19171 DISEASES OF PLANTS. 457 



form whose conidial fructifications and stroniatic arras indicate its relationship 

 to Xylaria spp.. and from a study of the perithecial material, the fungus is con- 

 sidered morphologically quite like X. hypoxylon. The pathogenicity of the 

 organism has been repeatedly established by inoculation with pure cultures 

 into the roots of living apple trees. The ascigerous stage of a species of Xylaria 

 has been found on diseased apple roots, but this has not yet been connected with 

 the conidial stage developed in artificial cultures. 



[Brown rot of plum and apple] (Gard. Chron., 3. ser., 60 {1916), No. 1561, 

 p. 251, figs. 2). — Brown rot, due to Sclerotinia (Monilia) fructigena, is re- 

 ported as having been severe early in the season of 1916 on apples, and later 

 on plums. This disease is said to have been increasingly common during re- 

 cent years, supposedly due to the exceptional prevalence of moisture in winter 

 and spring. 



The best plan for protection is considered to be that of drenching the trees 

 with lime-sulphur of winter strength, or Bordeaux mixture, just before the buds 

 begin to open and afterwards cutting off and burning all diseased material. 

 Turning the ground during the winter is also recommended. 



Further studies of the orange rusts of Rubus in the United States, L. O. 

 KuNKEL {Bui. Torrey Bot. Club. 43 {1916), No. 11, pp. 559-569, figs. 5).— Ac- 

 cording to the author, there are two forms of the orange rust of blackberries in 

 the United States. One is the casoma stage of Gymnoconia interstitialis and 

 the other a short-cycle rust with a life history similar to the Endophyllums. 

 The two rusts are morphologically alike in their cseoma stage, though quite 

 diflferent in their life histories. The short-cycled Cccoma nitens seems to be 

 more widely spread in the United States than is G. interstitialis, and to the 

 first species is attributed most of the injury of orange rust on blackberries 

 and raspberries. 



Note on a Botrytis disease of fig trees, W. B. Bkiebuet {Roy. Bot. Gard. 

 Kew, Bui. Misc. Inform., No. 9 {1916), pp. 225-229, pis. 2). — An account is given 

 of the development of B. cinerea when tested in pure culture, and when inocu- 

 lated into twigs, in which it causes a dieback, and into fruit, which becomes 

 mummified, any leaves developing the following season being dwarfed and 

 primitive in form. 



The " band " disease of betel-nut palms in the Konkan, V. G. Gokhble, 

 R. S. Kasabgode, and S. L. Ajeekab {Poona Agr. Col. Mag., 8 {1916), No. 1, pp. 

 49-53). — A disease of betel-nut palms, known locally as "band" and causing 

 decline, barrenness, and finally death of the trees, has been knovsTi in portions 

 of the Ratnagiri district for more than 30 years, reducing the yield materially. 

 There is no indication that the trouble is communicable. Soil conditions, which 

 are thought to be largely or wholly responsible for the development of the dis- 

 ease, include the presence of soil exliaustion. bad drainage, acidity, and toxic 

 substances. Spacing and intergrowths may also be factors. Progress as re- 

 gards remedial measures is at present hampered by lack of knowledge regard- 

 ing the physiology of the betel palm. 



An epidemic of rust on mint, A. H. Chivebs {Mycologia, 9 {1917), No. 1, pp. 

 Ill, ]f2). — In gardens at Hanover, N. H., early in the summer of 1915. an 

 epidemic of rust {Pucoinia menthce) on mint developed suddenly and increased 

 rapidly after a period of heavy and continuous rainfall, this being the first out- 

 break of the rust in this locality so far as known. Though nothing was done in 

 the way of control or prevention, the disease did not reappear in 1916. It is 

 thought that this disease, which is capable of destroying the foliage of mint 

 during a wet season, may become inactive on return of normal seasons. 



