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THE BARLEY ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE, Meloidogyne naasi Franklin, 1965, was found causing economic damage to barley in the Klamath Basin near Tule-lake, California, in 1964. The species parasitizes barley in England and Wales and has been reported from sugar beets in Belgium. It also occurs in Illinois, Kansas and Oregon. Known infestations in California are in the Tulelake area, and a few locations in southern California where the nematode has been found on the roots of turf grasses. The infestation in the Tulelake area involves several thousand acres that have been cropped almost continuously with barley since the land was reclaimed. Other crops sometimes grown in the infested area include alfalfa, oats, potato and wheat.

Difolatan, Daconil 2787, Dyrene and Benlate were significantly better than other fungicides tested for the control of Septoria apiicola Speg. when sprays were applied every seven days to plots showing severe disease development. When the same materials were applied at 14-day intervals under similar conditions, control of the fungus was unsatisfactory. Excellent control was obtained with these fungicides, or with TBZ in 1969 when they were applied every 14 days beginning as soon as lesions appeared on the leaves. These trials indicate that under California conditions, Septoria leafspot of celery can be controlled with a 14-day spray schedule using either, Benlate, Daconil 2787, Difolatan, Dyrene, or TBZ. Of these materials only Dyrene is registered for use on celery but has not yet been included in U.C. pest control recommendations.

WEEDS ARE A PROBLEM in both direct seeded and transplanted bell and chili peppers in California. Cool weather during the early planting season results in slow emergence of direct-seeded pepper seedlings. Grower practice for chilies is to place seed 2 to 4 inches into moist soil and push-hoe the soil from above the germinating seedlings prior to emergence, thus removing the first crop of weed seedlings. Weeds which develop after the last cultivation (lay-by) may also cause difficulties during harvest. The availability of promising chemicals for weed control in peppers prompted the series of studies reported here to evaluate herbicides for direct-seeded and transplanted peppers under both furrow and sprinkler irrigation.

RATES OF EMERGENCE are greatly improved when sprinkler irrigation is used for lettuce germination in desert areas. Precision planting plus the possihilities for automatic thinners have offered growers hope for reducing labor requirements. To facilitate precision placrment, various seed coatings and planting machines have been developed. This report compares emergence and growth rate of plants developing from seed encapsulated in pressed vermiculite tablets, clay-coated seed (10-1 minicoated). and non-coated seed (see photos).

Heavy fertilization is necessary for profitable Brussels sprouts production on new, relatively infertile land. About half of the nutrients taken up by the crop are removed during the first two-thirds of the growing season. Perhaps half of the nitrogen, and all of the phosphorus and potassium could be applied before transplanting the crop. The other half of the nitrogen could be applied 4 to 6 weeks after transplanting.

Spray applications of only 0.09 gallons of water per hour per pig resulted in significant increases in rate of gain and improved feed conversion under the conditions of this test for heat stress relief.