58 DEPARTMENTAL KEPORTS. 



greater and greater. Owing to such facts, it is to be expected that the 

 Department will have increasing calls for not only more work, but 

 Avork of a higher type than has been the case heretofore. The appro- 

 priations made from year to year are not only needed to maintain the 

 work inaugurated, but additional funds must l)e forthcoming to take 

 up new questions as they arise. It has b(MMi suggested that a work, 

 such as is being carried on by tliis Bureau and by the Department as 

 a whole is of such a nature that certain lines of investigation can be 

 finished or wound up, as is the case with manufacturing concerns. 

 This is only partly true, for the j^roduction of crops can not properly 

 be compared to a manufactured product. It follows, therefore, that 

 funds for maintaining the work inaugurated must be at hand, and, 

 in addition, new appropriations will become necessary to take up lines 

 of work which present themselves as agricultural development 

 advances. 



REPORTS OF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS. 



In the accompanj'ing reports are set forth some of the main facts 

 connected with the work of the different offices in the Bureau. 



PATHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



The work connected with Pathological and Ph3^siological Investiga- 

 tions, under Mr. A. F. Woods, has been pushed forward rapidly dur- 

 ing the year. The main points covered may be briefly reviewed under 

 the following heads : 



PATHOLOGICAL WORK. 



Diseases of the sugar beef. — The work on diseases of the sugar beet 

 has been under the direct charge of Dr. C. O. Townsend, who has 

 been making special studies of both the sugar-producing beets and 

 mother beets used for seed. In the West the most serious disease 

 has been the bliglit or curly top, while in the Middle and Eastern 

 States the leaf spot has been the most serious pest. These two dis- 

 eases have caused losses to the growers and to the manufacturers 

 aggregating thousands of dollars. Investigation has shown that dis- 

 eases of the sugar beet may result in producing a poor stand of beets 

 in the field, either through the failure of the seeds to germinate or by 

 a destruction of the seedlings. Experiments are now in progress look- 

 ing to the control of the fungus pest and other unfavorable conditions 

 affecting tlie sugar beet, and it is believed that practical remedies 

 will be found in the near future which will enable the growers to pre- 

 vent losses from these sources. 



Diseases of cotton. — During the year work on the cotton-root rot in 

 Texas has been continued by Dr. B. M. Duggar, and work on other 

 diseases of cotton has been pushed with vigor hy Mr. W. A. Orton. 



There is yet much to be done in connection with the cotton-root rot 

 diseases in Texas, and the work under way has for its object the 

 determination of jiractical remedies for these troubles. The cotton 

 wilt, a serious disease, is now pretty well controlled by means of 

 proper handling of infected land and the use of resistant strains 

 which have l)een developed by the Bureau. The Bureau has suc- 

 ceeded in securing the active cooperation of a number of progressive 

 cotton growers in this important work, and very satisfactory results 



