486 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. I, No. 6 
Appel (3) believed that infection with Fusarium nivale Ces. is due 
principally to soil infection, while Hiltner and Ihssen (15) believe that 
seed infection is of more importance. 
Muth (17) carried on pure culture inoculation experiments on rye with 
Fusarium roseum . In these, 55 per cent of the inoculated seed sprouted 
while only 63 per cent of the controls sprouted. A large number of 
plants from inoculated seed, however, showed the results of infection 
through a yellowish or yellowish brown discoloration of the roots. 
Beckwith (4) reports numerous isolations of Fusarium species and 
other imperfect fungi from stems and roots of wheat grown on soil 
continuously cropped to wheat and from the soil itself. 
Mortensen (16) demonstrated that rye seed heavily infected with 
Fusarium nivale Ces. produced diseased plants. He states that not only 
F. nivale but other Fusariums produce root diseases in cereal plants. 
Bolley (6), from extensive field studies on wheat from land continu¬ 
ously cropped to wheat, has come to the conclusion that “through the 
practice of continuous wheating, soils in many cases have become in¬ 
fected with from one to three or four definite parasitic fungi which 
attack in the same manner as the flax-sick fungi attack and destroy the 
flax crop on flax lands and, therefore, such wheat lands may be said to 
be ‘wheat sick.’” These views .are further elaborated by him from 
extensive field studies and observations (7, 8). Bolley (9) also reports 
on the isolation of a considerable number of imperfect fungi from the 
nodes and intemodes of wheat plants grown on experimental plats at 
the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. Among them unde¬ 
termined species of Helminthosporium and Fusarium occurred in abun¬ 
dance. No inoculation experiments are reported. 
Schaffnit (29) in a comprehensive work on “ Schneeschimmel ” gives 
a discussion of the fungus Fusarium nivale with relation to its occur¬ 
rence, morphology, cultural characteristics, physiology, and preventive 
measures. He shows that this disease is due both to soil infection and 
seed infection, the former being more common. Incidental to his work 
on F. nivale Schaffnit (29) performed some inoculation experiments 
with F. rubiginosum Appel and Woll. on etiolated rye seedlings in 
damp atmosphere with positive results. The number of inoculations 
is not stated. F. rubiginosum has recently been demonstrated by 
Dr. H. W. Wollenweber to be identical with F. culmorum . A compre¬ 
hensive bibliography of literature dealing with Fusariums on cereals is 
given by Mortensen (16). 
CONCLUSIONS 
The experiments described in this paper and the literature cited 
show that some of the imperfect fungi occurring on small grains and 
inducing leaf spots or systemic infections are pathogenic when, under 
favorable conditions, they come in contact with seeds and seedlings, 
