Report of thr Vegetable Pathologist. 257 



is not available then at least three or four years should be allowed to 

 elapse before laying out the seed-bed on grouiid previously occupied 

 by these plants. There is little or no danger of the plants being 

 attacked after they have been set out in the fields, hence to ensure a 

 good crop every care should be taken in the selection of the young 

 plants, and only healthy ones with absolutely clean, sound roots should 

 be used. 



ROOT-BOT OF FkUIT TkEBS. 



Rotting at the root may be due to a variety of causes, and in in- 

 vestigating diseases of this nature which are at first hidden and 

 underground, one must be particularly careful to assign the symptoms 

 to their proper origin and make sure whether organic or inorganic 

 agencies are at work. If the soil is undrained and sour, and stagnant 

 water collects at the root, then this is sufficient in many instances 

 to cause decay. "Wet-feet" is a fruitful source of decay and death. 

 There are numerous cases, however, where fungi are not the after 

 effects of such conditions, but actually promote and produce decay. 

 This happens with quite a number of different plants both in our 

 forests and orchards, and from the insidious nature of the disease 

 it is often widely distributed before its true cause is discovered. The 

 losses due to root-rot are enormous, and the causes, if possible, should 

 be removed. There is one fungus which has been very common 

 during the past season, and is recognised all over the world as a 

 dreaded root parasite, viz. : — the honey agaric (Armillaria melleaj . 

 It is very prevalent in orchards around Doncaster and elsewhere, and 

 attempts have been made to prevent its ravages. It is found that 

 the sovereign means of prevention is drainage, for not only is a 

 healthy growth promoted thereby, but the conditions are inimical to 

 the growth of the fungus. This, combined with a dressing of lime, 

 is said to be fairly eft'ective against it, and an orchardist who laid 

 bare the roots of his apple trees and applied sulphate of iron dissolved 

 in water met with promising results. It will be necessary, however^ 

 to carry out a systematic series of experiments before one can make 

 definite recommendations, but I have seen the differences so marked 

 in the drained and undrained portion of the same orchard, that there 

 can be no doubt as to good drainage being a valuable aid in checking- 

 its spread. 



Blue Mould of Wheat. 



Early in June a batch of young sickly wheat plants were received 

 fi'om Inspector Davey at Horsham. The trouble was stated to be 

 general and serious in that district, patches of the crops becoming 

 withered and soon dying. On examination, the seed was found to 

 be covered with the common blue mould [Penicillittm glaucum), but 

 more than a fortnight had elapsed before the plants Avere received 

 by this branch. 



Some fresh seed was shaken up in water in which some of the 

 diseased plants had been steeped, and a portion sown in sand, and 

 another portion on damp blotting paper. Those on the blotting 

 paper showed the blue mould as soon as germination commenced,. 



