General Notes, 567 



On wheat-grass, Agropyron scabrum, similar mycelium to that 

 shown in Figs. 'S, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 was observed, but none of the 

 fruiting portion, hence it is not yet absolutely proved that this grass 

 harbours the fungus, though it is strongly suspected of doing so. 



INFECTION EXPERIMENTS. 



Further observations have been made in connection with the pot 

 experiments referred to on page 415, and now not only has the 

 mycelium been produced but even the perithecia or fruiting stages of 

 the fungus. Wheat stubble affected with the take-all fungus was 

 received from Mr. Peters and placed in pots on 5th November. In 

 three of these pots Rerraf wheat of 1902 crop was sown on 9th 

 November, and another pot had wheat sown without any addition of 

 the fungus, in order to serve as a check. On examination, 1-^ days 

 afterwards, brownish spots were seen on sheath and stem, and the 

 microscope revealed the young mycelium identical with that shown in 

 Fig. 6. The plants were nearly all of an unhealthy colour and sickly 

 looking, and the fungus was evidently beginning to sap their vitality. 



When again examined, 39 days after sowing, the mycelium as 

 seen in Figs. S, 5, & 7 was very plentiful, and the perithecia were 

 just beginning to form. Many of the plants were now dead, and the 

 others were mostly in a dying state. 



When finally examined, on 81st December, the perithecia were 

 plentiful, containing asci and spores, and thus in 52 days after 

 sowing, wlieat plants had become thoroughly infested with Oph,ioholus 

 graminis and were producing the spores in abundance, capable of giving 

 rise to a new generation of the fungus. The plants in the infected pots 

 were almost all dead, while the plants in the check pots were healthy, 

 green and fresh. 



It has now been proved conclusively, both by the examination of 

 numerous patches in the field and by cultures carefully conducted in 

 pots, that the fungus OpMoholus graminis is the cause of take-all and 

 white-heads with us, and by adopting the necessary moasures to 

 starve out or destroy, or enable the wheat-plant to resist the fungus, 

 this dreaded scourge may be banished from our midst. And since 

 this fungus also occurs on spear-grass, it is an evident means of 

 keeping it in check, to ruthlessly destroy this grass in the vicinity of 

 wheat paddocks and especially on headlands. 



Effects of Grafting. 



A paper was read by L. Ravaz, at the International Congress of 

 Agriculture at Rome in 1903, relating experiments with the grafting 

 of European and American vines. The results showed that cuttings 

 made from Vimfera grapes grafted on American stocks are no more 

 resista,nt to Phylloxera than cuttings from Viniferai stocks. It was 

 further demonstrated that the quality of the Vinifera fruit was in no 

 way injured by grafting on American stocks for a period of years, 



