PLANT DISEASES DUE TO FUNGI. 5! 



shown that light dressings of lime, applied once during each four- 

 course rotation, make it possible to produce fair crops of swedes and 

 turnips where hitherto this was not so : 



Summarizing and noting the suggestions made, we note that : 



i. It was found, as a result of a series of well-planned and care- 

 fully carried out experiments at Cockle Park Farm, that all dung 

 produced by animals, receiving as food diseased swedes or turnips, 

 should only be used on permanent hay or pasture land, and not upon 

 arable land, otherwise diseased portions of the roots in the dung 

 would propagate disease. 



2. Live stock should not be fed with diseased swedes or turnips 

 on temporary leys, but only on permanent pasture land. All tailings, 

 or refuse from diseased roots, should also be removed to permanent 

 pasture. 



3. The troublesome annual weed, charlock, which will do much 

 to increase the virulence of the disease, must be rigidly exterminated, 

 either by spraying with sulphate of copper in the case of infested corn 

 crops, or by hoeing and cultivation to clear it from the root crops. 



4. It was further found that on land farmed on the four-course 

 rotation plan, that the substitution of potatoes, mangels, or beans, or 

 any other crop not allied to swedes or turnips, etc., during one rota- 

 tion, will greatly modify the attack of this disease. 



5. The extension of the four-course rotation, by leaving the land 

 down for two to three years to temporary hay or pasture, will also 

 greatly assist in checking the disease, unless diseased roots are 

 consumed thereon. 



6. The cultivation of heavy land, while it is in a wet, sticky 

 condition, evidently favours the disease. 



7. Common lime, at the rate of 2\ tons per acre, slaked to a fine 

 powder, and thoroughly mixed with the soil, is usually productive of 

 the best results. 1 Its application should be as soon as possible after 

 the removal of a diseased root crop, but the soil must be fairly dry 

 when this is done, and the surface soil must be well mixed with it. 

 Xo good results can accrue if applied to a wet soil, or if it is too 

 deeply buried, or if in a pasty condition, and thereby remain in even 

 small lumps in the soil and not distributed thoroughly. Lime may 



1 Ground unslaked lime, at the rate of 10 cwt. per acre, has given excellent results in 

 experiments made during the past three years. 



E 



