1 86 The Scottish Naturalist. 



grass {Lolium perenne); the vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odora- 

 tum) ; the cat's tail (Phleum pratense) ; the floating meadow 

 grass (Glyceria fluitans) ; and some others. The crested dog's 

 tail ( Cy Hosieries cristatus), and the various species of Bromus, 

 are not ergotised in the places named. Wheat and barley are 

 rarely ergotised; and on the cultivated oats, the wild oats 

 (A vena fatua), the bristle-pointed oats {Avena strigosa), and 

 the fly oat [Avena sterilis), I have never seen a single case of 

 Ergot. 



The time of the year at which the grasses begin to be ergo- 

 tized depends on the time at which the Clavkeps is ripe. I 

 have found the Clavkeps growing naturally as the Ergot had 

 fallen, nearly in a ripe state, on the 27th of June. The grasses 

 therefore, which are fertilised before the middle of June, must 

 generally escape Ergot. The latest date at which I have seen 

 Ergot in its early and growing state is the middle of September. 

 Thus the hay crops being past flowering before the heads of 

 the fungus are mature, entirely escape the spores, which are so 

 fatal to the seeds of rye grass on individual stalks at a later 

 date. 



It appears from Mr. Cairuthers' recent paper in the Journal 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, (vol. x. pt. 2, 

 1874) that differences of opinion exist as to the character of 

 season most favourable to Ergot ; some holding that a wet sea- 

 son is most favourable, and others that a dry season is most 

 favourable. Such statements are too loose. The conditions 

 necessary to a crop of Ergot appear to be these : — That there 

 shall remain from the previous year a considerable quantity of 

 Ergot upon the ground : that during May, June, and July, there 

 be sufficient moisture to cause the vegetation of the fungus : 

 and that at the time when the heads are ripe there be sufficient 

 dry, hot, and sunny weather, for the dissemination of the spores. 

 Because if a quantity of Ergot is collected at an early date, and 

 with the Clavkeps only beginning to appear here and there, and 

 is laid aside in a dry place, the growth of the fungus is instantly 

 arrested. And if, when by sufficient moisture the heads come 

 to maturity, there is heat and sunshine, the spores will be dis- 

 seminated; while, if at this time, they are drowned by frequent 

 rain, the spores will either not be projected into the air, or will 

 be washed down into the soil and lost. There must be wet 

 weather for the growth of the fungus, and diy weather for the 

 scattering of the spores. 



