40 
1ST. C. Experiment Station 
In 1924, highly infected seed which had grown in 1923 were treated. 
Inasmuch as the temperatures applied in previous years had failed to 
eradicate the disease and still leave the seed in a condition for good ger¬ 
mination, higher temperatures were employed in the 1924 tests. In these 
tests, the seed were dried at 60-65° C. for 22 hours and heated at 95-100° C. 
for 12 hours. Because of the fact that the boll weevil now present in 
great numbers is known to carry spores of the cotton anthracnose fungus 
after visiting diseased bolls and may in this way transport the spores 
from diseased to healthy cotton over long distances; none of the seed 
treated in 1924 were planted in the field, but the efficiency of the treatment 
was tested by growing seedlings in sand in the greenhouse and in test 
tubes. Flats of sandy soil in the greenhouse were sterilized by drenching 
with formaldehyde and closely covering with paper for 2 days. The paper 
was then removed and the formaldehyde was allowed to evaporate over a 
period of 3 weeks. Three different tests of the lot of seed treated as de¬ 
scribed above were made. In test 1, 500 treated and 300 untreated seeds, and 
in test 2, 500 treated and 400 untreated seeds were planted in the flats. 
In test 3, 100 treated and 50 untreated seeds were germinated in test tubes. 
Test 1 was planted on June 16, test 2 on July 7, and test 3 on July 11. 
The seedlings in the greenhouse were kept well watered in order to en¬ 
courage development of the disease on any of the seedlings which might 
be infected. Beginning on the eighth day and continuing at intervals of 
two days, all the seedlings from one or more of the flats were pulled. 
If lesions were present on cotyledons or stems, they were examined mic¬ 
roscopically to determine whether they were caused by the anthracnose 
fungus. 
TABLE XIV 
Per Cent of Anthracnose and Germination in Cotton Seeds Treated in the 
Seed Treating Machine. The Seeds Were Dried at 60-65° C. for 
22 Hours, Then Heated at 95-100° C. for 12 Hours. 
Cook Cotton of 1923. 
Test No. 
How 
Tested 
Per Cent of 
Anthracnose 
Per Cent 
Germination 
Number of Seeds 
Planted 
Treated 
Untreated 
Treated 
Untreated 
Treated 
U ntreated 
1 
In flats in 
green¬ 
house_ 
0 
14 .8% 
92 .4% 
92.0% 
500 
300 
2 
In flats in 
green¬ 
house .. 
9 
2.6% 
92 .0% 
96.7% 
500 
400 
3 
In test 
tubes_ 
0 
26.0% 
99.0% 
98.0% 
100 
50 
Table XIV presents the summarized results of each of these tests. No 
anthracnose developed on any seedling which came from treated seed while 
as many as 26 per cent (test 3) of the seedlings growing from untreated 
seed became diseased. The percentage of germination of the treated seed 
exceeded that of the untreated in tests 1 and 3 and was slighly less than 
that of the check in test 2. 
