186 Report of tue Botanist of the 



make a longer paper than the Society would be willing to publish 

 in its Proceedings. Moreover, much of the matter is of more 

 than local interest, maldng it desirable to publish it Avhere it will 

 have a A\dder circulation than has the Proceedings of the Society. 

 Hence the publication of this bulletin. 



THE SURVEY: METHODS AiN^D GENERAL RESULTS. 



TERRITORY COVERED BY THE SURVEY. 



The territory covered by the survey includes only the counties 

 bordering upon the Hudson River between Albany and New 

 York City; namely, Albany, Rensselaer, Greene, Columbia, Ulster, 

 Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, Rockland, and Westchester counties. 

 In order that the region investigated might be as nearly as possible 

 a natural plant region, and yet cover the greater part of the terri- 

 tory included in the membership of the Society, Long Island and 

 Staten Island were excluded. The usual climatic conditions pre- 

 vailing there are markedly different from those which obtain in 

 the Hudson Valley. The district under consideration is about 160 

 miles in length and 45 to 50 miles in width with the Hudson River 

 running through the middle. (See Plate XIV.) 



WEATHER CONDITIONS. 



It is well known that weather conditions, especially rainfall 

 and temperature, exert a powerful influence upon the growth of 

 fungi. Eungous diseases of plants are much more destructive 

 in wet seasons than in dry ones. In the Hudson Valley, the 

 spring and summer of 1899 were unusually dry and the tempera- 

 ture somewhat higher than normal, offering a marked contrast to 

 the season of 1898, which was very wet. The monthly precipita- 

 tion for the season of 1899 is shown in the accompanying table: 



