654 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



heterodera) , accompanied by a popular discussion of eelworms and methods of 

 combating them. 



The biology of the anthei' smut of Lychnis (Melandrium) album, E. 

 Werth {Mitt. K. Biol. Anst. Land u. Forstw., 1910, No. 10, pp. 11, 12).— The 

 results of further experiments on the flower infection of L. album by Ustilago 

 violacea are given, confirming in the main the authoi''s previous experiments 

 (E. S. R, 23, p. 355). 



Bloom infection of the pistillate flowers was successfully repeated with the 

 production in some instances of a form intermediate between the normal pis- 

 tillate flower and the hermaphrodite smutted flower. The staminate flowers 

 were also inoculated with the smut spores, giving results similar to those ob- 

 tained with pistillate flowers. Experiments on direct infection of young seed- 

 lings with the smut spores gave no definite results. 



In these experiments it is claimed that the smut spores on the pistillate 

 flowers neither directly by germ tubes nor indirectly by sporidia penetrated 

 into the stigmas of the inoculated flowers. On the contrary the fungus begins 

 after the death of the stigma a saprophytic existence with repeated conidia 

 formation. 



A frequent disease of pelargonium cuttings, L. Peters (Oartenflora, 59 

 (1910), No. 10, pp. 200-213, pi. i ).— Investigations of the death of large num- 

 bers of pelargonium cuttings showed that the portions of the stems in or 

 near the ground had turned brown and dry from the cutting oft of the food 

 supply. 



A microscopic examination of the diseased tissues indicated that the fungus, 

 Pythium dcbaryamim, was the cause of the death of the plants. This was also 

 proved by inoculation tests with pure cultures of the fungus on healthy plants. 



Some common diseases of the rose, R. Laubert {Garten flora, 59 (1910), 

 Nos. 4, PP- 66-76, pi. 1; 5, pp. 97-106). — A popular description of, and remedies 

 for, several diseases of i-oses are given, including rose rust (Phragmidium suh- 

 corticium), rose mildew {^phwrotheca pannosa), leaf spot (Actinonema rosw), 

 twig canker (Coniothyrimn xvcrnsdorffi(r) , the Botrytis rot (Botrytis cinerea) 

 of the flowers and peduncles, downy mildew (Peronospora sparsa), stem or 

 branch tumors on climbing roses, and a disease of the La France rose in which 

 the plants wilt and in a few days shed their leaves, often flnally dying. In this 

 last-named disease the fruit bodies of the fungus Roesleria pallida were found 

 on the roots of the dead plants, but whether this fungus is the initial cause of 

 the disease or only a saprophyte is uncertain. 



The control of the rose mildew, H. Schmidt (Osterr. Gart. Ztg., 4 (1909), 

 No. 7, pp. 21(9, 250; ahs. in Centbl. Bakt. [ctc.'\, 2, AM., 26 (1910), No. 16-17, 

 p. ft82). — The application of from 1 to li shovelfuls of air-slaked lime as a fer- 

 tilizer around each rose bush in the fall of the year is recommended. If after 

 this treatment small patches of mildew appear, the plants should be dusted on 

 a sunshiny day with powdered sulphur. 



A new tulip disease, F. Worth ann (Mdller's Deut. Gdrt. Ztg., 25 (1910), 

 No. 15, p. 177). — Attention is called to a disease of tulips, which forms in the 

 middle of the scapes a watery translucent zone, at which point under the weight 

 of the flower head the stem bends and causes the bloom to hang downward. 



An examination of the diseased bulbs shows that they are not well rooted, 

 the roots being rolled up in a ball beneath the bulb scales. These diseased 

 bulbs send up their scapes sooner than the healthy ones. 



The cause of the disease is not stated. 



Concerning a fungus parasitic on Zinnia violacea, G. Trinchieri (Bui. 

 Orto B'oL R. Univ. Napoli, 2 (1909), No. 3, pp. .'/.'i5--',Ji9: Rend. Aeead. Sci. Fin. c 

 Mat, }i!apoli, 3. ser., 15 (1909), No. 5-7, pp. lJ,0-l'i/,).— The flower heads of 



