The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1922-02-02
DISEASE MAY START
IN TOBACCO BEDS
Expert Tells How to Prevent Them
Appearing on Your Seed
ling Plants.

Several of the most destructive dis
eases of tobacco, including wildfire,
angular leafspot, sore shin and root
knot have been shown to originate
in the plant bed, end consequently
to be carried to the fields at time
of transplanting. The most salts
factory way of combating these dis
eases is the prevention Of their oc-
currence on the seeding plants. This
can be accomplished largely by ivlng
attention to the three sources OF IN
lection, namely: (a) the soil itself;
(b) the plant bed cloths; and (c) the
seed.
(a) The soil. The scarcity of wood
in many sections has made the burn
ing of the seed bed very expensive
and in many cases the land is not
burned at all. In such cases, espec-
tally when old plant beds are used'
there is considerable likelihood of the
occurrence of seeding diseases. Too
few growers realize that burning the
beds not only destroys the grass and
weed seeds and thus removes the
necessity of wedding, but also de-
stroys germs which may harbor in
the soil and which may attack the
seeding. Whether one plans to use
the same bed for a term of years or
tn make new one every year, ster-
ilization should be regarded as an es-
sential part of seed bed preparation
which cannot with safety be omitted.
Best results follow the use Of steam
in sterilization, but this is possible
only for those provided with a steam
engine or boiler. Detailed instruc-
tons for the use of such an outfit
will gladly be furnished upon appli-
cation.
d. The plant bed cloths. In eases
ir: which old cloths are used, since
fields observations indicate that these
cloths can harbor disease germs, 1t
is advisable that they be boiled in
water for a few minutes and dried
before being placed upon the beds.
No such precaution, is Of course nee
essary with new cloths.
(c) The seed. Since both wildfre
and angular leafspot attack the pods
as we'll as the leaves, seed saved
from diseased plants is almost Ger
tain to be infected. If possible, dis
ease-free seed, which may be gath
cred from fields which ere entirely
free from diseases, should be OBJ
tanned. If this cannot be done, chem
ical treatment of seed must be enl-
ployed. The treatment is as follows:
The seed are put into a fruit jar
covered with fine mesh screen. A
solution consisting of 2 tablespoon
fuIs Of commercial formaldehyde in
one pint Of water is poured over the
seed. After about five minutes soak
ing in the solution, the seed are wash
Cd thoroughly in water and spread
out to dry. Very good success in
treatment has been secured by some,
while others report failure of treated
seed to germinate. If the seed are
not left in the solution longer than
I've minutes, and if they are washed
in several changes Of water, no mark
Cd injury to termination should result.
These precautions which are direct
Cd toward the avoidance of disease
night be supplemented by additional
sanitary precautions. Cases are
known in which farmers have visited
aeighbors' plant beds to become famil-
iir with the appearance of thsse dis
eases, have handled plants there, and
tkaa return and inspected their own
plant beds, and in this way contain
diseased plants, but during the oper-
alton Of drawing plants or of weed
iHg, all the others have become infect
Cd Again, neighbors may exchange
q buy plants and in this way intro
ducs the infection into their own
rroo-E A Wolfe