384 • Halsted : Influence of wet Weather 



J 



rainfall 



for New Jersey was 23.73 inches, or nearly ten inches above the 

 average, and presumably it was as wet in Connecticut. 



Of other fungi the writer calls to mind the destruction of the 



i 



grape crop by Black Rot {PJiysalospora BiikvcIIii (Ell.)) and not 

 trusting to memory the following is taken from the Experiment 

 Station report for 1889 ''It is no exaggeration to say that in some 

 parts of the State it (grape crop) has been a complete failure. For 

 example, * * * at Egg Harbor recently the writer was informed 

 that in all that section, famous not only for the number, but for the 

 fine quality of its grapes, the vineyards had yielded no marketable 

 fruit." 



It was the same year that the writer found for the first time 



Plasmopora Qthcusis (B. & C.) in abundance upon pumpkin, squash 



and field cucumber, and he will never forget the impression made 



;upon him of a large hillside apple orchard having an orange color 



^/ 



from one end to the other due to the roc 



angiuni macropus that infested nearly every leaf and many of the 



twigs and fruits. 



There is no question but that 1889 was a remarkable year for 

 the abundance of rain and also for the prevalence of destructive 

 fungi. 



Coming now to 1897 it is recorded that the same potato sections 



were visited as in 1889 ^^^d the same story of destructive decay 



.was listened to as related by the disappohited potato growers. 



PJiytophtJiora tufcstaus was so abundant In some fields that scarcely 



a leaf escaped its attack. 



■ In a similar manner the bean PhytoplitJiora was i:>articularly 

 destructive in 1897 and the list is a long one of those fungi that 

 were pestiferous. Through a large part of the State' the grapes 

 rotted so badly that they were in some places removed by tons' 

 and burned as a check upon future ravages. 



There is no question in the minds of the crop growers, but that 

 1897 was a year remarkable for its losses due to the ravages of 

 funiT;i. 



The two years we have been considering, namely, 1889 and 

 1897, arc remarkable meteorologically for the hca\y precipitation 

 in July and for the fact that the whole Gfrowinc" season was wet. 



