FUNGI AND SOILS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20537, 11 April 1930, Page 5

FUNGI AND SOILS.

GOOD AND BAD VARIETIES.

Tho fungi—the group to which attention is confined in this article—unliko most animals arid plants specialise in dependence. Every one of the multitude of species is saprophytic—living on dead animal or vegetable matter, or parasitic—living on live things.

On the whole it may be said that the fungi aro malignant to man. This is chiefly true of tho parasitic forms which cause terrible destruction among cultivated plants. A yearly toll of enormous damage is exacted by the rust, smut, and bunt of wheat, smut of barley, diseases of potatoes, turnips, sugar-cane, cacao, cotton and rubber, tea, and a multitude of other plants of economic importance. It is true that saprophytic forms help as Nature's undertakers in the decay and disintegration of dead things, and even give us edible fruit such as mushrooms. But even tho saprophytes may be troublesome, as for instance, tho dry-rot in timber and tho moulds which spoil food.

.As a result of intensive research in recent years, tho urgent necessity for means of control or elimination of harmful fungi, has at last become realised and has led to the establishment of mycologists and plant pathologists, all over tho world and particularly in Empire countries.

In New Zealand attention was first, given to the general problem by Kirk and Cockayne, but it was not until post-war days that Cunningham was appointed as first Government mycologist. His efforts have been 'directed toward making a census of the fungous flora of the Dominion in addition to tho important work of elimination of damage to crops of economic importance. •

Much of the research work in the Dominion has already been successful. This is particularly so in the case of malting barley, which has been rendered practically smut-free. Encouraging results have been obtained in tho selection of disease free commercial lines of potatoes. Intensive work is in progress 011 turnips, peas, lucerne and other commercial crops. Tho need for research on a larger anrT more intensive scale has recently been evidenced by the establishment of a plant research station at Palmerston North, where a team ot enthusiastic and experienced investigators has been concentrated,. Realisation of the potential value of New Zealand as a seed-producing country has at last been awakened. But seed production means elimination of diseases amenable to control and the selection of disease-free lines which must be under, taken in co-operation with the mycologist. Take, for example, the invaluable supplementary farm crop—turnips. At present it has not been possible to import disease, free seed with the result that enormous annual loss occurs from dry rot. If disease-free seed can be grown in New Zealand, it would mean elimination of this loss and also the local production of seed hitherto imported.