SUMMARY 
1. Anthracnose is one of the most destructive diseases of cotton in 
the United States. This disease causes losses amounting to many thou¬ 
sands of dollars annually in Uorth Carolina alone. It is caused by 
a fungus which, under present cultural practices, is known to be spread 
chiefly in the form of spores and mycelium lodged upon the surface 
and within the cotton seed. 
2. The methods commonly recommended for the control of seed- 
boi ne anthracnose of cotton are selection of seed from healthy plants, 
seed sterilization with chemical disinfectants, corrosives, and hot water 
and use of old seed for planting. Each of these methods is encumbered 
by certain defects which make desirable the development of a more 
certain and more effective method of control. 
3. Other investigators have with more or less success attempted 
to control seed-borne diseases of other plants by the use of dry heat. 
4. This study on the control of cotton anthracnose began with the 
use of seed of the 1919 crop and a new supply of infected seed was 
obtained each season. The seeds were heated in quantities of 50 or 100 
in an electric oven provided with a constant temperature regulator. 
They were germinated individually on moist blotting paper in test 
tubes and each diseased seedling was examined microscopically to 
determine the nature of the fungus attacking it. 
5. Certain preliminary experiments dealing with germination of 
cotton seeds and growth of the anthracnose fungus show that temper¬ 
atures of 25 and 30° C. are not only very favorable for germination 
of cotton seed and the subsequent growth of the seedlings but also 
closely approximate the optimum for growth in culture of the fungus 
causing cotton anthracnose and for the development of the disease on 
seedlings. A temperature of 35° C. permits good germination of 
cotton seed but inhibits the growth of the fungus which causes anthrac¬ 
nose and prevents the development of the disease. At 20° C. germina¬ 
tion of cotton seed and growth of the seedlings are good, but growth 
of the anthracnose fungus and the development of the disease are slower 
than at higher temperatures. 
6. The germinability of air dry cotton seed was completely destroyed 
in 15 minutes by dry heat at 90 and 100° C. and seriously impaired 
after one hour at 80° C. A temperature of 70° C. for 24 hours im¬ 
paired the germination of seed containing an amount of moisture normal 
