816 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



REPORT ON FUNGUS DISEASES OF PLANTS FOR 1914. 



By L. H. Pammex. 



'Climate plays an important role in the cause of fungus diseases of 

 plants. The writer presented a brief account last year of the more im- 

 portant diseases of plants for 1912. These records have been kept for 

 a series of years. From 1886 to 1889 notes were kept by Dr. Byron D. 

 Halsted who was then the professor of Botany in Iowa State College. In 

 1892 the writer began a series of observations. These notes have been 

 published from time to time. A summary was published by the writer 

 and Miss Charlotte M. King in 1907. Since the publication of this paper 

 notes have been published in report of the Iowa State Horticultural 



*Proc. la. Acad. Sci. 16:41. 

 society.* For a number of years this work has been carried on with the 

 co-operation of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture. I have also received much help from the volun- 

 teer observers of the Iowa Weather and Crop Service. To these and other 

 correspondents who have assisted in this work the writer desires to ex- 

 press his thanks. 



In the opening paragraph the statement was made that one of the im- 

 portant factors in disease is climate, meaning thereby rainfall, humidity 

 and temperature; soil is another important factor; the variety is a third 

 important factor. However, we cannot draw conclusions in regard to all 

 of these factors until we have more data. 



WEATHER DATA. 



In order to show the climatic conditions for the growing season of 1914 

 I am giving the weather data for Decorah in northeastern Iowa, Keokuk 

 in southeastern Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa, Woodbury county in 

 northwestern Iowa. This will give a fairly good idea of the weather for 

 the past season. The season has been much drier than usual, especially 

 during the growing season. The spring was drier than for several years 

 past owing to a deficiency of snowfall and the fall rains of 1912. The 

 yield of small grain crops was above the average in the state this year, 

 while corn was below the larger yields of some years. The apple crop was 

 small. Small fruits too were below the average. 



