3y8 Reading-Course for Farmers. 



The Geneva Experiment Station (Bull, 251) recommends that the seed 

 be treated as follows : Soak the seed for fifteen minutes in corrosive 

 sublimate, i part in 1000 of water or in formalin, one pint to thirty 

 gallons. This will of course not prevent infection if the cabbage be 

 planted on infected soil, that is, soil that had a crop of diseased cabbage 

 on it last year. Treat the seed now and then plant on clean soil. Don't 

 forget the seed bed either. It should be on soil free from the germ. A 

 little thought, time and money may save your cabbage crop next year. 



Bcaji Anthracnose. — Did you lose your bean crop last year from the 

 spots that came on the pods, ruining them? (Fig. 369.) You very 

 probably had the disease and suffered a reduced yield at any rate. This 

 is a fungus disease and occurs on practically all beans grown in the 

 State except the Limas. It is the greatest enemy of the bean grower. 

 No varieties are entirely proof against it, all claims of the seedmen to 

 the contrary nothwithstanding. Some it is true are much more resistant 

 than others. The disease is carried over in the seed. Although I have 

 examined many samples of bean seed during the last year I have never 

 found one that was free from the anthracnose. Much of the seed offered 

 on the market shows as high as 50 per. cent, diseased as determined by 

 careful germination tests. Well what is to be done you ask. In the 

 first place test your seed to see how badly diseased it is. Write to me 

 for directions or send me some of the seed (half a pint) and I will test 

 it for you. While it will not be possible to hand pick the seed so as to 

 get rid of all the disease, still it will pay you to remove the affected beans 

 as well as you can, as this will give you a better stand of strong, healthy 

 plants. Now is the time to do this hand picking. You won't have time 

 when the rush of planting is on. This is a good job for rainy days. If 

 the test shows the seed to be badly affected, better get other seed if you 

 can obtain any that is cleaner than your own. And lastly plan to grow 

 your own seed hereafter. Let me send you a plan for a seed patch and 

 method of selecting seed from it free from the disease. If you plant 

 seed absolutely free from the disease you will have no pod spot in your 

 beans no matter what the weather may be. 



