16 


For hundreds of years horticulturists have 
developed the China Aster until it is one of 
fhe most colorful of the late summer annuals. About twenty years 
ago, however, the disease Aster Wilt became so widespread that 
it threatened the very existence of the Aster family. The problem 
was this: Wilt is caused by the fungus Fusarium conglutinans var. 
Callistephi, which lives in the soil. It may be spread by tools, water, 
seed—and it persists almost indefinitely. It may be avoided by 
using soil that has never grown Asters before, but this course is 
usually impractical. There is at present no drug or chemical which 
will destroy it. How, then, is Aster Wilt conquered? 
The process developed by Bodger Seeds Ltd. in its pioneer work 
is much like vaccination in human beings: Plants are exposed to the 
Wilt and those which survive supply seed for the next generation of 
test plants. This work is carried on in the Wilt Workshop, a twenty- 
acre farm staffed by Bodger experts which is devoted solely to wilt 
work and is purposely infected with as much wilt as possible. 
The tendency to wilt-resistance can be inherited, so the plants 
grown from the seed produced the previous year are quite resistant 
PANORAMA FIELD VIEW OF BODGER'S FAMOUS WILT WORKSHOP, WHERE RESISTANCE TO FUSARIUM WILT IS BRED INTO ASTERS TO INSURE YOU HEALTHY | 
ELECTRO #1097G ASTER IMPROVED GIANTS 
OF CALIFORNIA 
—but the process does not stop there. Many successive 
generations are grown in the Workshop until the best 
lines have great resistance. By means of this technique— 
survival of the fittest—Bodger’s original strains of wilt- 
resistant Asters were developed. 
In all cases it is resistance, not immunity, which is 
developed. The tendency toward resistance is inherited, 
and will ‘‘breed out’’ if the strain is not put through the 
Workshop cycle periodically. All Bodger Aster introduc- 
tions are developed in the Workshop, and each year’s 
stock seed comes directly from a two-generation expo- 
sure to wilt of a virulence not found in ordinary soil. 
Your Bodger Aster seed is highly resistant. Even a few 
generations of increase in non- or lightly-infected soil 
will produce seed of decidedly less resistance. 
Resistance is hereditary, and so are plant and flower 
types. Bodger wilt-resistant strains are developed from 
non-resistant, Commercial varieties, quite true to type 
—not from crosses between commercial and inferior, 
though resistant, types. Because we take pride in main- 
taining this accuracy of type, some varieties are not 
offered as wilt-resistant. At present we cannot make 
these resistant without sacrificing essential qualities of 
type, and we do not recommend their use where wilt 
has been observed. Combining wilt-resistance with 
good commercial types is not easy; since there will 
always be some variation. Resistance is expressed as a 
percentage, a high value of which is required to qualify 
as ‘‘wilt-resistant.”’ 
The war against wilt is a continual one, complicated 
by bad weather breaks which sometimes wipe out a 
long chain of selection work. Among commercial grow- 
ers, Bodger Seeds Ltd. is the pioneer in wilt work, and 
the only firm actively engaged in continual research. 
Your Bodger wilt-resistant Aster seed is of high quality, 
true to type, and as wilt-resistant as we can make it. 
Because of this research work, wilt is no longer a 
problem to the careful grower who makes sure he has 
resistant stock. 

