10 



11. Lii'er of suljiJiur. applied in solution before planting, at the rate of 30 pounds 

 per acre. 



12. Iron sulphate, applied in solution before planting, at tiie rate of 100 pounds 

 per acre. 



13. Carholic acid, applied at the rate of 12 and 18 gallons of crude acid per acre. 



14. Caustic soda, applied in 8 xjer cent solution at the rate of 1 ,000 pounds of com- 

 mercial caustic soda per acre. 



15. Formalhi, applied in 10 per cent solution at the rate of 100 pounds of the 

 commercial (40 per cent) formalin per acre. 



16. Kainit, used at the rate of 2,000 and 4,000 pounds per acre. 



For the purpose of comparison, in all cases, untreated plots were left beside those 

 subjected to the foregoing treatments. The wilt disease was very bad on these 

 fields, and nearly all the cotton died on both the treated and the untreated plots, 

 but no difference traceable to the fungicides used could be observed between them. 



A test was also made of "Brown's Watermelon Wilt Remedy", which 

 has been put on the market as a preventive for both the cotton and 

 the watermelon diseases. This treatment consisted in soaking the seed 

 twenty-fonr hours in a patent compound/ with the addition of a small 

 amount of air-slacked lime to tlie soil before planting. It was given 

 a careful trial, according to the directions of the maker, but no differ- 

 ence was observed between the treated plots and the untreated plots 

 beside them. 



At the request of the Department, the same remedy was tested on 

 watermelons by Mr. T. S. Williajns, of Monetta, S. C, a well-know^i 

 grower of melons, who has had much experience with the watermelon 

 wilt disease. The seed for 2U( ) hills Avas treated according to directions, 

 and 200 other hills beside them were left untreated. A perfect stand was 

 obtained, and the plants were thinned out to one in a hill. A careful 

 count sixty-five days aftei' planting showed 195 ot the 200 treated plants 

 killed by the wilt disease. In the other (untreated) row 187 of the 

 plants were killed by the fungus. 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES. 



HYGIENIC TREATMENT. 



In the cotton Avilt, as in many other plant diseases, certain pre- 

 ventive or palliative measures, based on our knowledge of the way the 

 disease spreads, are very important. These are as follows: 



(1) Rotation of crops. — Land once infected with this disease has 

 never been freed from it. It is important, tlierefore, that such land 

 should not be planted for several years to okra or anj^ variety of cot- 

 ton subject to this disease. The length of time the fungus will live 

 in the soil is not yet determined, but four years' rest lias proved 

 insufficient in several cases. Other crops — as corn, cowpeas, cabbage, 

 watermelon, etc. — may, it is believed, be planted on this land with 

 safety. 



' Stated by the Division of Chemistry, to which samples were submitted, to be 

 made of a mixture of liver of sulphur and lime, 



