310 



FREDERICK H. BLODGETT 



The omission of stated courses in plant pathology in several 

 of the state colleges does not mean that no instruction is given 

 in the relation between fungi and higher plants. These relations 

 are indicated in the study of the fungi concerned, in courses in 

 systematic mycology, or in cryptogamic Botany. In such study the 

 identity and characteristics of the fungus have prime considera- 

 tion, rather than the effect produced upon the diseased plant, but 

 some information is naturally gathered about the effect of the 

 parasite. 



In regard to the insertion of a year's work in horticulture a 

 word should be added. Recent work in the Department of 

 Agriculture on wilt resistant varieties of cotton and cowpeas, and 

 elsewhere on rust resistant varieties of wheat show the value in 

 practice of a knowledge of plant breeding in control of disease 

 injury. The benefit thus to be gained may be fostered by giving 

 the student early personal contact with work in raising plants as 

 in horticulture, and in propagating selected strains, and in plant 

 breeding. In post-graduate work this could be directed toward 

 the discovery or development of a strain immune or highly resis- 

 tant to some of the common truck garden diseases. A general 

 plan or project could be inaugurated to run for a series of years, 

 so that the classes after the first year might have the benefit of 

 cumulative results as stimulus and inspiration in current detail. 

 (A further benefit from the "project" plan would be derived by 

 the student through the training secured in having a set purpose 

 in his work ; and by the department giving the instruction in hav- 

 ing an increased probability of demonstrating the soundness of 

 the training offered, by actually developing rot resistant strains of 

 lettuce, or tomatoes resistant to fruit rot.) 



COURSE IN PLANT PATHOLOGY 



In only two instances has the actual course in plant pathology 

 as offered in an institution been given in detail, so far as my search 

 has gone. These are the courses in Miami University^ and in 



^Bruce Fink. A College Course in Plant Pathology. Phytopathology, 2 : 150, 

 1913. 



