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Halsted : Mycological Notes 15 



person was so placed as _tp see the greatest abundance of the fun- 

 gus upon the leaf in question or in fact upon the whole tree. 



How the excess of bhght is brought about by this exposure 

 IS not demonstrated for it may be that the position, unnatural in 

 part at least, brings about a scalding or burning of the tissue of the 

 underside of the leaf, w^hich is reasonably assumed to be less 

 hardy than tliat of the upper side ; and this in turn, might prepare 

 the way for the better entrance of the germs or their more vigor- 

 ous growth after once within the leaf, already partially devitalized. 

 It is possible also that the sunny side may furnish the more favor- 

 able conditions of warmth, etc., for the development of the bhght 

 Fig. I shows some instances of cherry leaves that have a large 

 majority of the spore spots of the blight fungus upon one-half of 

 their underside. The three upon the right hand were from the 

 southw^est side of the tree and the other three from the southeast 



side. 



hifiiience of Fungi upon Fniitfulncss of Host. — While inspect- 

 ing the asparagus fields in New Jersey for the prevalence of the 

 rust, one fact came out that is seemingly contrary to a general law 

 of vegetable physiology, namely, the influence the rust seems to 

 have upon fruitfulness. In the years before the rust made its ap- 

 pearance the autumn *' brush " of the pistillate plants were heavily 

 loaded with berries^ and late in the season the ripened fruit gave a 

 bright red coloration to the field. During the present season the 

 berries are very few indeed, and nearly all the plants appear as if- 



they were staminate. 



It is safe to assume that the rust since its first appearance in 

 1896 has weakened the plants, making the crop of spring smaller 

 than usual and materially reducing the size of the autumn growth. 



r 



In other words the plant's life was in jeopardy and as a conse- 

 quence an increased tendency would be expected toward fruitful- 

 ness. ■ When the life of an individual is in danger there is an at- 

 tempt, as a rule, to reproduce by seed. 



This exception to the general rule does not seem to arise 

 from the rust actually blighting the flowers, but upon the other 

 hand, the blossoms did not form and the great majority of the 

 plants showed no signs of reproduction. 



The Trenton GoldbacJi poison Case, — On Saturday, October 



