400 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY: 



SEEDLING PLUM-TREES. 



An inspection of the plum orchards and nurseries of Ha- 

 gensdorf, in September, 1871, demonstrated that seedling 

 trees had withstood the severity of the winter much better 

 than those propagated from suckers. Of the latter, thousands 

 of old trees were killed, as well as beds of young ones, while 

 adjoining beds of seedlings were entirely unaffected. It was 

 also noticed that trees which abounded in sprouts were more 

 generally affected than those from which the sprouts had 

 been removed at an early period. It is also contended that 

 seedlings send out their roots more vertically, and deeper 

 down, and in consequence are more likely to reach moisture 

 in dry weather, and less liable to injury by the plow in cul- 

 tivation, or to send np suckers. 9 (7, October^ 1872, 145. 



DISEASE OF TIMOTHY GRASS. 



A new disease threatens to impair the usefulness of the 

 timothy grass (Phleuin jyTCitense, X.), the great favorite of our 

 agriculturists. It was first observed in Silesia, and Prof. J. 

 Ktihn ascertained its cause to be a parasitical fungus (Sphoerla 

 tj/phina, Pers.). A dense tissue of a grayish - white color 

 forms, usually at the third joint above the ground, though it 

 sometimes appears at the lower nodes. Propagating organs 

 (gonidia) develop rapidly, and Mr. De Barry believes the my- 

 celium of the parasite to be perennial in the stem ; its origin 

 is as yet unknown. Early cutting, and pasturing by sheep, 

 are recommended as means of preventing its spread. 28(7, 

 1872, IV., 241. 



EFFECT OF TIME OF SEEDING OX GRAIN. 



Prof. Thiel of the Agricultural School of Darmstadt, while 

 attributing the failure of development of much of the seed 

 sown, in great part, to defective seeds, to the variable depths 

 at which they are deposited when a drill is not used, and to 

 the numerous injurious insects, suggests that the effect of un- 

 favorable weather, in addition to all other causes, especially 

 with winter grain, may cause the destruction of a great 

 number of plants already developed, and that, consequently, 

 a most important point to be determined, in connection with 

 certainty of crops, is the proper time for seeding. In order 



