STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MI 



warm room for a week, I was surprised to find nian\- hard, dark-colored 

 kernels (sclerofia) as large as good-sized grains of wheat. These are 

 analagoiis to tubers and bulbs of flowering plants, not properly fruit, but 

 cajjable of reproducing the i)lant after long rest. They are filled with 

 nutriment and have a kind of nutty crisi)ness and flavor. Their size, 

 compared with the spores of any kind, is immense, is latter being 

 invisible to the unaided eye. These kernels are still preserved, but have 

 not been further experimented 

 with. The accompanying rough 

 sketch may make the text clearer: 

 Fig. I. B shows a spore germinat- 

 ing, sending its filament through 

 the cell-walls of the plant. A, a 

 fruit stalk springing from a stomate 

 of the leaf, whose cells are indi- 

 cated by the irregular lines. After 

 branching considerably, the ends 

 of the limbs produce two to six 

 spicules, upon each of which a 

 single oval spore is borne. D 

 shows the supposed production of 

 zoospores from a spore, and C, 

 the union of the two organs in the 

 production of an oospore. All 

 these things were made out during 



^, . ^. ^. ■> ^ c '"IE- I- Lettuce Mould. 



the mvestigations, but none of 

 them are new to science, except, perhaps, the formation of the hard 

 kernel-like bodies (sclerotia) in this particular class of ])lants. The 

 mouldy appearance of the diseased leaves is evident enough to the eye. 



Remedy. — Sulphur and carbolic acid, being the common antidotes, 

 were proposed, but were not practical in this case, since they would 

 render the plants unfit for use. The fumes of the former were tried, by 

 burning a quantity in the house, taking care not to destroy the lettuce, 

 but without apparent effect. It is indeed probable that such remedies, 

 applied externally, so effective in many cases, are worthless in these, since 

 the parasite occupies the internal parts of the leaves and stems, and is 

 thus out of reach. On the contrary, the grape mildew, so prevalent upon 

 Clinton vines the past season, lives entirely upon the surface, and is 

 readily destroyed by dusting with sulphur. Hand-picking every diseased 

 leaf as soon as attacked, admitting plenty of light and air when possible, 

 and keeping the temperature as low as practicable, stayed the progress of 

 the disease, and proved more efficient than other means used. Emphasis 

 is specially given to destroying the diseased plants as early as possible, 

 and providing plenty of light. The former reduces the fungus; the latter 

 better fits the plant to resist its attack. 



In the same house the too common "cutting-bench fungus" caused 

 many plants to "damp" off at the surface of the ground, but its attack 

 was quite distinct from the above. This latter is caused by another 



