Notes and Brief Articles 



345 



In Research Bulletin 48 of the Agricultural Experiment Station 

 " of the University of Wisconsin, devoted to Fusarium Resistant 

 Cabbage, Professor Jones and his co-workers summarize the pres- 

 ent status of this important series of investigations as follows : 



" It is evident that individual variation in degree of suscepti- 

 bility or resistance to Fusarium has been found to occur with 

 every variety of cabbage tested on ' yellows sick ' soil. Experi- 

 ence to date justifies our confidence that this resistance is due to 

 heritable differences and that, therefore, through the selection of 

 such resistant heads from ' sick ' soil, a Fusarium-resistant strain 

 may be secured of any of the standard cabbage varieties. Our 

 experience indicates, moreover, that through careful and repeated 

 selection this resistance may be combined with any of the other 

 desired qualities of the standard commercial varieties, such as 

 season of maturity, length of stem, tenderness of leaf, shape and 

 compactness of head. In other words, resistance does not seem to 

 be incompatible with any other of the commonly recognized vari- 

 ables of the cabbage. All our experience indicates that Tisdale's 

 conclusions relative to the flax wilt hold true for the cabbage, that 

 resistance is probably determined by multiple factors. The degree 

 of resistance is, therefore, due to the combination of these, and in 

 all cases in our experience it is partial or relative, not absolute. 

 Moreover, this explanation is consistent with our experience that 

 after proceeding to a certain stage with our present methods of 

 selection little or no further progress as to disease resistance is 

 made. This is also consistent with our general experience that 

 the best results have in each case been secured through growing a 

 selected head in isolation and thus securing seed through self- 

 pollination, but that when the benefits were once secured in this 

 way with our best selections mass culture has been followed to 

 advantage. 



" Our plan of procedure, justified alike by theory and practice, 

 is as follows. After securing a strain showing a satisfactory de- 

 gree of resistance, combined with the other desired characteristics, 

 we release it for commercial distribution. Thereafter our interest 

 is primarily confined to such cooperation as is required for the 

 maintenance of these essential standards. To this end we con- 



