DISEASES OF PLANTS. 969 



Prior to this time the disease had not been reported by asparagus 

 growers in the State, but a thorough investigation showed it rather 

 generally spread. The effect of the disease upon the plants is shown 

 in their exhausted vitality. The mowing and burning of the stalks 

 was thought a possible means for the prevention of the spread of this 

 disease, but its wide distribution showed that nothing would be gained 

 by such treatment. All efforts to control asparagus rust have been 

 only partially successful. The difference in the amount of rust found on 

 different varieties, the author thinks, may not be wholly due to varietal 

 peculiarities, but from the limited data accessible, there appear to be 

 differences iu resistance. Shallow plowing of the beds after the stalks 

 have been cut has been tried, and it is thought possible in this way 

 that the spores of the fungus which are lying on the surface may be 

 covered and destroyed. The aggregate value of asparagus beds in the 

 2 centers referred to in this report is said to be $200,000, and should 

 this disease continue its course for a few years the greater part of the 

 capital would be lost. 



Studies on Puccinia ribis of red currants, J. Eriksson {Rev. 

 Gen. Bot., 10 (1898), No. 120, pp. 107-506, pi 1).— As a result of his 

 experiments the author concludes that Puccinia ribis is a true inicro- 

 puccinia with only 1 generation of spores. These are teleutospores, 

 which germinate the spring after their formation. In the fungus it is 

 possible to distinguish a special form to which the author gives the 

 name rubi, which attacks the red currant and also a variety of the 

 white, but not the black currant, nor in all probability docs it attack 

 the gooseberry. The appearance of the disease occurs in the spring- 

 after hibernation of the spores, and the period required for their ger- 

 mination is from 29 to 39 days. As preventive measures against the 

 destructive effect of this fungus, the author recommends the collecting 

 together and burning in the fall of the year all leaves and diseased 

 fruits which fall from the bushes. In the spring all bushes which are 

 liable to attacks of this fungus should be thoroughly sprayed about 

 the time their buds begin to swell, 2 applications of Bordeaux mixture 

 being given during the season. Not only should the bushes be sprayed. 

 but the ground underneath them. 



Contribution to the knowledge of Coleosporiums and the leaf 

 rust of pines, G. Wagner (Ztschr. Pflanzenkrank., 8 (1898), No. 5, pp. 

 257-262). — The author reviews a number of experiments and statements 

 on the relation existing between the alternate host plants of a number 

 of species of Peridermium and Coleosporium. He briefly reviews his 

 own experiments in which a number of plants were inoculated with the 

 a;cidiospores from Pinus sylvestris and P. montana. It was found that 

 in nearly every case the ajcidiospores would infect Melampyrum pratense 

 and Euphrasia officinalis, but not Campanula rotundi/olia, G. trachelium, 

 Phyteuma officinalis, and Tussilago farfara. 



In a subsequent note in the same journal (No. G, p. 3±o) the author 



