of mycelium 

 called sclerotia ; by a mycelium that travels through 

 the soil : or by means of hibernating mycelium in seeds, 

 tubers, or cuttings. 



The methods at our disposal for combating fungus 

 diseases may be grouped under five heads: (1) Killing 

 the parasite without injuring the host-plant : (2) 

 destruction of plant tissues that contain the restmg 

 forms of the fungus : (3) avoiding conditions that are 

 known to be favourable to the spread of the disease ; 

 (4) raising disease-resitant varieties ; (5) avoiding the 

 importation of new plants from localities that possess 

 diseased areas. 



(1) The measures to be adopted in order to 

 destroy parasites without injury to the host-plants are 

 regulated by the life-histories of the fungi that cau.se 

 the diseases. The disinfection of cotton seed with 

 corro.sive sublimate has been repeatedly recommended 

 by the Imperial Department of Agriculture, because 

 investigations have shown that anthracnose spores, 

 which might cause loss amongst cotton in the seedling 

 stage, can in this way be effectively destroyed without 

 damaging the germinating power of the seed. The 



