156 Report of the Botanist of the 



the soil appeared to be absolutely uniform. However, it should 

 be stated that the blight was most severe along one margin of the 

 field where the ground began to rise a little. The owner of this 

 field stated that early in the season there came heavy rains, which 

 prevented cultivation for a few days. In the meantime the plants 

 became so large that it was decided not to cultivate them any more. 

 The drought tlien began. The soil became hard and cracked and 

 consequently parted with its moisture more rapidly that it would 

 if it had been cultivated after the rains as were other fields in the 

 neighborhood. The loss of water was still further accelerated by 

 the unusually luxuriant growth of leaves, which was the result of a 

 high state of fertility of the soil. 



At the time of our first visit to this field, August 29, it was 

 observed that many of the affected plants had thro\vn out new 

 leaves at the center of the crown. We thought this to be the 

 result of a light shower^ which fell August 27, and predicted that 

 growth would very soon be checked unless more rain fell. 

 We were accordingly surprised to find upon our second visit, 

 September 12, that the blight had made no progress. On the 

 contrary, most of the affected plants w^ere putting out young 

 leaves at the crown. (See Plate VII.) On many plants an 

 entirely new crops of foliage had appeared during the previous 

 two weeks. Plants which were apparently dead two weeks 

 before were now green with a crowm of new leaves; and this in 

 spite of the fact that there had been no rain worth mentioning' 

 since our former visit. All other affected fields showed similar 

 improvement. A few of the worst affected plants were dead, but 

 the majority were making a second growth. It now became evi- 

 dent that this beet blight was not a gradual drying of the foliage 



2 At Penn Yan, .3G inch ; at Geneva, .26 inch. 



3 The actual precipitation was as follows: 



At Penn Yan. Sept. 1, 1.07 in.; Sept. 3, trace; Sept. 5, trace; Sept. 8, .23 

 in.; Sept. 11, .00 in. 



At Geneva. Sept. 1, .10 in.; Sept. 2, trace; Sept. 5, trace; Sept. 8, .07 in.; 

 Sept. 11, .04 in. 



