THE BACTERIAL SOFT ROTS OF CERTAIN 
VEGETABLES. 1I:* 
In COOPERATION WITH VERMONT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
PART I. THE MUTUAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE 
CASUAL ORGANISMS. 
H. A. HARDING anv W. J. MORSE. 7; 
SUMMARY. 
1. This is part of an investigation of the soft rots of cab- 
bage, cauliflower and turnip, conducted jointly by the Agri- 
cultural Experiment Stations of Vermont and New York, and 
deals with the morphology and cultural characters of 43 strains 
of organisms. 
2. These strains have been found in connection with the soft 
rots of a considerable number of the common fleshy vegetables 
and some of them have been described in literature as separate 
species. 
3. These strains appear to be identical in morphology and 
a cultural study upon more than 12,000 cultures did not in- 
dicate any constant cultural differences aside from the fer- 
mentation of sugars. 
4. The results from 1,500 fermentation-tube tests indicate 
that the entire group attacks dextrose, lactose and saccharose 
with the formation of acid and growth in the closed arm but 
that the amount of gas normally formed is so close to the 
amount required to saturate the liquid in the fermentation 
tube that the appearance of gas in the closed arm is very ir- 
regular. 
5. On account of this observed variation in gas formation 
the organisms are arranged in six groups each with its appro- 
priate group number. So far as it has gone this study does 
not show that more than one species, in the customary mean- 
ing of the term, is represented in this collection of organisms 
but the final word in their classification should be deferred 
until after a study of the pathogenicity of these cultures. 

*A reprint of Technical Bulletin No. 11. 
7+During his studies of this problem Prof. Morse was Assistant Botanist 
of the Vermont Station; he is now Plant Pathologist of the Maine Station. 
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