146 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [May, 



the college. In bottom the crop is a complete failure. 

 In three hours of careful search I found one which was 

 exempt. On November 1st the rutabagas north of the 

 college, on high, rolling land, were examined. Here I 

 found not more than half a crop, and those left were of 

 the poorest quality." 



Mr. Charles K. Wilkins, of Richland, Neb. wrote : 

 "We have quite a long row of Golden Ball turnips, and 

 nearly all of them have rotted- in the way described by 

 you. We also have some Flat Dutch turnips that are 

 rotting in the same way. Last year we had a quarter of 

 an acre of sugar beets, and some of them rotted, the rot 

 starting in the crown. I have noticed cabbage rotting 

 about here." 



This rotting of sugar beets was described quite fully 

 in Bulletin No. 15, Iowa Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion, and i's due to RMzoctonia hetae. Prof. P. H. Mell 

 reports* the turnip rot as occurring in Alabama. 



CHARACTERS. 



This disease is easily distinguished by its strong odor, 

 an odor peculiar to rotting rutabagas and turnips. It 

 may be designated as a turnip odor. The roots as well 

 as the stem are affected with a rot that in the majority 

 of cases begins in the crown, although in some cases it 

 appears to start at the bases of the leaves ; in others it 

 starts on the sides of the fleshy root. The leaves of rape, 

 rutabagas and turnips, in those rotting as well as not 

 rotting, were uniformly spotted with some disease, prob- 

 ably bacterial ; but this has not been worked out. If this 

 should ]_)rove to be the same disease it is easily seen why 

 the disease should start in the crown, or at the base of 

 the leaves. The rotting rutabagas could not be detected 



* Experiment Station Record. Vol.-VI. 



