362 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



soil conditions were best for the growth of wheat from the seed. It was shown that 

 soil which was very wet, although it did not check the development of a reasonable 

 crop of wheat, was unfavorable to the development of smut. 



The effect of different depths of seeding in dry soil was studied, the seed being 

 sown at depths of 1, 2, 3, and 4 in. "Where the seed had previously been treated 

 with formaldehyde no smut was developed in any case. The most smut was developed 

 where the seed was planted the deepest, an explanation of which is believed to be 

 that the deep planting seems to secure the best conditions for the smut development 

 as well as retarding the growth of the wheat during the period when it is susceptible 

 to the attack of the fungus. Where the seed bed is well prepared and the grain 

 covered to a uniform depth, not to exceed 2 in., the most desirable conditions for 

 growth of wheat and minimum production of smut are found. 



Cantaloupe -wilt, H. H. Griffin {Colorado Sta. Bid. 62, pp. 7-15). — For a num- 

 ber of years a blight of cantaloupes due to Macrosporium cucumerhnn has been under 

 investigation at the station. The fungus produces small brown spots upon the leaves 

 in the center of the hill. These spots gradually enlarge until they attain a diameter 

 of half an inch or more, enveloping the leaf and causing its destruction. In 1899 

 experiments for the control of the disease were attempted in which vines were 

 sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, and the results obtained were considered very satis- 

 factory. The season of 1900 was dry and hot, hence unfavorable to the spread of the 

 disease. Experiments with Bordeaux njixture were conducted in a number of places, 

 and the results obtained were considered highly satisfactory. The average cost for 

 spraying is stated at 8-4.47 per acre for 3 applications. The fungicide seemed to not 

 only protect the vines from disease but to prolong the growing season, and as a result 

 the cantaloupes were ripened at a considerably longer period instead of matured 

 practically at one time. 



In 1899 there appeared to be no evidence of the disease in any other locality than 

 that of Rockyford, but in 1900 it was found in nearly all parts of the valley. The 

 formula for Bordeaux mixture which the author recommends is 4 lbs. copper sul- 

 phate, 4 lbs. fresh lime, and 40 gals, of water. A stronger solution could be used, but 

 good results have been ol)tained from that recommended. 



Bacillus carotovorus, tlie cause of the white rot of carrots, L. R. Jones 

 {Centhl. Bakt. u. Par., 2. Abt., 7 {1901), Xos. 1, pp. 12-21; 2, pp. 61-68).— The 

 author's attention was directed to this disease of carrots in Vermont in December, 

 1898, when he received at the experiment station diseased specimens, together with 

 a statement that the disease had been known for two or more years. Among the 

 carrots harvested in 1897, at the time of harvesting, was found here and there a single 

 diseased root. After the roots were stored in the cellar a development of the disease 

 took place so rapidly as to destroy in the autumn and early winter almost the entire 

 harvest. Carrots were planted in 1898 upon a field which had been fertilized with 

 manure from animals fed with carrots, and the crop of 1898 was almost entirely 

 destroyed by the disease. In nearly every case the disease appears as a white rot, 

 usually attacking the crown and penetrating the root rapidly. The diseased tissue is 

 ordinarily white, but sometimes brownish, and between the sound and diseased por- 

 tions of the root a sharply drawn line intervenes. A microscopic examination failed 

 to show the presence of any fungus, but the tissues were swarming with bacteria. 

 Plate cultures from diseased tissue showed in a short time an abundance of the 

 organism, which when inoculated from bouillon cultures upon carrots quickly pro- 

 duced the rot. The bacteria occur in the intercellular spaces and through their 

 action dissolve the middle lamella. The destruction of this intercellular substance 

 is very similar to that of an enzym-like cytase, but this part of the investigations has 

 not been completed. Inoculation experiments with a great variety of plants showed 

 the organism was capable of producing the white rot upon a number of plants in no 

 way related to the carrot. Roots of white beets, ruta-baga, radish, parsnip, salsify, 



