656 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



black stem rust (Puccinia graminis) on various cereals, the losses entailed by 

 the disease, and the relation of the common barberry and other host plants to the 

 spread of the disease. 



Immunity and inheritance in plants, D. McAlpine (Advisory Council Set. 

 and Indus., Aust., Bui. 7 {191S), pp. 78-86).— Before the conference of Agri- 

 cultural Scientists convened at Melbourne November 9-16, 1917, the author 

 delivered an address regarding the immunity of plants to disease, its probable 

 cause, and its relation to heredity, with practical suggestions regarding the black 

 or stem rust, which is declared to be the most injurious rust of wheat in Australia, 



A little known disease of alfalfa, Fron and Lasnier {Compt. Rend. Acad. 

 Agr. France, 5 {1919), No. 22, pp. 629-631, 6^2-6f}).— An account, partly de- 

 scriptive, is given of a disease of alfalfa attributed to Urophlyctis alfalfw, which 

 is thought to affect this plant in widely separated regions. 



The 8ecial stage of alsike clover rust, W. H. Davis {Prqc. Iowa Acad. Sci., 

 24 (1911), pp. 461-472, pis. 2, figs. 6).— A discussion and tabulated statistics re- 

 garding characters and behavior are given in an attempt to establish the 

 proper systematic disposition to be made of the rust on alsike clover. It is 

 stated that there are as many morphological differences between the secial and 

 pycnial stages of the rust on Trifolium hyhridum and T. repens as between those 

 on T. repens and T. pratense, which are regarded as two separate rusts. 



Diseases of the potato, F. D. Heald (Proc. Wash. State Hort. Assoc, H 

 (1918), pp. 115-124). — This is a somewhat systematic discussion from the 

 standpoint of national food conservation of the cau.sation, effects, and control 

 of diseases affecting the potato output in Washington. 



Potato leaf roll, E. Blanchard and C. Ferret (Compt. Rend. Acad. Agr. 

 France, 5 (1919), No. 10, pp. S56-S58).— This is a continuation of the study of 

 potato leaf roll, previously noted (E. S. R., 40, p. 347; also E. S. R., 41, p. 51). 

 Nitrates appear to exert a certain beneficial effect on potato plants in this con- 

 nection. 



Potato spraying trials in the Cambridgeshire Fens, 1918, F. R. Petheb- 

 BBiDGE (Jour. Bd. Agr. [London'], 25 (1919), No. 10, pp. 1166-1172).— A detailed 

 account is given of the first trial with horse-drawn sprayers in the Cambridge- 

 shire Fens. Causes of imperfect or undesirable results are pointed out. It is 

 considered that the value of spraying in this locality can not be decided from 

 the results of a single season. 



Bacterial blight of soy bean, W. H. Tisdale (North Carolina Sta. Rpt. 1918, 

 p. 59). — This note is largely based on work of the previous head of the depart- 

 ment, F. A. Wolf. 



The disease is said to be due to a bacterium that has been isolated and named 

 B. sojce n. sp., and has been reported from Nebraska, Connecticut, Wisconsin, 

 and North Carolina. It is characterized by water-soaked angular spots on the 

 leaves and cotyledons. Infected seed are believed to be the chief means by 

 which the disease is carried over winter and introduced into new localities. 



A disease of tomato and other plants caused by a new species of Phy- 

 tophthora, G. H. Pethybridge and H. A» Lafferty (Sci. Proc. Roy. Dublin Soc, 

 n. ser., 15 (1919), No. S5, pp. 487-505, pis. S; also in Oard. Chron., S. ser., 65 

 (1919), No. 1686, pp. 188, 189, fig. 1).— What appears to be a new disease 

 of tomato is here dealt with In systematic detail. The roots and lower stem 

 developed a rot (causing finally death of the plant) for which the name rot 

 Is suggested. The fungus Is described under the name P. cryptogea. The same 

 type of disease associated with the same fungus occurs In Petunia ; also prob- 

 ably in Aster and Cheiranthus. Artificial Inoculation showed the fungus to be 

 pathogenic to Solanum tuberosum, Gilia tricolor, and Fagus sylvatica, but not 



