14 
The Colorado Experiment Station. 
Among the apples, the crabs in every case seem to take the 
disease most readily, but even here there are some which are freer 
from blight than others. It has been observed that the same varie¬ 
ty in different localities and under different climatic conditions will 
exhibit different degrees of resistance. An earlier publication of 
the Colorado Experiment Station* cites one case in a certain lo¬ 
cality where Martha and Whitney crabs were grown alternately. 
The Whitney trees were either all dead or dying, while not one of 
the Marthas was affected. However, in other localities the Marthas 
had succumbed to the blight. 
In selecting trees we should be guided by local experience 
and choose the varieties which have done best in our locality. 
SOFT ROT OF THE SUGAR BEET. 
Although this disease has not yet been reported in this State, 
it is not at all improbable that it will make its appearance in due 
time as the acreage put out to sugar beets increases from year to 
year. The soft rot, as it occurs in Nebraska, was first observed in 
1902 by Metcalf and Hedcock,f who have isolated the specific germ 
Bacterium teutlium (Metcalf), which is the cause of the trouble. 
Beets affected with the rot show the lower half badly decayed and 
the rotting part honeycombed with “pockets,” or cavities filled with 
a slimy, stringy fluid, colorless and sour smelling. The vascular 
bundles remain intact, while the tissue surrounding them is usually 
consumed. The normal color of the beets differs so that it is dif¬ 
ficult to give any hard and fast color characteristic, but when af¬ 
fected the tissue first shows a yellow, changing to a clay color or 
gray; later these colors gradually darken. In some cases beets that 
are badly rotted show no discoloration, while others in the early 
stages are very dark. Above ground the beets appear normal. 
A microscopic examination of viscid liquid that fills the cavi¬ 
ties of the rotting tissue shows millions of bacteria, which when 
grown later in pure culture and inoculated into healthy beets pro¬ 
duced symptoms typical of the disease. 
The germs gain entrance into the beet through wounds and 
abrasions in the skin, and there is good reason for believing that 
nematodes are responsible for many of the inoculations. So far as 
experimental work goes, there is no evidence that infection can take 
place, except through cuts or scratches in the outer surface of the 
root. In the field, the disease has been observed to progress most 
rapidly under warm and wet conditions; more mature beets are 
affected more severely than the younger ones, probably due to the 
larger amount of sugar present. 
*Bull. 41, Colo. Expt. Sta. 
|17th Annual Report Neb. Expt. Sta. 
