igo DISEASES OF THE SWEET PEA 



of clean, healthy, plump seeds is as im- 

 portant as the seed treatment. 



CONTROL OF SICK SOILS 



The habit of many growers of sweet 

 peas is to use the same soil in the beds for 

 a period of years. It is even claimed that 

 this practice tends to produce stronger 

 vines. This may be true as long as the soil 

 remains uninfected. However, no sooner 

 does contamination set in with either Rhi- 

 zoctonia, Fusarium, Thielavia, Chaetom- 

 ium, or the eel worm, than it becomes diffi- 

 cult, if not impossible, to obtain a stand of 

 sweet peas. The remedy of course is to 

 throw out the old soil and bring in fresh 

 dirt free from disease. This unfortunate- 

 ly is not always a safe method, for the rea- 

 son that the new soil too may be contami- 

 nated, or that it may readily become in- 

 fected as soon as it is placed in the 



