•284 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 271 



COOPERATIVE TOBACCO INVESTIGATIONS 



Conducted by the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station. C. V. Kightlinger, U. S. D. A., in Charge 



Brown Root-Rot. (C. V. Kijilitlinger). Experimental work on brown 

 root-rot of tobacco, conducted for the last several years at Whately, was 

 terminated with the procuring of data on the 1929 crop. The results of 

 these experiments will be combined with data from similar experiments 

 conducted in Connecticut, Wisconsin, and elsewhere, for publication as a 

 U. S. n. A. bulletin. 



Black Root-Rot. (C. V. Kightlinaer). Field experiments were begun 

 this year (1930) at Amherst and at "Windsor, Connecticut, to test certain 

 strains of Havana seed tobacco produced liy and obtained .from Dr. James 

 Johnson of Madison, Wisconsin, to determine their relative type, quality, 

 resistance to black root-rot, and producing capacity under Connecticut 

 Valley conditions. Although not all the data have been obtained yet, 

 some of the strains seem promising. The experiments will be continued 

 until definite information on the matter has been obtained. 



Mosaic. (C. V. Kightlinger). Experiments have been carried on for 

 niore than a year to determine the extent of overwintering of tobacco 

 mosaic viruses in different kinds of soils, under different conditions of 

 temperature and moisture. All that can be said about results is that a higli 

 percentage of infection of mosaic is still being obtained from the materiai.s 

 treated as above described. Another set of similar experiments, begun a 

 year later, is also being carried on for the purpose of verification of results 

 alreadv obtained. 



PUBLICATION 

 Bulletins 



260 Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ending November 30, 1929. 60 pp. 

 March, 1930. 



The main purpose of this report is to provide an opportunity for presenting in 

 published form, recent results from experimentation in fields or on projects where 

 progress has been such as to justify the general and definite conclusions necessary 

 to meet the requirements of bulletin or journal. 



261 Ecological Studies of the Mexican Bean Beetle. Harvey L. Sweetman and 

 H. T. Fernald. 32 pp. February, 1930. 



The Mexican bean beetle was found in Massachusetts and Connecticut for the first 

 time in 1929. A laboratory study of temperature and moisture conditions necessary 

 for the development of the insect is here reported, and the results studied in rela- 

 tion to climatological data for New England. The following conclusions are drawn: 



Climatic conditions in the Upper Austral Zone of Massachusetts, Connecticut and 

 Rhode Island are favorable for the development of the Mexican bean beetle, and the 

 insect may therefore be expected to become a serious pest. Conditions in the Transi- 

 tion Zone are less favorable, but the insect will probably become a pest in the lower 

 portion of the Zone, with the injury becoming greatly reduced as the upper limits 

 are approached. The Canadian Zone of New England does not have a physical en- 

 vironment suitable for the development of the beetle. A map of New England show- 

 ing the three zones is included in the bulletin. 



