Diseases oe Beans 
21 
DISEASES OF BEANS 
By WALTER G. SACKETT 
As mentioned elsewhere, the growing of beans in Colorado for 
seed purposes is one phase of the industry which has developed at 
a remarkably rapid rate, considering the length of time that the 
crop has been raised with this in view. In all probability, one rea¬ 
son for this has been the desire on the part of the seedsmen to ob¬ 
tain seed grown under conditions which normally tend to reduce 
the percentage of diseased seed. Such conditions obtain to a 
greater or less extent in both the dry land and the irrigated sec¬ 
tions of the State. The absence of moisture in the form of rain, 
which tends to spread disease over the plants and from plant to 
plant, together with abundant sunshine are both valuable assets 
to the localities where beans are being grown. 
Another consideration which made Colorado a desirable place 
for raising seed beans was the fact that until two years ago the 
disease question was practically negligible. There was plenty of 
disease-free land, new so far as bean culture was concerned, on 
which there was good reason to believe that no difficulty would 
be experienced for years to come in the line of plant diseases. But 
the inevitable* has happened, and in the remarkably short space of 
two years. 
Someone innocently planted diseased seed from which un¬ 
healthy plants developed, and from these as a starting point, it 
has been a relatively simple matter for the infection to spread 
from vine to vine, plant to soil, and field to field. 
Where irrigation is practiced, the irrigating water, flowing 
as it does thru infected fields, carrying more or less trash and dis¬ 
eased soil with it, cannot be lost sight of as a means of dissem¬ 
inating the various ailments to which the bean is heir. 
Our severe and prolonged winds which may assume the form 
of sand storms, transport quantities of soil, irrespective of whether 
it is diseased or not, from one locality to another. The mechani¬ 
cal injury to the pods and beans which results from this incessant 
pounding* by the sand grains, not only weakens the plant, but also 
opens up the way for subsequent infection with germ-laden soil 
particles. 
Some growers have failed to use beans in a rotation and have 
planted beans after beans on the same land, having lost sight of 
