The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-22
The MELON DISEASE.
1T ATTACKS THE ROOTS OF THE
MELON VINES.

/ IL Closes the Ducts so That the Vines
Cannot Get Water-A Special Agent
| of the Agricultural Department -
Giving Ii Special Attention-An In
teresting Account of His Expert
ments.
Washington. May H. - Mr. ]. Z.
Hand President. Hand Trading Company,
Pelham, Ga: Your communication of
May 10 and May II were duly received,
the latter this morning. and have just
wired you that it is impossible for me to
go to your place Immediately.
1t IS evident that I did not make myself
entirely clear in my former letter as TO
the present state Of the watermelon dis
ease investigation. ] realize how neces-
sary it seems to a man on the ground
who is growing melons that specialist
should Immediately visit his field ana
make examinations, and II this were the
first time the attention Of the specialist
had been called to this disease it would
certainly be the proper thing for him TO
do. AS the matter stands, however /
have already spent one summer in the
field studying carefully the field symptoms
of this disease. and in region (South
Carolina) where the disease could not
not possibly be worse. For instance, last
summer l spent six weeks on farm
where there were seventy-hve acres of
| melons, the whole crop having been ruin
| ed by this disease. The entire OUTPUT
| of this farm did not exceed ten car loads
| The previous year on the same farm the
| disease was so bad that from thirty-Ave
nlq Mt nI.F aHr
| loads, whereas his usual output had been
| a car load to each two acres
| When l went to South Carolina I was
| totally ignorant of the nature Of this dis
| ease. ! had never seen it and did not
| know what was it's cause. The symptoms
are such as you describe, but externally
there was no indication Of any parasite.
| AT the close of my studies in South Caro-
| lima / had found out the cause Of the dis
ease as nearly as one could from field
| studies. and brought back with me to
/ Washington what / supposed to be its
cause. ! could not do more in the field.
and If l should go to your section of
Georgia at this time IL is not likely that l
| could go further with the work than 1
| went with ii in South Carolina, inasmuch
as careful mieroscopical, laboratory and
| green house experiments were necessary
to complete the proof as to the cause of
! the disease, and put us into a condition
TO know how TO experiment for prevent
| ives.
While I was in South Carolina tried
spraying for the disease and found it to
be an utter failure, and this led me 20
discover that the disease enters the plant
under ground. Since my return last year
from the South l have been very carefully
studying the disease in the green house
and laboratory, have made a great number
| of microscopical examinations and arti-
fetal cultures of the fungus and have
succeeded in doing here what il was i'm
| possible to do in South Carolina, and
would be impossible to do in Georgia
namely, to carry on under glass with
strict controls artificial infections to de-
termipe whether the fungus which is
found in the interior of the diseased vines
is really the cause of the disease. This
have succeeded in proving beyond ques-
ton by growing watermelons under glass
and inoculating the soil with pure Gull
| lures of this fungus. In about four weeks
from the time / put the fungus in the
soil | began to get fine cases of the dis
ease i'm large numbers.
From what l have said l think you will
understand that l am in earnest in this
matter and know what am about. While
II would give me the greatest pleasure to
go at once to Georgia TO see the diseased
melons in the field, yet, owing to the
number of green house and laboratory
experiments which l have on hand ana
which would have to be abandoned 10 the
| great uetTlIneht OF the investigation II i
should leave now, and which would have
to be done over again next year. with
great loss of time, l must beg you to
be patient and let me work at this end
of the line until l get the green house and
laboratory experiments in such shape that
: l can leave them l hope to be able to
do this in the course of four or five weeks.
or just as soon as 1 can close out the
experiments. which are so important to
a full understanding of the disease, when
l shall Immediately leave for Georgia.
| When in South Carolina I tried various
incubation experiments on the field, just
as could do in Georgia, but they entirely
failed as they would in Georgia.
for the reason that owing to the wide
| prevalence of the disease l never could tell
whether my inoculated vines came down
| with the disease as the result of the noc-
ulation or from natural causes inherent
| in the locality.
1 send you by this mail box and in
close herewith some franks, and would be
very glad If you would send me roots
and a foot or two of some of the freshly
| wilted melon vines on receipt I tan
at once tell whether the disease is iden-
teal with that of South Carolina, of
which I have no doubt.
The difficulty in fighting the disease is
increased hundred fold by the fact that
it lives in the soil over winter. as
have just succeeded in proving, and en-
ters the plant through the root system
If it entered the plant above ground the
methods of fighting 1t would be greatly
simplified. l am now trying various sub
stances to see whether when added to
the soil they will have any. rotarding in
luence on the spread and DEVELOPMENT
of the fungus This organism is a little
white mass of threads, which fill the ducts
of the stem of the vine. 50 that it is i'm
possible for the vines to get water from
the soil for its use, and consequently in
some cases the vine would undoubt edlv
wilt, even If its roots were in a tub of