146 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



be, and finally consist of a i)ink center surrounded by dark bands. 

 This new disease ori.iiinates witliin tlie boll and does not make itself 

 manifest until the contents are involved and decayed, when the car- 

 pels may show some signs of decay. 



So far as observed this new disease is mostly confined to the middle 

 and top (!rop and usually numifests itself about the first of August. It 

 spreads rather evenly over the field, preferring high ground to river 

 bottoms and sometimes occasions a loss of 35 per cent of the crop. 



The author's summary is as follows: 



"The cottou-boll rot disease is caused by a bacterium {liacilhis f/ossi/pina), which 

 works within the boll, causing its contents (seed and lint) to decay. And since the 

 bacteria are inside the tissues it would be useless to spray the plant with any chem- 

 icals at present known, since we would kill the plant before the diseased region 

 could be reached. 



" The disease is multiplied in, and carried from, one crop of cotton to another, and 

 also to uuaft'ected areas, by means of the diseased tissues, with probably the help of 

 the wind and insects. 



"The bacteria may possibly enter the cotton plant from the soil through the roots, 

 although it is possible they may enter through the epidermis of the boll; but more 

 probably they are already in the seed leaves of the seed or enter the bolls from the 

 flower. 



"All diseased cotton bolls should be picked off and burned just as soon as dis- 

 covered, or at least while the lint is being gathered, and the field gone over again 

 immediately after the last picking of the lint. 



"Cotton seed coming from a gin known to have ginned cotton from an aff'eiited 

 district should not be planted in unaffected districts." 



Puccinia phlei-pratense, a nevr species of grass rust, J. Ericks- 

 SON and E. Henning {Ztschr. PffanzenkyanJc., 4 {1S94), No. 3, pp. 140- 

 142). — The authors describe a new rust found on timothy characterized 

 as follows: ^Ecidium unknown, probably wanting; uredosori ^ mm. 

 long, confluent on leaf sheath and halm, often forming masses 10 mm. 

 long, yellowish brown. Spores oblong-pyriform, spinescent, dirty yel- 

 low 18 to 27 by 15 to 19 //. The mj^celium is probably perennial in the 

 tissues of the host, since freshly formed jmstules have been noticed as 

 early as the beginning of May. The i)uccinia pustules on leaf sheath 

 and halm 2 to 5 mm. long, or sometimes longer, confluent, narrow, dark 

 brown to black; epidermis sometimes but slightly ruptured; spores 

 spindle or club-shaped, sometimes constricted in the middle, chestnut 

 brown, rounded or pointed, the points when i)resent very thick; 38 to 

 52 by 14 to IG //. The puccinia stage is occasionally not to be found in 

 the vicinity of Stockholm. 



The authors report the finding of uredo pustules as late as December 

 28 and as early, as March 27, showing the myceluim must be perennial. 

 The i)uccinia sori appear from August 11 to November 30, and germ- 

 inating teleutospores are found between April 4 and July 13. Inocula- 

 tion experiments on barberry, timothy, rye, wheat, oats, barley, and 

 blue grass gave negative residts except in the case of timothy and one 

 out of eight on oats. 



