igo6.] 



Eelworms in Mushrooms. 



755 



The standardization of the local breed as " Sussex fowls " 

 has given the breeders a fresh asset, and one of which they 

 are taking advantage in increasing numbers. In very many 

 Sussex farmyards, however, there are to be found good speci- 

 mens of the old Sussex breed, which, with a little more care 

 in selection and mating, would produce a fair percentage of 

 typical stock birds. These could be sold at enhanced values, 

 without any interference with the normal supply of suitable 

 birds for the fattening coops. 



Without being unduly optimistic, the record of steady pro- 

 gress is at least satisfactory, and there is every reason to believe 

 that the industry will bear further extension around its present 

 limits and upon its own lines. It is, however, doubtful whether 

 the Sussex industry will bear imitation in other districts without 

 considerable modifications, both as regards methods and prices. 

 The existing industry meets the steady demand of a particular 

 class of consumer in the Metropolis, but there are, as yet, very 

 few other markets prepared to pay prices sufficiently remunera- 

 tive. As a matter of fact, a fattened fowl at a fair price is more 

 economical for the consumer than a cheap lean one ; but where 

 consumers fail to realise this, producers who seek to educate 

 them would probably lose money. 



A case is reported* of the total destruction of a large crop of 



mushrooms by eelworms very similar to, if not identical with, 



the eel worm f ( Tylenchus devastatrix) which 



Eelworms in causes serious injury to clover, wheat, oats, 

 Mushrooms. , V ; T , 



onions and many other plants. In the in- 

 stance mentioned these eelworms were swarming in the embryo 

 mushrooms, and also in the mycelium just below them ; but they 

 were most numerous immediately below the tiny " buttons," 

 and at this point they had completely arrested the growth of 

 the young mushrooms. Decay had set in, giving the internal 

 tissues a brownish appearance, varying in intensity according 

 to the degree or age of the attack. 



The remedy suggested is to clear out the beds at once and 



# Journal of the Inst, of Commercial Research in the Tropics, Liverpool Uni- 

 versity. January, 1906^ 

 f Leaflet No. 46. 



0 0 0 2 



