EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 255 



REPORT OF THE BOTANICAL SECTION. 



Dean R. S. Shaw, College. 



Dear Dean Shaw — I wish to make the following report for the work 

 of the Botannical Section for the year ending June 30, 1919. 



The chief work of the section has been along the lines of Plant Physiology 

 and Plant Pathology, respectivaly under Dr. R. P. Hibbard and Dr. G. H. 

 Coons, whose reports are appended herewith as part of my report. 



Owing to war conditions. Dr. G. H. Coons devoted less time to his 

 Adams project inasmuch as the results to be obtained from that would not 

 be so easily and immediately applicable to agricultural practices. He 

 devoted a portion of his time to work with the War Board of Plant Path- 

 ologists, a body consisting of pathologists chosen from all over the United 

 States and Canada for the purpose of collaborating in the investigation 

 and demonstration of plant disease control, so that the most important 

 problems should be emphasized and the less important ones passed by 

 until the war should be over. 



The work of this Board was of very great value inasmuch as it made 

 possible the much closer cooperation of the Plant Pathologists of the 

 different states in the investigation of smut control methods, potato 

 diseases, etc. 



Mr. H. C. Young began the investigation of a very important project 

 on plant nutrition, but had to suspend the work in order to enter the 

 United States Army, from which he expects soon to be released. 



Owing to necessity of outside war work in teaching S. A. T. C. classes 

 and on account of the reduced teaching force, I was unable to continue 

 with my experiments on electrical determination of viability of seeds. 



On account of the war the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the 

 Heinz Pickle Company thought it unwise to renew their cooperative 

 agreement with this Experiment Station regarding pickle diseases, in 

 particular cucumber mosaic. I have been carrying on some experiments 

 on this subject throughout the winter and spring, but have been sadly 

 handicapped by inadequate greenhouse facilities, for these investigations 

 require living plants as a disease cannot be studied except in actively 

 growing plants. The causal organism is not known and has never been 

 grown outside of its host. The investigation has a wider value than the 

 cucumber crop merely, for other plants are badly reduced in their yield 

 by similar mosaic diseases which may or may not be caused by the same 

 pathogene. These plants are potato, tomato, bean, soy bean, clover, 

 tobacco, etc. Of these the potato mosaic threatens to become a very 

 serious factor, particularly in the Upper Peninsula. It seems probable 

 that any light that can be thrown on one of these diseases will help the 

 understanding of the others. 



The Experiment Station staff at the beginning of the fiscal year con- 

 sisted, so far as botanical researches are concerned, of myself devoting a 

 small portion of my time to the work, except during the summer; Dr. R. P. 

 Hibbard who devotes about two-fifths of his time to teaching Plant 

 Physiology and the remainder to his research work; and Dr. G. H. Coons 

 with about the same proportion of his time to teaching and investigating 

 Plant Pathology; H, C. Young devoting full time to a physiological prob- 

 lem. As mentioned above Mr. Young left at the end of August. About 



