18 



time is badly dwarfe J and the top nearly dead except for two or three 

 stunted, small leaves in the centre of the top. A softening- of the 

 tissue of the turnip now appears around the crown of ths plant, which 

 continues to increase until the whole turnip becomes a soft spongy 

 mass with a disagreeable odor. The odor is caused by the deC' impos- 

 ition of the tissues and the formation of aromatic compounds. 



Conditions Affecting the Spread of the Disease. 



The seasons in which this disease was bad were cooler than our 

 usual summer weather,and the amount of rainfall was in excess of the 

 usual amount. In the month of October, 1902, there was a heavy 

 rainfall which probably extended the growing season of the turnip ; 

 and the unripe and damp condition of the turnips when harvested, 

 toeether with the warm weather which followed the storing of the 

 turnips, proved very favorable for the development of the disease. 



Fig. 12.— Swede Turnip affected with soft rot. 



Other conditions affecting the spread of the disease are the same 

 as those mentioned above. 



Prevention. 



If roots are properly ripened and cured they are not so liable to 

 the rot when stored as are the roots which are either unripe or im- 

 properly cured, or both. When roots are taken fix)m the field in a 

 wet condition and directly stored it) the cellar more rot is liable to be 

 found. The temperature after the crop is stored has also a consider- 

 able effect upon the growth of the rot if it should happen to be present 

 in the roots and a great deal of rot in stored roots would be avoided 

 if the cellars in which the roots were stored were properly ventilated. 



