EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 291 



are .suffering from a lack of knowledge of the natural distribution of the 

 various strains of the nodule forming bacteria and because of the com- 

 parative ignorance of the effect of various factors upon infection and 

 the subsequent influence of the infection by Ps. radicicola. 



SUMMARY. 



'^1, Pure cultures for alfalfa, from the indication of the reports have 

 been highly successful. 



"2. No conclusion can be made regarding the value of inoculation of 

 other legumes than alfalfa. 



"3. No satisfactory conclusion can be derived regarding the influ- 

 ence of liming, date of seeding or nurse crop on inoculation. 



"4. The presence of organic matter favors success with inocula- 

 tion." (Charles G. Nobles). 



"We have submitted to you for publication herein a great many re- 

 ports on matters that can be recorded conveniently only through this 

 channel and which would not be otherwise brought to public attention. 

 I wish to commend highly the faithful and energetic services of all those 

 who have contributed to this report, to assure you of their loyalty and 

 devotion to the purposes of the Experiment Station and to convey to you 

 for them and for myself an expression of our appreciation of your con- 

 stant assistance and sympathetic counsel during the past year. 



Respectfully, 

 WARD GILTNER, 



Bacteriologist. 



East Lansing, Mich., June 30, 1917. 



REPORT OF THE BOTANIST. 



Dean R. S. Shaw, College : 



Dear Sir : — I hand you herewith my report as Botanist of the Experi- 

 ment Station. 



The botanical staff for the past year has consisted of myself. Dr. G. H. 

 Coons, Research Associate in Plant Pathology, Dr. R. P. Hibbard, Re- 

 search Associate in Plant Physiology, J. H. Muncie, Assistant in Plant 

 Pathology, and, for part of the year, H. L. Lewis and R. Nelson, Quar- 

 ter-time Graduate Assistants. R. W. Goss continued as an assistant in 

 plant pathology on some potato disease work for part of the summer of 

 1916. In addition to these, considerable labor, chiefly of students, has 

 been employed in the care of field plots, preparation of culture media, 

 taking of routine records, etc. 



My work had been the coordination of the botanical work of the Col- 

 lege and Experiment Station, the general supervision of all the botan- 

 ical Avork of other members of the staft' and in particular the supervi- 

 sion. of the cooi)erative cucundier disease work. I planned a small piece 

 of work on rye smut which was carried out with the assistance of W. K. 

 Makemsoii, a graduate student in Botany. 



The cooi)erative work on cucumber diseases had been carried on 

 through an arrangement between the H. J. Heinz l*ickle Company of 



