2 Journal of Agricultural Research vol. xx.No. i 



here concerning other species of Fusarium connected with both phases 

 of this problem or of their possible relation to the similar diseases of corn. 

 While G. saubinetii is unquestionably the cause of headblighting of the 

 cereal crops under most conditions and throughout the greater part of 

 this country, it is equally true that under certain conditions and in some 

 parts of the country other species of Fusarium are also responsible for 

 the headblighting of cereal crops. The following organisms besides G. 

 saubinetii have been isolated from blighted wheat, rye, oats, and barley 

 heads or plants: Fusarium avenaceum (Fr.) Sacc., F. herbarum (Corda) 

 Fries, F. culmorum (W. G. Smith) Sacc, F. culmorum (W. G. Smith) 

 Sacc. var. leteius Sherb., F. arcuosporum Sherb., F. scirpi Lamb et Fautr., 

 F. solani (Mart. pr. p.) Ap. et Wr., F. arthrosporioides Sherb., and F. 

 redolens Wr. These species, while very seldom responsible for the 

 headblighting of cereals, are not so unimportant in the rootrot problem 

 of these crops. Indeed, some of them (F. herbarum, F. avenaceum, F. 

 culmorum, and F. culmorum var. leteius) have, in my observations, 

 proved to be as important as G. saubinetii in causing rootrot of the 

 cereal crops. 



There is extensive literature on this subject which can not be reviewed 

 in this brief paper. Only a few of the more important citations are 

 given. 



THE DISEASE 



COMMON NAME 



In this country the headblighting of the cereal crops is generally 

 known under the faulty name of "wheatscab." It is not a wheat dis- 

 ease alone, because it also occurs on spelt, rye, barley, oats, and certain 

 grasses. And it is not "scab" because it causes no scabbing of the 

 heads or of any part of the various hosts but rather blighting of the 

 heads. The infected heads are perfectly normal and remain so except 

 that they are blighted, take on the color of bleached straw, and later 

 may be overgrown with the mycelium of the pathogen. Since the 

 name "wheatscab" is faulty in a number of respects, the name "Fusa- 

 rium-blight" is used in this paper. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION 



The Fusarium-blight of cereals is more or less common throughout 

 the central and eastern cereal-growing sections of the United States. It 

 has been reported by the Plant Disease Survey for 191 7, 191 8, and 191 9 

 from the following States: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa- 

 chusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, 

 Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, 

 Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Da- 



