EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 265 



instruction in plant disease control or in the identification of diseased 

 specimens. Upon request of the county agents the leader in extension 

 in plant disease control will i»lan to make a special visit to assist 

 in demonstrating any particular matter of disease control, or to survey 

 the field for future plant disease demonstrations. He will also serve 

 as the agency for bringing the research agencies of tlie College in touch 

 with field conditions. 



(6) It is proposed to furnish leadership in community eff'ort against 

 plant disease outbreaks or epidemics. For example, in the diseases of 

 celery, especially blight and ''stunt" (a new soil sickness) community 

 effort will be enlisted to make the fight eflicient. So, too, in all those 

 diseases in which the destruction of the sources of infection is the 

 principle involved. 



Respectfully submitted, 



ERNST A. BESSEY, 



Botanist. 



East Lansing, Mich., June 30, 1916. 



Dr. E. A. Bessey: 



Dear Sir — At your request I submit a report of the w^ork done during 

 the past fiscal year. My work, as before, falls under two heads: that 

 done for the College and that done for the Experiment Station. The 

 work for the College is divided into several forms of activity: teaching 

 classes in Plant Pathology, assisting with graduate work, and assisting 

 in the extension phase of the department's work. Statistics of the un- 

 dergraduate and graduate teaching are included in your department re- 

 port. The extension work has consisted, in part, of attention to corres- 

 pondence with reference to plant diseases. During the year nearly a 

 thousand plant disease specimens have been handled in the laboratory. 

 Besides this work several popular lectures have been given at meetings 

 of farmers. Exhibits of plant disease specimens have been prepared and 

 these have served as a loan collection for the fairs, special extension 

 trains, and for the general use of county agents. A collection of lantern 

 slides on the late blight of potatoes has been assembled, and this with 

 proper descriptive legends has been put at the service of the county 

 agents. The department's interest in potato-disease extension work has 

 been continued. In this connection students have been trained for field 

 inspection and advice has been given on the policy of the work. This 

 cooperation with the leader of the potato extension work has given re- 

 sults which warrant suggestions on the problem of co-ordination of a 

 college department with the extension service. 



The work done for the Experiment Station falls under three heads, 

 that done under the (1) Adams fund project, (2) the Hatch fund pro- 

 ject, and (3) the various State fund projects. 



(1) The Adams fund project, which has been under way in the labor- 

 atory for several years, has reached a point w^here definite conclusions 

 have been arrived at and where fairly complete presentations can be 

 made. This project has been terminated. It may be permitted to review 

 hastily this work, summarizing the main results. 



The problem in general dealt with the determination of the cause and 



