Indiana Plant Diseases, 1921 173 



The lima beans grown for canning purposes are harvested while 

 the pods are green and the seeds immature. A considerable percentage 

 of the beans are culled out on the sorting belts and discarded because of 

 discoloration or decay. Several types of diseased beans were observed. 

 In one type a dark brown or black rot of the cotyledonary tissue pre- 

 dominated. Whether or not this was due in part to bacterial blight 

 infection was not determined. Typical Rhizoctonia soil rot lesions (fig. 

 3B) were found on certain pods and some of the seed lesions above 

 mentioned may have resulted from this disease. The predominating 

 type of cull was one showing a shallow brown discoloration confined to 

 the testa and cotyledon epidermis. Such seeds were found in older pods 

 that appeared to be affected with a fungous rot and upon incubation a 

 Fusarium developed from these browned beans as well as the rotted 

 pods. The wet weather of September no doubt increased the amount oi 

 seed infection of the types represented by these culls. 



Mosaic has not been noted to any considerable extent among lima 

 beans, although it occurred in a garden in Lafayette and one case in the 

 greenhouse evidently resulted from seed carriage of the virus. A 

 powdery mildew (possibly Microsphaera euphorbiae) became destructive 

 on lima beans grown for experimental purposes in the greenhouse. Red- 

 dish brown blotches were produced on the leaves and considerable de- 

 foliation resulted. The disease was much more severe on an adjacent 

 row of cowpeas, and also occurred on Kulthi beans and to a less 

 extent on Urd beans. None was noted on Rice and Hyacinth beans, 

 similarly exposed to infection. 



Beet. — Leaf-spot caused by Cercospora beticola was especially severe 

 this year in the market gardens about Indianapolis. It was observed 

 in July and again in September and at both times was blighting the 

 foliage very generally, causing the beds to present a scorched appear- 

 ance. On August 5, a number of sugar beet fields were inspected in 

 Adams County and in general only a small amount of leaf-spot was 

 noted. However, in one field, where beets had also been grown the 

 year before, leaf-spot was very destructive and coalescence of the 

 large blackened lesions was killing much of the older foliage in certain 

 areas. It was reported by field men of a beet sugar company that 

 leaf-spot was much worse in one of the sugar beet growing areas in 

 Allen County where crop rotation was not generally practiced by the 

 growers. Lack of crop rotation is evidently very conducive to de- 

 structive outbreaks of leaf-spot. Kendrick found leaf-spot causing 

 scorched areas, visible fiom a distance, in Grant County on September 

 17, and inspection revealed that the older leaves were killed by the 

 coalescence of the lesions. 



Because of unusiially hot weather and heavy rains the last of May 

 in Allen County, very heavy losses to the sugar beet growers were 

 caused by damping-off and root rot. A number of fields were visited 

 June 6, and the loss in stand from damping-off and root rot was alarm- 

 ing. In fact some growers had plowed and reseeded their fields. In 

 most fields, however, it was evident that sufficient stand of plants was 

 left to insure a partial crop. Thinning or blocking of the thickly seeded 



