bordeaux, unlike the other three solutions employed, proved unsatisfactory on account of its caustic action upon the foliage. It was seen after the first spraying that the leaves to which it was applied were burned, but a modification of the formula made the later applications less objectionable.

Had the crop been harvested during the latter part of August it is quite probable that the difference in weight between the sprayed belts and checks might have been greater than was the case a month or so later. To the eye at least the contrast at the earlier date was a most striking one; even the plot sprayed with ammonia-bordeaux seemed to contain a greater quantity of foliage than did its adjoining check. In September the plants grew much more rapidly than during any of the preceding warmer months, while the development of the blight seemed to be materially retarded. By October, therefore, the check plots presented a considerably better appearance than a few weeks previous. The striking difference between the sprayed and untreated foliage is shown in Figure 39, reproduced from Bulletin 107.* This engraving was made from a photograph of the foliage of two beet plants, namely, the poorest of the sprayed ones shown above the tape line, and that of the worst untreated one, below the line.

The crop was harvested October 5th. The yield in weights of foliage and roots is presented below in tabular form (Figure 40).

The land inclined gradually and the soil increased in fertility from the upper side (Plot I.) to the lowermost plot.

The weights of foliage and roots produced upon the several plots show that Plot I., sprayed with soda-bordeaux, when compared with its adjoining check, gives an increase in the amount of foliage of 37.5 per cent. and in roots of 15 per cent. Here the sprayed plot occupied somewhat poorer soil than did the unsprayed.

"Some Fungous Diseases of Beets," January, 1895.

The whole complement of Leaves from a sprayed and unsprayed Beet Plant.

Plot III., sprayed with Bordeaux, compared with the same check, shows an increase of 98 per cent. and in the amount of roots of 66 per cent. In this instance the advantage from soil fertility is somewhat in favor of the sprayed plot, but when it is compared with the second check, Plot V., the reverse is true. The difference in yield, although less than with the first check, is yet decidedly in favor of the lime plot, the amount of foliage being greater by 60.5 per cent., with an increase in roots of 31 per cent. Compared with the average of the two checks, the Bordeaux plot shows an increase of 77.5 per cent. in amount of foliage and 46.5 per cent. in roots.

Still more favorable results followed the application of potash-bordeaux in Plot IV. Here the increase in foliage over the adjoining check, Plot V., was in foliage 78.5 per cent, and in roots 47.5 per cent. The difference as to soil fertility was in favor of the check. Compared with the yield in the first check the per cent. of increase is considerably greater than in case of the Bordeaux plot. The weight of foliage was more than double that of the check, 121.5 per cent., while the roots showed an increase of 87 per cent. The gain of the potash belt over the average of the two checks was, for foliage 97.5 per cent. and for roots 65 per cent.

In Plot VI., sprayed with ammonia-bordeaux, there was a gain in foliage over the adjoining check of 28.5 per cent., but the weight of roots was less by 14 per cent.

As already stated, this plot occupied the most fertile soil in the series, but owing to the foliage having been greatly injured by the burning of the fungicide, it was only to be expected that the product would be much below the normal. That the injury was due to the fungicide rather than to the fungus was apparent, since the spotting of the latter was not sufficient to produce any appreciable harm to the plants.

Scab Upon Beets.

In the bulletin upon diseases of beets above referred to, mention is made of the identity of the scab of the potato and beet. In the spring a quantity of scabbed potatoes was placed upon a small portion of the beet ground. At harvest time nearly all of the roots were more or less scabbed, while elsewhere there was but a very small per cent. of the trouble, and the unity of the potato and beet scab was established by field inoculation.

A second method of verification was adopted in that one of the belts of the series upon which thoroughly-scabby potatoes had been grown the previous season was sown to beets of several varieties.

All were badly affected with the scab, there being a larger percentage upon the round than the long sorts. This was due to the fact that the fungus was more active near the surface of the soil than elsewhere. Figure 41, made from a photograph of a long beet, illustrates the fact that the scabs are generally confined to a zone of about three inches, beginning an inch or so below the surface. In no case were any beets in the beet series outside of the area receiving the scabby potatoes so badly scabbed as those that were grown in the land after scabby potatoes. The proof is quite conclusive that the disease is the same in both beet and potato, and the practical point is enforced that one of these diseased crops should not follow the other.

EXPERIMENTS WITH SUNFLOWERS.

A row of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) of the ordinary sort, grown for its seed for farm use, was sown alongside of the field of beets. The chief point in the experiment was to make a test of four spraying mixtures for the rust (Puccinia tanaceti D. C.), a disease that is abundant upon the sunflowers in the State. The sunflower is also affected with a stem trouble due to a fungus (Phlyctona sp.), closely related to the serious stem blight of the cosmos.

The row of sunflowers received the sprayings according to the plan given below:

Am.-Bordeaux. Check. Potash-Bordeaux.

Bordeaux. Check. Soda-Bordeaux.

The rows were 138 feet long and each belt, therefore, twenty-three feet wide, with the plants a foot apart in the row.

There were twelve sprayings, and at the close of the season the results were obtained by selecting the largest five plants in each of the six sections. From these chosen plants the leaves were all divided into the living ones and those that were dead.