DISEASES OF TIMOTHY 



Charles Gregory, Itliaca, N". Y. 



Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, Cornell University 



In Bulletin 70 Professor Jagger has 

 given a general discussion of the various 

 control methods to be employed against 

 the diseases of vegetables. These should 

 be carefully read by the general farmer 

 — particularly crop rotation, clean seed 

 and seed treatment, and resistant varie- 

 ties — because in these lies our only hope 

 of controlling the diseases of the hay 

 crops. In general, spraying is highly 

 impracticable, if not impossible, because 



of the dense growth of the crops in question and because the 



entire plant is later to be eaten by animals. 



Although timothy is one of the most important crops, the 



diseases affecting it have been little studied. 



SMUT 



There are several grasses other than timothy on which smut, 

 Ustilago striaeformis (West.) jSTiessl, occurs. A few of these are: 

 red top, meadow foxtail, brome gi'ass, orchard grass, wild rye, 

 meadow fescues, Kentucky blue grass, and other Poas. 



The diseased plants are much dwarfed. On the stems, the 

 leaves, and sometimes on the heads, are long, black pustules or 

 striae which contain a considerable amount of dark-brown powder, 

 the spores of the fungus. The final result is a splitting or shred- 

 ding and curling of the leaves. 



The fungus lives over winter in three possible ways; namely, 



as mycelium in the bulbs and rootstocks of the perennial plant, 



as mycelium in the seed, and as spores in the old striae on the 



leaves and stems. Once a plant becomes diseased, it remains so. 



[r.77| 

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