96 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



slide, the hyphae can be followed out until in nutrient solu- 

 tions after 3 or 4 days the conidia are produced. The prin- 

 cipal difficulty is in keeping them separate from the hyphae of 

 other molds, which are difficult to keep out. By placing thin 

 sections of fruit on the slide near the germinating spores, the 

 course of the hyphae can be observed into and through the 

 fruit tissues. I have used pieces of boiled prune and apple 

 very well in this way, but the results with a few sections of 

 green peaches and plums were negative. 



On May 19 through the kindness of Mr. A. M. Ferguson 

 of the University of Texas, I received some well developed 

 peaches and partially ripe plums from Texas. I inoculated 

 some of these by piercing them with a needle which had just 

 been touched to conidia developed in plate cultures from 

 ascospores or which held a section containing germinating 

 ascospores. These were placed under a bell jar with check cul- 

 tures of fruits pierced with a sterile needle. Most of those 

 inoculated developed Monilia conidia in 3 to .5 days, pre- 

 ceded by the characteristic " brown rot." The checks re- 

 mained fresh for two weeks. In the damp atmosphere of the 

 bell jar the hyphae on some of the inoculated fruits devel- 

 oped a dense white mass over the surface of the fruit 3-8 

 mm. thick, much like that found on the flowers kept under 

 jars mentioned previously. This does not have the usual ap- 

 pearance of Monilia on rotted fruits, but since it is preceded 

 by the usual form of conidiophores in hemispherical clusters 

 and the long white hyphae bear similar chains of spores, I do 

 not believe that it is anything else. 



My principal object has been to demonstrate the identity of 

 Monilia fructigena and the ascus stage of the Sclerotinia 

 Avhich I found this spring. The cultures described and others 

 not here referred to, I think have done this. Monilia fructi- 

 gena Persoon must then become a synonym of Sclerotinia 

 fructigena (Persoon) Schroeter, 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 



The apothecia of a Sclei^otinia were found abundantly in 

 April, 1902, developing from sclerotia in buried mummified 

 peaches and plums in Maryland orchards. The ascospores 



