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educational institutions is now almost universal, and the lack of 
such a provision here is a decided handicap in retaining an 
efhicient personnel and in making new appointments. 
Respectfully submitted, 
C. STUART GAGER, 
Director, 
REPORTS ON RESEARCH FOR 1941 
PLANT PATHOLOGY 
By GrorckE M. RrrEp 
A New Race of Loose Smut of Oats 
The most important discovery in the investigations in 1941 is 
that of a new specialized race of loose smut which attacks Victoria 
and many hybrid selections of which it is one of the parents. 
Twenty-nine definite specialized races of loose smut and 14 of 
covered smut have been described and, so far as tested, none of 
these has been able to infect Victoria. The Victoria variety has 
been used extensively in oat hybridization and many of the selec- 
tions are highly adapted to certain Oat-growing areas. The new 
race of smut is based upon a collection obtained some years 
ago from Oklahoma and seems to belong to the Fulghum group 
of loose-smut races. Its most important characteristic is its 
ability to infect Victoria and selections from Victoria crosses. 
These studies have been made in cooperation with Mr. T. R. 
Stanton, Senior Agronomist, Division of Cereal — and Die 
eases, Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. 
Studies on the Inheritance of Smut Resistance 
Further studies were made on three hybrids in which the 
Navarro oat was one of the parents. This variety is noted for 
its high degree of resistance to all known races of loose and 
covered smut with which it has been tested, no collection of smut 
having been found which is able to infect it. Navarro was crossed 
with varieties which showed interesting reactions to different 
races of smut. The second and third generations of Navarro X 
