56 



with a wooden cover of double thickness which with the use of an 

 old blanket makes it fairly tight. The steam pipe enters in one 

 side near the top and passes down the inside to within an inch of 

 the bottom. A wooden support made up of slats keeps the object 

 to be sterilized from touching the bottom, and a valve (a), or much 

 simpler, a hole plugged with a cork, allows for the drawing off of the 

 condensed steam which gathers in the bottom of the box. This 

 manner of sterilizing' is very convenient for steaming small boxes of 

 earth, pots, etc., as it can be done in a very short time, and at very 

 little expense. An old zinc lined refrigerator, however, could be 

 substituted for the box to good advantage. The method of ridding 

 the soil of nematodes where such plants as cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., 

 are sown and where the crop is obtained from the seed offers fewer 

 obstacles than such plants as violets where transplanting is accom- 

 plished by separation, as the latter process necessarily includes tak- 

 ing some of the old soil with the plant. If the violet plants are 

 affected with nematodes it must be clear that the separating and 

 transplanting of the plant into new soil would infest it whether steril- 

 ized or not, and result in a crop of sickly plants covered with leaf 

 spots and few flowers. The only method which can be employed at 

 present to control this trouble would be to start cuttings of the 

 violet in sterilized earth, and when the cuttings were ready to trans- 

 plant to place them either out of doors in some newly turned up 

 land, or land which had not been contaminated with nematode 

 infected manure, or else into earth in the greenhouses which has 

 previously been sterilized. Experiments with violets are now under 

 way and we shall report them at some other time. The manner in 

 which roses are propagated also gives rise to similar obstacles in 

 regard to nematode infection. If the same care is taken in regard 

 to contamination as in violets the nematode problem is one which 

 need give no alarm. Some rose growers in Massachusetts have 

 never been troubled with nematodes. Mr. Montgomery who pos- 

 sesses considerable skill, knowledge, and experience in rose growing 

 and who has charge of the extensive Waban conservatory at Natick, 

 informs us that they have never been troubled with nematodes upon 



I. Since the above was written Prof. Britton has described a similar box in the Annual 

 Report of the Conn. Expt. Station p. 310, 1S97. He uses wooden trays which just fit the 

 box, the- bottoms of which are covered with galvanized iron netting which makes it more 

 desirable for sterilizing earth. 



