EXPERIMENTS ON THE SULPHUR-LIME TREAT- 

 MENT FOR ONION SMUT.* 



F. A. SiRRixE AND F. C. Stewart. 



SUMMARY. 



Where onions are grown extensively they often suffer from the 

 attacks of smut, a fungus disease which kills the young seedlings 

 01- checks their growth. 



The chief methods of combating smut are: (1) Transplanting; 

 (2) rotation of crops; (3) use of larger quantities of seed; (4) the 

 application of sulphur and air-slaked lime in the drills. 



Transplanting is a certain and practical preventive, but there 

 being considerable prejudice against it because of the labor 

 involved, we undertook to develop Thaxter's sulphur-lime treat- 

 ment. Extensive field experiments have been conducted at 

 Florida, N. Y., during the past five years. These experiments 

 prove that the yield of onions on smntty land may be greatly 

 increased by the application of 100 pounds of sulphur and 50 

 pounds of air-slaked lime per acre in the drills at the time of sow- 

 ing the seed. In several instances the yield has been increased 

 at the rate of more than 15,000 pounds per acre, as compared with 

 untreated plats. 



Sulphur alone has considerable value as a preventive of smut, 

 but seems more efficient when mixed with lime. It has been 

 shown that the accumulation of sulphur in the soil in moderate 

 quantity is not likely to be harmful. The sulphur and lime should 

 not be applied broadcast, as they appear to have no effect upon 

 the smut when applied in that way. 



* Reprint of Bulletin No. 1S2. 



