79 
CLUB-ROOT IN THE UNITED STATES. 
By A. C. Eycleshymer. 
(Plates XV. XVI.) 
Since the disease club-root is forcing itself more and more upon 
the attention of American agriculturists, it is of the utmost importance 
that all the facts, at present known, concerning this destructive dis¬ 
ease should be brought together, that the best means for its prevention 
may be suggested. With this end in view, a series of inquiries was 
addressed by the writer in 1889, to practical gardeners throughout the 
United States, and also to the officers of experiment stations and others 
likely to be able to give information regarding distribution, cause, 
remedies, etc. At the same time experiments were carried on in the 
hothouse, seedlings of cabbages and turnips being raised under con¬ 
ditions favorable for the development of the parasite and infected by 
mixing portions of diseased turnips with the soil. The correspondence 
and experiments were continued during two seasons. The results are 
communicated in the following preliminary report, as the work for the 
present has been interrupted, so that the series of experiments under¬ 
taken can not be completed. 
The origin of the disease is not known. Its existence in Scotland 
was first detected in 1780, but little damage was caused until 1820. 
This is the earliest knowledge we have of the disease. . It is at present 
known in England, Scotland, and Ireland, as ambury, anbury, hanbury, 
and fingers-and-toes. In Russia, kapoustnaja kila. Germany, kolil- 
hernie. Belgium, vingerziekt. France, maladie digitoire. In the 
United States it is known by the various names, club-foot, club-root, 
clump-foot, and clubbing. 
Its distribution in the United States is quite difficult to ascertain. 
There is no doubt, however, that its stronghold at present is in the New 
England and Middle States, especially in Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, and in the southeastern portions 
of New York and Pennsylvania. From this region it ha$ extended south¬ 
ward through Maryland and Virginia to the Carolinas. The disease 
has occurred in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan. 
Beyond the regions just named there is not sufficient evidence of its 
appearance. 
The amount of damage caused by the disease is enormous. Woronin 
estimates the loss in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, Russia, for the year 
1876, at $225,000. In the United States, wherever the disease is prev¬ 
alent, it is considered one of the worst enemies of the market gar¬ 
dener, destroying in many cases the entire crop. 
The plants affected are for the greater part confined to the genus 
Brassica , including the cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, and rutabaga. Hal- 
sted has recently described it as occurring on the radish. In Russia it 
also affects the genera Matthiola and Iberia. 
