I02 J ournal of Agricultural Research voi. x. no. 2 



The first evidence that the fungus might cause a serious disease of seed- 

 lings in the forest nursery was obtained from a study of all age classes 

 on a south slope in the Bitterroot National Forest, near Missoula, Mont. 

 Practically all reproduction up to 25 or 30 years of age was heavily 

 infected, and in numerous instances the seedlings were dead. 



On June 17, 191 5, during a visit to the Forest Service nursery at 

 Boulder, Mont. (Helena National Forest), the writer discovered the fun- 

 gus in the seed beds of 2- to 4-year-old Douglas fir stock. These beds 

 were carefully examined and not one seedling was found to be entirely 

 free from the disease. In most cases all the needles of the previous sea- 

 sons bore the apothecia of the fungus which in a number of instances was 

 associated with Botrytis cinerea Pers. {B. douglasii Tubeuf). The latter 

 attacks and kills the young shoots of the season, and is very prevalent 

 in the forests and nurseries of the Northwest.^ In the denser portions of 

 the beds the fungus was- likewise aided in its destructive work by an un- 

 usual infestation of what the writer took to be Chermes cooleyi Gillette. 

 At the time of the visit the seedlings in the transplant beds were not 

 seriously infected. The pure stands of Douglas fir in the same canyon 

 where the nursery is located were severely infected and exhibited the most 

 serious injury so far observed anywhere in the Northwest. From the 

 observation of field plantings, it is known that Douglas fir seedlings pre- 

 viously infected in the nursery by the fungus under discussion succumb 

 in a very short time. A dozen 3-year-old seedlings infected with the 

 disease were brought from the Boulder nursery and carefully trans- 

 planted in the greenhouse at Missoula on December 23, 1914. Before 

 April 26, 1915, the infected needles fell off and the seedlings died. Unin- 

 fected seedlings from the same source transplanted at the same time 

 remained healthy. The need of planting healthy seedlings in the field is 

 very apparent. Methods have been devised and are now in practice by 

 which it is hoped this may be realized. A solution of soap and Bordeaux 

 mixture (4-4-50) followed by the standard kerosene emulsion has given 

 indication of being a successful remedy for the fungus. The application 

 of the kerosene emulsion is found to be successful against Chermes cooleyi, 

 which greatly aids the destructiveness of the fungus. 



The systematic position of the fungus is difficult to determine. Speci- 

 mens have been referred by the writer both to the Phacidiaceae and 

 Stictidaceae. . The former reference was due to the tendency of the 

 h>Tnenium to turn black after long weathering. Specimens have recently 

 been submitted to Mrs. Flora W. Patterson, of the Bureau of Plant 

 .Industry, who states — 



We incline toward placing it in Stictidaceae, but find no perfect description in 

 either the old or new genera of any family. 



1 Weir, J. R. a botrytis on conifers in the northwest. In Phytopathology, v. 2, no. 5, p. 215. 1912 



