58 SUMMARY OF CURRKNT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Suspended Vitality in Fungi.* — Buller and Cameron have ex- 

 perimented with the fruiting bodies of some of the larger fungi, to 

 test the length of time they can retain their power of growth after being 

 dried up. Dsedalea bfcolor was kept in the dark, exposed to ordinary 

 room temperatures for at least seven years and a half, and retained 

 vitality. Sehizophyllum commune revived after a period of rive years and 

 seven months. Further experiments were made by exposing the fungi 

 tn phosphorus pentoxide and to the temperature of liquid air. In the 

 latter case they were kept at the low temperature for three weeks, and 

 still retained their vitality. 



Fungus Disease of Plants. t — A disease on Pepper due to Colleto- 

 trichum nigrum is described by C". K. Bancroft. It appeared first in the 

 form of spots at the apex or on the sides of the fruit. Concentric circles 

 then form round the point of infection, and the whole fruit may become 

 diseased and fall off. The fungus may also spread down the stem. The 

 disease spread so fast that some plants lost all their yield. The treat- 

 ment adopted was to cut hack the infected plants and spray repeatedly 

 with Bordeaux mixture. 



C. K. Bancroft^ also writes about a disease affecting Sisal Hemp 

 caused by Golletotrichum Agaves in British Guiana. The parasite so far 

 as is known has only attacked plants at some distance from the coast. 

 The fungus has been cultured and again reproduced on the host, but 

 only when the latter was injured, thus confirming the conclusion that it 

 was a wound parasite. 



The same writer § describes the action of Mtirasmius Sacchari, the 

 •' new disease " or " dry disease " on Sugar-cane, first observed in the 

 colony in 1907. The report is mainly concerned with the means 

 employed to get rid of the parasite. More resistant varieties of the 

 sugar-cane have been generally planted with good effect. 



P. A. Saccardo and B. Peyronel|| describe two new species of fungi 

 found on Tobacco Seed Beds. They are Glozopeziza turricola, a Disco- 

 mycete which looks like brick-red dots on the soil and appears early in 

 the pan on the warm protected beds. It develops in patches and forms 

 a crust that hinders the development of the germinating tobacco seeds. 

 The second species Hyalopas geophilus is a white mould (Mucedinaeeae), 

 and develops on the same places as the Glozopeziza. Sterilization of the 

 soil killed off both fungi. 



Fungus Diseases in South Australia.1I — T. G. B. Osborn has 

 prepared a short general account of fungus diseases in the southern 



* Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, vi. (1912) pp. 73-8. See also Bot. Gaz.,lviii. (1914) 

 pp. 375-6. 



t Journ. Board Agric. Brit. Guiana, vii. No. 3 (1914) pp. 139-40. See also 

 Bull. Agric. Intell. PL Dis., v. (1914) p. 1092. 



% Journ. Board Agric. Brit. Guiana, vii. No. 4 (1914) pp. 181-2. See also 

 Bull. Agric. Intell. PI Dis., v. (1914) pp. 1246-7. 



§ Journ. Board Agric. Brit. Guiana, vii. No. 4 (1914) pp. 183-7. 



|| Boll. tec. coll. tabacchi, Salerno, xiii. No. 1 (1911) pp. 3-6 (1 pi.). See also 

 Bull. Agric. Intell. PI. Dis., v. No. 9 (1914) pp. 1247-8. 



f Brit. Assoc. Handbk. South Australia, 1914, pp. 24-7. 



