1917.] PUBLIC DOCmiENT — No. 31. 63a 



to the potato growing industry of this State. Furthermore, 

 data accumulated by investigators for the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture seem to indicate a close relationship 

 between this disease and soil and weather conditions which 

 does not exist in Massachusetts. 



For many years tobacco growers have experienced difficulty 

 in growing tobacco on certain soils which have been more or 

 less continuously planted to this crop for long periods. The 

 trouble seems obscure in its nature, but it is generally attrib- 

 uted to soil conditions growing out of failure to practice crop 

 rotation. The condition is commonly referred to as "tobacco 

 sick soil." Numerous attempts have been made to solve the 

 problem, but comprehensive investigations have not been under- 

 taken. Tobacco growers have been insistent in their calls for 

 help, and the situation has recently so shaped itself that special 

 investigation of the problem by the station seemed imperative. 

 The matter has been referred to the department of botany, and 

 because of his special fitness. Dr. G. H. Chapman has been 

 assigned to the work. A small appropriation by the last 

 Legislature made possible the purchase of some special equip- 

 ment and the construction of cement beds in the department 

 greenhouse to be used in this work. It is hoped that further 

 provision wull be made in the next legislative session for the 

 prosecution of the work on a much larger scale. 



With the growth of the onion industry in the Connecticut 

 Valley there has been an increasing tendency to store the crop 

 for periods of varying length, regulated largely by the market 

 demand and price. Large losses from decay frequently occur 

 in the storehouses, and every storer expects more or less shrink- 

 age from this source. There seems to have been little study 

 of the storage problem to determine the factors which contrib- 

 ute to success or failure. The chief difficulty in the way of 

 success appears to be inability to control decay, although 

 shrinkage due to loss of water by evaporation is a considerable 

 factor. The increasing importance of the onion crop in Mas- 

 sachusetts has led the department to undertake investigations, 

 with a view to working out methods of controlling storage rot. 

 It is too early, however, to make more than a report of 

 progress. 



