1899.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 83. 151 



the crop. If one is provided Avith a good steam l)oiler, as 

 most lettuce growers are, probably two hundred cul)ic feet 

 of soil could be heated sufliciently in one or two hours' time. 

 This amount of earth will cover twenty-four hundred square 

 feet of soil one inch deep, or a bed twenty-four feet wide by 

 one hundred feet long. Of course this heating will have to 

 be done with every crop, as the stirring of the soil subse- 

 quent to planting would redistribute the fungus. As a neces- 

 sary precaution against the drop, it would also l)c necessary 

 to have all the soil sterilized in which the prickers are 

 started, and also that which contains the first transplanting. 

 By this means alone much lessening of the drop could be ac- 

 complished ; but in conjunction with sterilized layers one 

 inch thick in the house, it would in most cases reduce the 

 infection still further. The amount of earth that is employed 

 in the seed bed and also that in which the first transplanting 

 is done is not so large but that it could be entirely sterilized. 

 When this is once accomplished, it would be suflicient for 

 some time to come, provided precautions were taken against 

 outside contamination. The benefits gained from the use of 

 sterilized soil are in themselves, regardless of the drop, suffi- 

 cient to pay for the process, according to some who have 

 used it, inasmuch as the lettuce plant shows a better color 

 and makes a quicker and larger growth. 



The Chrysanthemum Rust. 

 This comparatively new disease has been not uncommon 

 in the State during the past season ; but it is encouraging to 

 note that its attacks seem in most cases where it has occurred 

 to have had but little appreciable effect, and the indications 

 now arc that this disease is one which may l)e fully con- 

 trolled by {)ropcr methods of cultivation and management. 

 We noticed especially a case where a lot of plants were 

 brought in in August to set out in the open bed for fall 

 blooming. Fifteen plants were left over, and remained 

 standing on a greenhouse bench in pots. Later in the season 

 this bench was filled up with other })otted plants which had 

 remained out of doors. Though all were of the same lot, 

 the fifteen became badly rusted, while none of the others or 



