510 
to form “brush”’ and gain strength for cropping in future years. 
The first specimens of all were found upon plants that sprang up 
and were allowed to grow in land that had been in asparagus but 
rooted out and used for other crops. These vigorous volunteer 
shoots were covered with the aecidia, and doubtless produced a 
large crop of spores in readiness to inoculate the plants that came 
later in the season upon the regular beds. 
It is interesting to note that while they were looked for through- 
out the season, and upon thousands upon thousands of plants, not 
an aecidium was ever met with except upon the volunteer plant, 
on those that starting early and unmolested produced brush long 
‘before the regular bed plants -had shown above the surface. It 
would seem from this that the cluster cups need to form early in 
the season or they will not appear at all. 
Associated with Puccinia Asparagi DC. there are at least two 
natural enemies in which the growers of asparagus may have some 
hope of assistance. One of these is associated particularly with 
the aecidial form and is the Tubercularia perisicinia Ditt., which is 
quickly recognized in the sorus by its purple color. This fungus 
is recorded for the Uredineae generally and it is a pleasure to find 
it in an economic role. _ : 
A second fungus, Darluca filum Cast., quite frequently infests 
the puccinia. It produces its mycelium in the rifts sometimes to 
the exclusion from view of all the spores of its host, transforming 
the sori bearing the orange powder into those filled with blackish, 
shining, minute, bead-like bodies. From these pycnidia the spores 
at maturity issue in fine white coils and frequently give the whole 
asparagus plant an appearance of being the victim of a downy 
mildew. 
It is not known how much good this parasite may do, but 
judging from the present season it has a large field in which to 
operate. 
OcTOBER 28, 1897. 
