DISEASES OF PL-ANTS. 47 



The bacteria have been isolated and cultivated on a number of media, their char- 

 acteristics being described. It is believed by the author thai this disease is the same 

 as that reported under the name of the 4 rranville wilt in North Carolina ( E. 8 I. 

 15, p. 684 i. 



In a postscript the author states thai experiments have shown the possibility of 

 communicating the disease through the stomata, the characteristic blackening being 

 observed in 8 days on plant- whose leaves weresprayed with a solution containing 

 the bacteria. 



A Sclerotinia disease of tobacco, ( . A.J. A.. Oudbmans and C. J. Koning K. 

 Akad. Wetensch. Amsterdam, Proc.Sect. Sci., 6 | 1908), pt. /. pp. [8 58,85,86, pis. .').— 

 A report is given on a disease of tobacco noted as occurring injuriously in the tobacco 

 fields of Holland. 



A study <>f the disease showed thai it was due to a hitherto unknown fungus, to 

 which the name Sclerotinia nicotianie is given. It is said that the common practice 

 in growing tobacco is to divide the fields into small areas by means of hedges of sear- 

 let runner ami other beans, the object being to protect the tobacco plants against 

 wind by the high, dense growth of the beans. An examination showed that the 

 disease was most prevalent near these hedges, and to the dampness and shading of 

 the hedges are attributed the conditions necessary for the development of the fungus. 



Plants affected by the fungus show limp, slippery leaves and discolored steins. If 

 leaves of this character are carried to the curing shed, the fungus quickly spreads 

 through the entire curing house. The authors separated the fungus and give its 

 technical description, and as means for preventing its attack suggesl that the use of 

 the bean hedges should be abandoned and wherever the diseased leaves and stems 

 are observed they should he removed and burned. When putting the tobacco leaves 

 in the drying sheds they should he well separated and all suspected leaves should 

 he destroyed. 



The study of the diseases of some truck crops in Delaware, C. < >. Smith | lh/,i- 

 inirt Sta. 1 in/. ;<>. i>i>. 16, pis. 2, figs. 6). The author describes the leaf spot of cucur- 

 bits caused by SphaereUa ciirullina, a leaf spot of eggplant due to Ascochyta lycopersici, 

 and a leaf spot of beans and cowpeas which is attributed to the fungus Phyllosticta 

 phaseolina. 



The leaf spot of cucurbits was abundant during the autumn of L903, the author 

 finding it quite common on the leaves and fruit of squashes and pumpkins and to a 

 limited extent on the leaves of cucumbers and cantaloupes. The fungus is of special 

 interest on account of its resemblance to a disease reported as destructive to water- 

 melons in Delaware (E. S. R.,5, p. 787). The author describes the gross and micro- 

 scopic characteristics of the fungus, and gives the results of artificial cultures and 



inoculation experiments. He describes the different stages of the fungus, which in 

 the perfect sta:_ r e is designated as SphaereUa cucurbilacearum, although the name 

 adopted in the text of the bulletin is S. citrullina. This last combination would he 

 displaced if strict attention to priority should he paid. 



The leaf spot of eggplants is due to the fungus Ascochyta lycopersici, the different 

 stages of which are described. The possible relationship between this fungus and 

 Phyllosticta hprtorum is pointed out. and the writer believes them to he identical. 

 Inoculation experiments have shbwn that this fungus successfully attacks the egg- 

 plant, tomato, horse nettle, and jimson weed. A brief account is given of a Septoria 

 attacking the fruit of the eggplant, and it is believed to he possibly an immature 

 form of the Septoria occurring on tomatoes. 



The leaf spot of heans and cowpeas caused by Phyllosticta phaseolina is described at 

 Borne length. This trouble was first observed on Lima heans, but it lias since been 

 found on other varieties of heans and also mi cowpeas. being particularly destructive 

 to Lima heans and cowpeas wherever these plant.- are grown in Delaware. The 



