Among the diseases of sugar cane the most serious is said to be due to Colletotri- 

 clitnn falcatum, which causes the red rot. The smut (Ustilago sacchari) and the 

 brown spot of the leaves due to Cercospora longipes are reported as having been 

 observed, but so far Trie) kosphzcria sacchari and Thielaviopsis ethacethicus have not been 

 reported. 



A number of serious pests of the tea and coffee plants are reported, among them 

 the alga (Cepfialeuros virescens), the gray blight of tea (Pestalozzia guepini) , Cercospora 

 these, thread blight (Ctilbum nanum), a root disease due to Diplodia sp., and the rust 

 (Hemih ia vastatrix ). • 



Among the diseases of forest trees the spike disease of sandalwood, which is said 

 to resemble the peach yellows of this country, is briefly described, and notes are 

 given on a number of other species of considerable importance. 



Some investigations of plant diseases (Rpt. Expt. Farms. Cent. Pror. [India'], 

 1903-4, p. 17). — Notes are given on a number of diseases, among them the smut of 

 cereals, for the prevention of which the author recommends immersing the seed in a 

 solution of copper sulphate for 5 minutes as a most satisfactory treatment for use in 

 India. A disease of pigeon pea (Cajanus indicus) is briefly described, the disease 

 being some form of wilt. It is thought probable that the disease is due to some soil 

 fungus. Wheat rusts are briefly commented upon and a report given of a test of 115 

 varieties for rust resistance. 



Frost blisters and their origin, F. Xoack (Ztsclir. Pfianzenkranh., 15 (1905), 

 No. 1, pp. 29-43) . — The blisters noticed on the leaves of a number of plants are 

 described and explanations offered as to their origin. The first noticed w r ere on the 

 leaves of alfalfa after a period of low temperature when the thermometer registered 

 —3° C. The action of freezing in withdrawing the water from the cells into the 

 intercellular spaces, where ice masses are formed, is described, and it is thought 

 probable that the elasticity of the underlying parenchyma resulted in its separation 

 from the epidermis. The intrinsic differences in plants in regard to injury by frost 

 are discussed, and the localization of injury, influence of structure, etc., are com- 

 mented upon. 



Internal infection of the wheat grain by rust, H. L. Bolley and F. J. 

 Pkitchard (Science, n. ser., 22 (1905), No. 559, pp. 343, 344)- — It has been generally 

 assumed that rusts of cereals grow only in the leaves and stems, but recent observa- 

 tions at the North Dakota Station have convinced the authors of the probability that 

 rust of wheat may sometimes persist perennially. Field experiments have indicated 

 that the rust either attacks wheat from the soil in some form, or it may in some man- 

 ner be communicated through the seed. This latter hypothesis suggests the myco- 

 plasiii theory of Ericksson, but the authors think they have a more rational explana- 

 tion than that offered by Professor Ericksson. 



Observations made on numerous samples of wheat harvested from, the badly rusted 

 crop of 1904 allow the authors to make the statement that wheat grains from badly 

 rusted plants are very often and in some strains are quite uniformly internally affected 

 by wheat rust filaments to such an extent that both summer and winter spores are 

 produced beneath the bran layer of the grain. In some samples of rust-infected 

 wheat as high as 30 per cent of all grains examined were infected with the stem rust 

 (Puccinia graminis), and spore beds bearing both uredospores and teleutospores were 

 found located beneath the bran layer of the grain, usually about the embryo wheat 

 plant. These spots bearing the spores are most commonly located immediately at 

 the germ end, causing a blackened or blighted appearance, but are often found on 

 other portions of the berry, especially along the margin of the grooves. Grains thus 

 affected were found to germinate as freely as other wheat grains. 



The observations thus far made have not definitely shown that wheat rust attacks 

 may come in this direct manner from the seed, but if later experiments confirm this 



