264 



THE PEANUT— THE UNPREDICTABLE LEGUME 



is damaged. In addition to these soil fungi a fungus flora becomes associ- 

 ated with the peanut fruit as it develops in the soil (162), is present at 

 harvesting (48, 114), and is still present in or on fruits and seeds after 

 storage (41,67, 111, 149). The majority of species of this fungus flora are 

 saprophytes such as Aspergillus spp., Rhizopus spp., Penicillium spp., 

 and Fusaria, but some are definitely parasites such as Pythium spp. 

 (Ill), Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. (149), and parasitic Fusaria (41). 



Control. Losses from pre-emergence diseases of peanuts may be sig- 

 nificantly reduced by seed treatments (45, 46, 51, 64, 103, 105, 155), 

 though in a few instances seed treatment for peanuts has not been con- 

 sidered worthwhile (67, 76, 151). Properly applied seed fungicides will 

 be effective against seed-borne saprophytes and parasites, and if germina- 

 tion is not unduly delayed by adverse weather conditions these fungicides 

 will also be efifective against soil-borne fungi ( 105) . Most of the beneficial 

 results of seed treatment of peanuts is due to prevention of decay prior 

 to germination (102, 163). 



Increases in emergences from machine-shelled seeds of 25 percent or 

 more are not unusual following seed treatment, and it has been estimated 

 that North Carolina farmers save around $125,000 annually by using 

 treated machine-shelled seeds in preference to hand-shelled seeds (103). 

 Table 1 gives some comparative emergences for treated and untreated 

 machine-shelled seeds as selected from various reports. 



There are several factors that vary the effectiveness of peanut seed 

 treatment. The most important of these factors are: 



Table 1. — Results of Seed Treatment Tests on Peanuts 



