42 



damp ground than where the soil is dry, and it is the wild grasses along 

 streams that are most severely ergotized (87) Ktihn (145) thinks that the 

 occurrence of ergot does not depend -upon ghe soil composition or the 

 topograjhy of the land, Luerssen (164) agrees with Kijhn and adds that 

 moist soil favors the development of ergot. Anth03:anthtnn odoratum is most 

 severely ergotized in shady places, in woods, or on the north border of 

 woods, tardus . striota is ergotized in woods and also on open healthy moors 

 wgere no shad ow falls upon it, Phalaris arundinacea has been found 

 ergotized mostly neao- the edge of rivers. l£t.e sown rye (245) is also 

 supposed to he more heavily infected with ergot than early sown rye. 



VAEIETIES IN REIA.TION TO THE DISEASE 

 Flowering with closed glumes, uniformity in time of flower- 

 ing, and rapidity of flowering are three iniportant factors affecting ergot 

 infection. Varieties possessing any or all of these characters are less 

 infected hy ergot than are other varieties. Varieties less inclined to 

 remain sterile are infected with ergot to a lesser degree. Tulasne first * 

 observed that cereals and gi-asses, Arundo lohragmites for instance, vftiich 

 under the Parisian climatic conditions remain sterile, are frequently attacK- 

 ed hy ergot. 



At a very early date V/ilson (299) came to the conclusion that 

 there nay exist a relation between the length of the period during which the 

 glumes are open and the amount of ergot infection, but he was not quite 



sure about this. "Still there is reason", he says, "to suppose that greater 



I 

 mechanical exposure is a large part of the explanation of greater liajgility 



to ergot. The species of Bronms which grow here open very little for 



fertilization, and soon close very tightly and are never ergotized." Henning 



(97) noticed that on six-rowed barley the ergot sclerotia appjar mostly 



on the side rows and comparatively seldom on the flowers of the middle rows. 



J *.„ A.1-. „ ^M „a. A.1-^ JU 4.T«„ J 1, T „A. „ ..__ AT-^ 



