446 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOBD. 



injury done to the crops. The loose smuts of wheat, barley, and wild barley 

 are distinct species and are not interchangeable as to their host plants. The 

 loose smuts of wheat and barley infect the plant in the flowering stage, entering 

 the embryo inside of the ovary before the latter ripens into the seed. This 

 infected seed will develop a smutted plant if sown. Varietal differences in 

 susceptibility to smuts have been observed in both wheat and barley, but no 

 marked immunity has yet been discovered. 



The best method for preventing these smuts is said to be the modified hot- 

 water treatment, which consists for barley of soaking in cold water for 5 hours, 

 followed by 15 minutes in water heated to 52° C. ; while for wheat after soaking 

 for the same time in cold water the grain should be soaked in hot water for 

 10 minutes at a temperature of 54° C. The application of this method is 

 slightly injurious to the germiuative power of the grain, and as a consequence 

 a somewhat larger amount should be sown ; otherwise there will be a slight 

 decrease in yield. 



Smut and rust of cereals and their prevention, O, Kiechneb (Illus. Landw. 

 Ztg., 29 {1909), No. 30, pp. 305, 306). — Popular accounts are given of the 

 smuts and rusts of cereals, with suggestions for reducing the loss due to these 

 parasites. The methods recommended consist of seed treatment with copper 

 sulphate, hot water, or formalin for smut prevention, and the selection of 

 resistant varieties for rust prevention. The relative resistance of a number of 

 varieties of winter and summer wheats is shown. 



The wintering' of parasitic fungi, and combating' their attacks, E. Riehm 

 (Deut. Landw. Presse, 36 (1909), No. 35, pp. 813, 37^).— A popular account is 

 given of the means by which a number of the more common fungi that cause 

 plant diseases are carried over winter, with particular reference to those carried 

 from crop to crop by seed. For the prevention of seed infection treatment with 

 fungicides is recommended, and descriptions are given of the formalin and hot- 

 water methods of treating wheat and oats for smut. 



The fungus and insect enemies of beets, P. Ulkich (Illus. Landw. Ztg., 29 

 (1909), No. 38, pp. 377, 378, figs, ii).— Popular descriptions are given of the 

 beet rust, leaf spot, mildew, scab, dry rot, heart rot, nematodes, and' leaf beetles. 



Root tumors on sugar beets, J. Ekinelt (Bl. ZucJcei'rubenhau, 16 (1909), 

 Nos. 5, pp. 68-73; 6, pp. 81-87). — It is stated that at harvest beets are often 

 found with irregular swellings, varying from the size of a hazelnut to others 

 weighing as much as 1.5 kg. 



The author has investigated the subject to determine the cause of the trouble 

 if possible. In the first part of the pai)er an historical summary is given regard- 

 ing the occurrence of the disease and the various causes that have been assigned 

 to it. In the second part he describes experiments which included a thorough 

 microscopical examination of many diseased specimens, with the result that no 

 animal, fungus, or bacterium could be isolated that could be shown to be the 

 cause of the trouble. It is believed by the author to be a typical pathological 

 distui-bance due to a continued storing of reserve materials, but the inducing 

 factors are as yet unknown. 



The heart and dry rots of sugar beets, W. KRiJGEE and G. Wimmeb (Ztschr. 

 Ter. Deut. Zuckerindus., 1909, No. 6.',0, II, pp. 379-385).— By means of sand 

 cultures a study ^\'as made of the causes contributing to the heart and dry rots 

 of beets. 



The authors state that these diseases have been attributed to a number of 

 causes, among them too rapid growth during the young stages of the plant, too 

 great an amount of soil moisture, especially when following a dry season, and 

 attacks of the fungus Phoma hetxe. The characteristics of the two forms of 

 disease are said to be quite distinct, although they are closely associated. The 



