FUNGI AND BACTERIA 229 



is sufficient for about forty bushels of seed. The seeds are 

 more easily handled by putting them into a gunny sack, 

 and putting this into the solution. Wheat smut may be 

 treated in the same manner. 



Examine spots of rust on wheat or oats. Can you find 

 any spores here? Are these fungous diseases ? This is 

 another fungus that feeds on the inside of the leaf or stem 

 till it is ready to produce spores, when it sends the hyphae 

 to the surface and the spores are produced on the outside. 

 The ripe reddish-brown spores on the wheat look very 

 much like iron rust, hence the name. 



Can you think of any other plants besides cereals that 

 are affected with fungous diseases? Sometimes plums, 

 cherries, and peaches are attacked with a brown rot or 

 mold while the fruit is hanging on the tree. The fruit 

 shrivels up and continues to cling to the tree sometimes 

 after the leaves have fallen off. This disease is most 

 common on peach trees and often destroys more than half 

 the crop. Have children look on their own trees at home 

 for the dry peach "mummies." These contain spores for 

 the next year's crop of rot. What should be done with the 

 mummy peaches that are on the ground in the fall or 

 winter? This disease as well as other fungous diseases 

 that attack fruit and leaves of trees may be prevented by 

 spraying the trees with mixtures that will kill the fungi. 



Have the children look on their pear and apple trees 

 for twigs that are black, and that have on them withered 

 blackened leaves. This disease is called blight, and is one 

 of the worst of the fungous diseases to combat. It is 

 caused by a growth of one of the very smallest plants known. 

 These plants are called bacteria. They live in the sticky 



