64 
PLANT DISEASES. 
determine their effects on rust. At the outset it was decided to 
make an attempt to prevent rust without any special regard to 
expense, it being thought that the latter question could be con- 
sidered later as a distinct problem. It is proper here to acknow- 
ledge the valuable assistance rendered by W. T. Swingle, P. H. 
Dossett, and D. G. Fairchild. The experiments would doubtless 
have been largely under the supervision of Mr. Swingle but for 
the fact that more immediately important labours called him else- 
where. With but one exception all the treatments at Garrett 
Park, Md., were made by Mr. Gossett. He also collected the 
specimens at each treatment, made the many necessary tedious 
counts of plants, and harvested and threshed the grain. Mr. Fair- 
child aided materially in making out the formulae for fungicides 
and also assisted in other lines of work. 
In order that the work might be carried on under as widely 
different conditions of soil and climate as possible, Maryland and 
Kansas were selected as the States in which to make the experi- 
ments. In Maryland the work was carried on under the super- 
vision of the writer, while in Kansas a part was entrusted to J. F. 
Swingle, of Manhatten, and a part to E. Bartholomew, of Bock- 
port, 160 miles north-west of the former place. The experiments 
at the three stations were in most respects similar, but for the sake 
of convenience they will be described under different heads. 
Before taking up the experiments in detail, it may be said that 
they were designed primarily to determine : — 
(1.) The effect on winter wheat of treating the soil with various 
chemicals before planting. 
(2.) The effect of treating the seed, previous to planting, with 
chemicals and with hot water. 
(3.) The effect of spraying and dusting the plants every ten 
days from the time they appeared above ground until harvest, 
using various preparations having known fungicidal value and 
others that had never been tested in this respect. 
(4.) The effect of spraying and dusting the plants every twenty 
days, beginning and ending the same as in (3), and also using the 
same preparations. 
(5.) The effect of spraying and dusting the plants every ten 
days, combined with soil treatment alone and with both soil and 
seed treatments. 
(6.) The effect of spraying and dusting every twenty days com- 
bined with the other treatments, as in (5). 
(7.) The effect on spring planted wheat, oats, and rye of spray- 
ing and dusting with various fungicides and other preparations at 
intervals of two, ten, and twenty days respectively. 
From the foregoing it will be seen that there were soil and seed 
treatments, spraying and dusting at intervals of two, ten, and 
twenty days, and a combination of these various methods. In 
all cases it should be borne in mind that the word “ effect” is here 
used in a broad sense, that is, it includes the influence of the 
various treatments on rust, as well as on the soil, seed, and plants. 
{To be continued.) 
