
New York AcriourturaL Experiment Sration. 535 
| Experiments in Treating Bean Anthracnose, 
= 
By means of laboratory, greenhouse and field experiments, 
investigations have been conducted for the purpose of learning 
whether bean anthracnose could be in any way prevented. These 
investigations have included the following experiments: 
fed ak Preliminary greenhouse experiments in treating diseased 
seed with the following fungicides; namely, hot water, ammo- 
-niacal solution of copper carbonate and Bordeaux mixture. The 
seed was soaked in these fungicides before planting and the 
effect of the treatments on the disease carefully noted. 
2. Field experiments with seed soaked in the following fungi- 
cides; namely, hot water, copper sulphate, iron sulphate (cop- 
: -peras), mercuric bichloride (corrosive sublimate). 
3. Comparisons of plants grown from diseased seed with plants 
' grown from healthy seed. 
_ 4. Treatment of plants from diseased seed by spraying differ- 
i ent lots with Bordeaux mixture, cupric polysulphide and cupris 
§ borate respectively. At the suggestion of D. G. Fairchild the 
- two latter mixtures were tested and soap was added to all three 
substances. 
Tt will be noticed that these investigations have proceeded on 
_ three separate lines, namely: 
-q,. Treatment of diseased seed. 
‘} 6. Comparison of yield from healthy seed with yield from dis- 
eased seed. 
_-¢, Spraying diseased plants. 
> TREATM: NTOFDISKAS » seen —The treatment of dizedsed seed 
will be discussed more fully hereafter. It may be simply stated 
_ here that the total yield of marketable beans from areas planted 
ny with treated seed was in every case less than the yield of mar- 
_ ketable beans from equal areas planted with untreated seed. At 
: ‘present, therefore, this method can not be recommended. See 
_ “Seed Soaked in Fungicides,” p. 543 et seq. 
- CoMPARISON OF YIELD FROM HEALTHY sKED WITH YIELD FROM 
"DISEASED srED.— The second line of investigation has shown that 
_ the selection of clean seed is the most important and effective 
known method of securing healthy plants. It ought never to be 




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