64 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The treatment of seed oats for the prevention of smut i Wisconsin Sta. Rpt. 

 190S, pp. S6S-S67 I.— Abstracts are given of the following previous publications: The 

 Hot- Water Treatment for the Prevention of Smut in Oats, Wlir;it, and Barley, by 

 E. S. Goff (E. S. R., 8, p. LMiD; A Trial of •■(Vies Pulver" for the Prevention of 

 Smut in Oats, by E. S. Goff (E. 8. K., LO, p. 762); The Prevention of Oat Smut, by 

 K. s. Goff i K. S. R., 13, p. 255); The Lnfluenceof Formaldehyde on the Germination 

 of Oats, by F. Cranefield (E. S. R., 13, p. 918); The Influence of Formaldehyde on 

 the Germination of Oats, by F. Uranefield (E. S. R., 14, p. 975), and The Influence 

 on the Growth of Oat Plants and the Yield of Grain Resultant from Treating the 

 Seed with Formaldehyde, by F. Cranefield. 



In the last paper enumerated are given the results of experiments in 1903, in which 

 the author studied the Lnfluenceof treatment on the growth of oat plants and mi 

 the yield of straw and grain. Different lots of oats were soaked for 20 minutes in 

 solutions of formaldehyde, as follows: One pint to 10 gal. of water, 1 pt. to 25 gal., 

 1 pt. to 36 gal., and 1 pt. to 50 gal., the growth of the plants being compared with 

 one lot untreated. As far as the growth was concerned but little difference was 

 noted in the plants of the different lots, except where seed was treated with 1 pt. to 

 10 gal. of water. In tins case considerable injury was done, and as the germination 

 was poor the plants had considerably more room for growth than in the other lots. 

 In testing the effect on yield fortieth-acre plats were used, the seed being treated as 

 above. The only positive injury noted was in the case where the strongest solution 

 was u«ed. 



From the experiments reported it appears that while a portion of the seed may be 

 destroyed even when treated with formaldehyde solution as dilute as 1 pt. to 50 gal. 

 of water, under practical field conditions the yield is not appreciably affected by 

 treating seed with a solution as strong as 1 pt. to 36 gal. 



The relation between Pleospora and Helminthosporium, H. Diedicke 

 (Centhl. Bakt. u. Par., 2. Abt., 11 {1903), No. 2, pp. 52-59').— In continuation of the 

 author's experiments (E. S. R., 14, p. 877), a report is given on the relation between 

 certain species of Pleospora and Helminthosporium. It appears from his investiga- 

 tions that P. trichosioma occurring on rye is probably not to be associated with any 

 species of Helminthosporium but rather with some species of Alternaria. The 

 conidial stages of II. teres, If. avense, II. bromi, II. gramineum, and //. Iritici repentis 

 are associated with the perithecial stages of Pleospora, and they should be properly 

 designated as belonging to that genus. 



Clover sickness and its cause, H. T. GtJssow (Jour. Roy. Agr. Soc. England, 64 

 (1903), pp. 376-391, figs. 2 I. — The author reviews the various causes which from time 

 to time have been suggested for the condition known as clover sickness. Whether 

 this condition is always due to a parasitic fungi is said to be a matter for further 

 inquiry, but the cause of a disease reported in 1901 in the Rothamsted experiments 

 is said to have undoubtedly been the fungus Sclerotinia ciborioides. 



Not only is red clover subject to attacks of this fungus but alfalfa, white clover, and 

 other species are affected by it. The author says that in the earlier stages of the 

 disease when the dark spots first appear on the leaf spraying with Bordeaux mixture 

 would modify if not check the progress of the disease. 



Potato diseases of India, E. J. Butler (Agr. Ledger, 1903, No. 4 (Crop Disease 

 and Pest Ser., No. 7 ), pp. 87-124, figs. 9). — A description is given of the fungus diseases 

 to which the potato is subject in India, particular attention being given to the potato 

 blight due to Phytophihora infestans and a disease to which the name "bangle" 

 blight is given. This latter disease is characterized by the sudden wilting of the 

 green tops, and is first noted by the occurrence of wilted plants here and there 

 throughout the field. The tubers are checked in their growth and the yield is less- 

 ened and in many cases the tubers are rotten when dug. 



A characteristic of the disease is shown in the blackened ring of fibrovascular 



