DISEASES OF PLANTS. 647 



DISEASES OF PLANTS. 



Report of the vegetable pathologist, D. McAlpine (Rpt. Dcpt. Agr. [Vic- 

 toria], 1907-1910, pp. Ii'/~61, pis. 3). — A brief synopsis is given of the work done 

 during each year for the past 3 years, including experiments, diseases investi- 

 gated, and publications issued on plant diseases. 



Report on the prevalence of some pests and diseases in the West Indies, 

 for the year 1909-10. — I, Fungoid diseases, F. W. South {West Indian 

 Bui., 11 {1911), No. 2, pp. 13-85). — The author discusses the principal diseases 

 of the West Indian Islands, especially with reference to their general prevalence 

 and important attaclvs of local occurrence. Of the more serious and widely 

 distributed diseases the following are noted : Root disease of the sugar cane 

 {Marasmius sp.), bacterial cotton boll disease, cacao canker and black rot of 

 the pods, and root disease of the imported varieties of peanuts. 



The genus Fusarium, O. Appel and H. W. Wollenwebee {Art). E. Biol. 

 A7ist. Lmid u. Forstio., 8 {1910), No. 1, pp. 1-207, pis. 3, figs. 10).— TMs is a 

 rather elaborate monograph of this genus, in which the authors discuss the 

 previous scope of the genus, methods used in the present investigation, varia- 

 tions in forms produced in culture media, morphology and biology of variant 

 forms, systematic relationships of the known species, the present scope of the 

 genus, and the relationships of Fusarium to higher fruit forms. 



In the second part of the monograph, the taxonomic characteristics and rela- 

 tionships of 13 species are discussed, of which 9 are described as new species or 

 new combinations. 



The genus TJromyces, II, P. and H. Sydow {MonograpMa Uredinearum sen 

 spcclenan omnium ad Iiunc usque diem cognitarium descriptio et adumbratio 

 systematica. II, Genus Uramyoes. Leipsic, 1910, vol. 2, pp. XIX+lJf5-396, pis. 

 9). — This number completes the taxonomic discussion of the genus Uromyces 

 and includes fungus and host indexes of the entire genus. 



On the morphology and physiology of the development of Pestalozzia 

 palmarum, H. Leininger {Ccntbl. Bald, [etc.], 2. Abt., 29 {1911). No. 1-3, pp. 

 3-35, figs. 15, dgm. 1), — The author found that the spores of this fungus were 

 produced in pycnidia, pseudopycnidia, sori, and singly on the hyphte, according 

 to the kind of culture metlia used. 



The production of pycnidia is best obtained in liquid media from which a 

 portion of the nutrient substances has been withdrawn. Pycnidia can also be 

 produced by transferring some of the mycelium from the surface of the im- 

 poverished liquid culture into a water culture. Pseudopycnidia are formed in 

 the air on a damp substratum and also on a liquid culture which is deficient in 

 richer materials. Mycelium from a liquid culture when transferred to a damp 

 chamber forms pycnidia. The sori and single spores are only produced in 

 liquid cultures, the former in maltose, cane sugar, mannite, galactose, and 

 arabinose, while both sori and spores born sihgly on the hyph?e are developed 

 in cultures of grape sugar, cane sugar, maltose, and mannite, to which salts 

 containing nitrogen and phosphorus have been added. When the fungus is 

 grown in 10 per cent solutions of citric and tartaric acids, germination and 

 growth are abnormal. 



A new host for Claviceps, H. Groh (Mycologia, 3 {1911), No. 1, pp. 37, 38, 

 fig. 1). — Attention is called to a species of Claviceps parasitic on Carex stellii- 

 lata angustata, a sedge which constituted a large part of a shipment of wild hay 

 from Quebec, Canada. All attempts to germinate the sclerotia, which resembled 

 both macroscopically and microscopically the ordinary Claviceps sclerotia on 

 grasses, were unsuccessful. 



Smut infection experiments with reference to breeding smut-resistant 

 varieties of barley, J. Broili {Natiino. Ztschr. Forst u. Landw., 9 {1911), No. 



