Ramsbottom dissected the bulbs to produce thousands of microscope slides which he studied for pathogens. He noted that while many contained fungal infections all of the bulbs he checked showed the presence of the nematode Ditylenchus dipsaci, first discovered by Friedrich Adalbert Maximilian Kuhn in 1858. Ramsbottom demonstrated that the mites and flies present were not the initial pathogen but were attracted by the rotting caused by the action of the nematode.
