BLACK DRY ROT IN SWEDES. 



This disease was brought to my notice by Mr. Christopher 

 Middleton, Secretary of the Cleveland Chamber of Agricul- 

 ture, in a letter dated December nth, 1901. He had seen 

 the diseased crop a few days previously when valuing a farm 

 at Naworth, on the property of Lady Carlisle, near Gilsland 

 Station, N.E. Railway, and as it was quite new to him, he 

 wrote to me, giving some particulars and asking me to visit the 

 farm. Mr. Middleton at. the same time communicated with 

 the Board of Agriculture, and on December 18th I received 

 a letter from the Secretary of the Board, suggesting that I 

 might place myself "in communication with Mr. Middleton 

 with a view to some examination of the crop being made, 

 and advice offered, by the Agricultural Department of the 

 Durham College of Science/' 



Owing to a heavy fall of snow, my visit to Naworth was 

 postponed until December 31st, when, to my surprise, I found 

 the swedes in exactly the condition in which they had been 

 reported a month previously. Mr. Middleton had asked me 

 to inspect as soon as possible, saying, " I think very shortly 

 every turnip will be quite rotten." Instead of rotten turnips 

 the field from the roadside appeared to contain an absolutely 

 regular crop of moderate- sized, green-top swedes, which I 

 would have estimated to weigh 19 or 20 tons per acre. 

 Closer inspection showed, however, that every root in the 

 apparently healthy crop was diseased. 



The farm of Tryermain lies about 500 feet above' sea level ; 

 there is not much arable land in the neighbourhood, and the 

 six-acre field containing the diseased crop was the only field 

 of roots in sight. The soil of the field was well adapted for 

 turnips, it consisted of a light reddish loam 8 to 9 inches deep, 

 resting on a thick stratum of gravel. The cultivation was 



