20 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 436 



Fermate, applied to the soil in and with fertilizer, successfully controlled onion 

 sniut.2 



More recent work with onions has involved principally a study of the preven- 

 tion of pink root-rot of onion, caused by Fusarium, by treatments of soil or sets 

 with fungicides. Yields of onions, from seed, in pink root -rot infested soil were 

 increased 48.9 percent by Thiosan, 70 pounds per acre; 36.9 percent by Fermate, 

 70 pounds per acre; and 23.3 percent by Fermate, 50 pounds per acre. Treat- 

 ments of onion sets with Arasan, Fermate, or Spergon failed to lessen the severity 

 of pink root-rot. 



Dithane 2.5 cc, Tuads 0.6 gm., or Phygon 0.45 gm. (per square foot in all 

 cases), applied in fertilizer to soil infested with Pythium, markedly improved 

 the stands of onion, cabbage, tomato, and beet, and there was no chemical in- 

 jury when seeds were sown immediately after soil treatment. Similarly used, 

 Tuads also gave good results with pepper, Phygon with pea, Dithane with cress, 

 and Dow Seed Protectant No. 9 (0.45 gm. per square foot) with cabbage, beet, 

 and cucumber. The last named fungicide, however, was injurious to pea, onion, 

 pepper, and tomato in some soils. The use of fertilizer as a carrier for a soil 

 fungicide is simple and appears promising; and it should be noted that applica- 

 tions of 0.6 or 0.45 gm. per square foot are only about 57.6 or 43.2 pounds per 

 acre. 



Seed treatments and several standard soil treatments for the control of pre- 

 emergence damping-off of Liliiim regale were compared. The disease was best 

 controlled by seed treatment with Thiosan, Arasan, or Semesan. Spergbn or 

 Fermate similarly used gave inferior results and so did the several soil treatments. 



Damping-off and Growth of Seedlings and Cuttings of Woody Plants as Af- 

 fected by Soil Treatments and Modifications of Environment. (W. L. Doran.) 

 The hemlock, Tsiiga canadensis (L.) Carr., is highly variable and there are indi- 

 cations of increasing demand for some of the better clones, a demand which will 

 exceed the present supply. Work on their vegetative propagation was accord- 

 ingly begun. Different clones were found to respond very differently to the same 

 treatments, rooting of cuttings from some, not from others, being improved by 

 treatment with indolebutyric acid 200 mg./l., 8 hours, or 100 mg./l., 6 hr., with 

 powder dips less effective. Rooting of cuttings of hemlock, taken In October 

 and November, was not Improved by supplementary treatment with the fungi- 

 cide Arasan^ applied after treatment of the cuttings with a root-inducing sub- 

 stance. 



The effects of root-inducing substances and fungicides applied together to the 

 cuttings of several conifers and of American holly was also Investigated. Cut- 

 tings of holly rooted in larger percentages after treatment with indolebutyric 

 acid alone (100 mg./l., 20 hours) than they did If that treatment was followed by- 

 treatment with Fermate or Spergon. 



A root-inducing treatm.ent which was applied with benefit to cuttings of holly 

 taken in October was apparently injurious to cuttings taken in January. 



As a carrier of indolebutyric acid applied as a powder-dip, Spergon caused some 

 injury to cuttings of Norway spruce, but Fermate or Arasan caused no injury. 



Rooting of cuttings of hemlock,' American arbor-vitae, and Chinese juniper 

 was improved by treatment with indolebutyric acid 4 or 8 mg./gm. Fermate. 



Some work was done on vegetative propagation of the Kudzu vine, Pueraria 

 Thmibergiana (Sieb. and Zucc.) Benth., interest in which, both as a forage crop 



^The abstract of a paper by W. L. Doran and T. Sproston, Jr., on "The Control of Onion Smut 

 by Fungicides Applied to the Soil" was published in Phytopathology 35:8:654. 1945. 



^The active ingredients of this and the other fungicides mentioned are named in the report on 

 the preceding project. 



