242 



nose {Colletotriclmm spinac€(e, Ell. and Hals.), leaf blight (Phyllosticta 

 chenopodii, Sacc), aucl spinach white smut {Entyloma ellisii, Hals.), be^ 

 sides several species of black molds, the most common one being Clado- 

 sporium macrocarpum. The descriptions of the fungi given in the bulle- 

 tin are illustrated with twenty-one figures. The authracnose and white 

 smut appear to be newly discovered species, the former being very de- 

 structive. 



This anthracnose produces blotches ou the leaves, at first small and inconspicu- 

 ous. The first indication of its presence is an indescribable moist appearance of the 

 usually circular afiFected part, followed by the appearance of minute brown pustules, 

 while at the same time a gray color develops and the diseased area becomes dry. 

 * * * No particular part of the leaf is first attacked, and therefore no two leaves 

 appear alike. lu some cases the largest leaves will be diseased ; in other plants only 

 the younger ones, but sooner or later plants that are affected will become entirely 

 unfit for use. To test the rapidity of the growth of the anthracnose, healthy plants, 

 grown in the laboratory, were inoculated with the spores, and in from five to seven 

 days the spots sown had become thoroughly diseased, and were bearing multitudes of 

 spores. » * * The fiue threads of the anthracnose fungus after ramifying tbrough 

 the leaf tissue, come to the 'surface at the breathing pores and pass out, forming the 

 tufts of slender, colorless threads. Here and there, in the hemisi>iierical radiating 

 patches, are stiff, sharp-pointed, yjrojecting, spine-like hairs, which are invariably 

 present, but the particular use of which is not known to the writer. 



The white smut has colorless spores which give the infested leaf a 

 light appearance, as if covered with a fine frost. 



The attacked leaves were uniformly without the normal green color, and of course, 

 worthless for market. The threads of the fungus are exceedingly small, like spider . 

 filaments, and are seen with much difficulty. There are two kinds of spores; those 

 formed within the leaf are spherical, and grouped in small clusters just beneath a 

 breathing pore, while the second kind are long, needle-shaped, and borne upon the 

 ends of minute threads which pass out of each breathing pore in great numbers and 

 form a minute tuft. * * * The spinach, because the whole i)laut is prepared for 

 the table, is not well adapted to the application of remedies. A most important pre- 

 ventive measure is to burn all affected plants or parts, and not let the refuse of the 

 bed go to the manure heap. If possible, change the location, soil, etc., of the beds, 

 growing other crops in the old jilace for a few years. Tlie soil to be used for spinach 

 could be treated to a mixture of flowers of sulphur and air-slaked lime. With proper 

 care salts of copper could be employed upon the young plants. • 



New York State station, Bulletin No. 19 (New Series), June, 1890 (pp. 15). 



A METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF FAT IN MILK AND CREAM, P. 



Collier, Ph. D. (illustrated). — This contains a plea for the adoption 

 of a fairer basis in the buying and selling of milk, similar in import to 

 the article on this subject by Professor Patrick in Iowa Station Bul- 

 letin No. 9 (See Experiment Station Eecord, Vol. II, p. 101) ; a de- 

 scription of the Parsons method for milk analysis: tables taken largely 

 from the l^ew Hampshire Station Report for 1889, giving the percent- 

 ages of fat corresponding to the readings of the scale : and a report of 

 the trial of the Parsons method. Some difficulty was experienced in 

 securing satisfactory results with the method as originally published, 



