1084 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Upon examination the rind was found matted with mycelium which when old 

 became of a dark violet color. When placed in a moist chamber there soon devel- 

 oped on the rind violet black hyphse and conidiophores that characterize Alternaria 

 tenuis, but the fungus differed in some respects from this species. The author has 

 described it as a form of the above species, naming it A. tenuis chalaroides. 



A disease of bananas in Central America, H. Pittier de Fabrega (Jour. Agr. 

 Trop., 5 (1905), No. 54, pp. 379,380). — A brief account is given of a disease of bananas, 

 the origin of which is in doubt, but which has caused the destruction of hundreds of 

 hectares of plants in Costa Rica and Panama. The author holds that the disease is 

 due to faulty drainage, the soil having been saturated by heavy rains and lacking 

 cultivation. 



The American gooseberry mildew, J. Eriksson (K. Landtbr. Akad. Handl. och 

 Tidskr., 44 (1905), No. 4-5, pp. 213-288). — The author describes Splaerothecamors-uvse, 

 which is said to have first appeared in Sweden in 1902 and in Ireland in 1900, in Rus- 

 sia in 1901, and in Denmark in 1904. 



An account is given of the distribution of the fungus in the United States, its life 

 history, and methods of combating it. Among the protective measures recommended 

 are the planting of healthy stocks, early destruction of badly affected bushes, and spray- 

 ing the bushes and ground with potassium sulphid (30 gm. to 10 liters of water). 

 When bushes are only slightly affected the diseased parts should be cut off and burned 

 in the fall and the bushes sprayed early in the spring before the leaf buds appear. 

 The spraying should be repeated every 8 to 14 days until the berries have attained 

 about half their mature size. — f. w. woll. 



Black blight in Granada, R. D. Anstead (Agr. News [Barbados'], 4 (1905), No. 

 96, p. 394). — In a report to the Agricultural Committee of Granada, the author 

 deals with the nature and control of the black blight that is prevalent in that island, 

 attacking mango, bread fruit, sapodilla, guava, and rose apple trees. The blight is 

 due to a species of Capnodium, which follows the presence of a number of scale insects. 



For the prevention of the disease the author recommends cultivation of the plants, 

 clean culture, and the use of insecticides against the scale insects. 



Gray blight of tea, T. Fetch (Trop. Agr. and Mag. Ceylon Agr. Soc, 25 (1905), 

 No. 5, pp. 630, 631). — The author gives a note on the gray blight of tea, which is 

 attributed to the fungus Pestalozzia guepini, and calls attention to the fact that spores 

 indistinguishable from those producing the gray blight are formed on rose leaves 

 attacked by Actinonema rosx when kept in a moist chamber for some days. This 

 form has been called P. suffocata, but the author believes the differences are so slight 

 as to indicate the possible identity of this species with the one above. 



The gray patches on tea leaves are said to be well known, but in some cases the 

 fungus attacks the leaf stalk at the junction of the stem, in which case the leaf turns 

 brown, falling from the bush before producing any indications of the disease on the 

 leaf. The stem of the bush may also be attacked, the fungus entering the young 

 shoot at the cut end left in gathering the tea, in which case the young shoot is killed 

 to the base. It also occurs on stems an inch or more in diameter, forming a kind of 

 canker. A similar fungus is said to attack Hevea brasiliensis, causing slight damage 

 to the leaves, but the plants in a short time recover from the attack. 



The bud rot of the cocoanut palm ( West Indian Bui., 6 (1905), No. 3, pp. 307-321; 

 noted in Agr. News [Barbados'], 4 (1905), No. 95, pp. 369, 370). — Mention has already 

 been made of the occurrence in various parts of the West Indies of a serious disease 

 of cocoanut palm known as the bud rot. This has recently become prominent in 

 Trinidad, where one plantation reports the loss of 2,000 trees in 6 months. 



The cause of the disease has been attributed to the fungus Pestalozzia palmarum, but 

 recent investigations (E. S. R., 17, p. 158) seem to indicate that bacteria play an 

 important part. 



