Two Vegetable Diseases Controlled
With Streptomycin, USDA Reports
Two more diseases important
Ito vegetable growers—downy of
lima beans and late blight mildew
of tomatoes— have been control
led experimentally with antibiotic
spays, the U. S. Department of
Agriculture reports.
Equally significant is the fact,
revealed by USDA research on
antibiotics for plants, that better
control of the downy-mildew fun
gus was obtained with crude
forms of streptomycin (the anti
biotic used) than with pure forms.
Department scientists also found
that addition of copper to the
antibiotic sprays gave effective di
sease control with very' low
dosages of antibiotic.
Meeting in Atlanta
These discoveries are the re
sult of research by W- J- Zaum
eyer,. S- P. Doolittle and R. E.
Wester-at the USDA Plant In
dustry Station, -Beltsville, Md-
They extend the list of recent
research successes in using ant
ibiotics against plant diseases
and constitute a further impor
tant step toward more extensive
use of antibiotics for more effi
cient plant production, the De
partment says.
Speaking in Atlanta Dec- 29,
before the 47th annual meeting
of the American Phytopatholo
gical Society, Dr. Zaumeyer, a
plant pathologist of USDA’s Agn
cultural Research Service, said
these experimental successes have
—with one important exception
—followed the pattern of earlier
work on antibiotic control of such
vegetable disease as halo blight
of beans, bacterial spot of toma
toes and peppers, potato seed
piece decay, btedfc' rot of riitalb-
Blges, anid bacterial blWhit of cel
ery. The exception: Although ear
lier discoveries tod led many
plant scientists to believe strepto
mycin to be more or less specific
for diseases caused by bacteria
two fungus caused diseases of
vegetables, downy mildew and
Bate blight.
The effective results obtained
against these diseases with low
dosage sprays containing strep
tomycin and copper 'are a promws
ing approach. Dr- Zaumeyer be
lieves, to low-cost, practical di
sease control for the grower.
In reporting the Beltsville re
search, Dr. Zaumeyer said that
four different commercial anti
biotic formulations - Agnmycin,
Plhytomyom, Agristrep, and Aeoo
Kitrepitomycin-were applied to
lima-bean foliage at the rate of
100 parts of drug to one million
parts of water- The antibiotic
sprays almost completely pre
vented downy-mildew infection of
the lima beans, which were in
oculated with a spore suspension
of the fungus 24 hours after the
streptomycin treatment Under
similar experimental conditions,
tomato seedlings treated with
the same dosages of streptomycin
prior to inoculation with Me
blight proved equally resistant
to infection- Disease-inoculated
lima-bean ' and tomato seedlings
that were not treated with ~an
JUST DEPENDS
A man was on his way to visit
Borne friends during summer va
cation. The way led through a
Swamp.
“Say,” he asked, “is it true
that an alligator won’t hurt you
if you carry a torch?”
The guiije thought a moment
“Depends on' how fast you carry
it, I reckon.”
DONE ENOUGH
Elmer, aged 13, was puzzled
over the girl problem and dis
cussed it with his pal Joe.
“I’ve walked to school with her
three times,” he told Joe, “and
carried her books. I bought her
ftn ice-cream soda twice- Now, do
you think I ought to kiss her?”
“Now, you don’t need to,” Joe
decided after a moment of deep
thought. “You have done enodgh
for that girl already.”
WHERE LOVE WAS STRONG
“Don’t you think Egbert is of a
Very flighty disposition?”
“Why, no, he’ll never forget
fcis first and oiily love.”
antibiotic became severely in
fected.
The fact that better disease
Control was achieved with crude
streptomycin than with pure
forms of drug is probably due, Dr.
Zaumeyer said, to the presence
of some unidentified ingredient
in the crude material that is
absent in the pure antibiotic.
Trials made to compare com
bination streptomycin - copper
sprays containing only one or the
other of these materials showed
S that-a combination containing 50
parts*per million (ppm.) of both
the chemicals gave slightly better
control of downy mildew than
did sprays containing 50 ppm- of
streptomycin, and much better
control thaiv sprays containing
50 ppm- of copper. Sprays con
taining 25 ppm. of streptomycin
were completely inffective.
WHAT’S ifOUJI STAM P 9
Too often it’s too late when you
spot the discourteous driver on
the highway. The damage has been
done ... or is about to be done . . .
or the danger has passed —at -least
until you meet again.
Every year, more than three quarters
of all traffic fatalities involve traffic
violations. Lack of driver courtesy
contributes heavily to those deaths.
Outlook for January 1956
The Weather Bureau’s 30-day outlook for
January calls for temperatures to average
below seasonal normals in the eastern third
of the nation. Above normal temperatures
are indicated from the Mississippi west
ward to the Pacific with greatest depar-
iThe Federal Reserve Board’s] tember and October, is expected tories. The index uses the
index of industrial , production, to reach 144 this montbr helped 49 output average as its ha;
which hits a record 142 in Sep- in part by the urge to built inven- 100-
Drive to stay alive
This message in the interest of highway safety is one of a series
prepared and disseminated by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers *
Association and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Farming, Friday, January 6, 1956
/s/*
Laws demand s^fe-driving—but the
courtesy which helps assure it must
come from you the driver. Obedi-
ence to traffic regulations, common
sense and considerate behavior
stamp you as a safe, courteous driver.
As'you drive ... be courteous —it’s
contagious . . . and safe.
lures in the Southern Rockies.
Precipitation is expected to be nea:
above normal in the Southwest and a'
the West Coast. In the remainder of
' country generally subnormal amounts
predicted.
**' / s
-V 'Ss
9