mil. IMieroeonidia cyliiidrie, liyaliue. thin walled, eatenulate, produced 

 within the hyphae and issuing through the ruptured apex, 10-15 X 

 3.5-5mu. Microconidiophores 100-200 mu., swollen toward the base. 

 Description after Went and Larson. 



PoETO Rico. — From cane cuttings, Yabucoa, j\Iarch, 1911, 4041 ; 

 Rio Piedras, March, 1912, 4566, June, 1915, 2779. Common every- 

 where. Also occurs on coconut, and pineapples. (PL XIX, fig. 3; 

 pi. XXIX, fig. 8-10.) 



•OTHER FUNGI ATTACKING CANE CUTTINGS. 



As has been already noted Tliieaciopsis is not alone responsible 

 for the death of seed or their failure to germinate. A considerable 

 number of other fungi are commonly found in this connection, as 

 would be expected from the position and unprotected condition of 

 a cutting, presenting ideal conditions for fungus growth. All of 

 these will be greatly favored by conditions which make germination 

 slow or difficult, too deep planting in wet soils, and shallow planting 

 in dry porous soils or in times of drouth. 



Melanconium saccliari is one of the important fungi found in 

 this connection. In its initial stages it is more difficult to discover 

 than Thielaviopsis, a fact which presents a serious obstacle to seed 

 selection. In one instance of a quantity of seed which had been 

 sacked for some time and finally discarded, 110 seed were infected 

 with Melanconium sacchari, 67 with M. saccharinuni and 289 were 

 still sound apparently. Two weeks later, of this latter lot, 135 were 

 infected with M. sacchari, 91 with M. saccharinum, and 8 with Thiela- 

 viopsis. 



In another experiment, conducted primarily for other reasons, 

 the following fungi were encountered on dead seed pieces, not neces- 

 sarily the primary cause of death but contributing factors: Melan- 

 conium saccliari, Schizophyllmn commune, Scleroiium Iiolfsii, Tricho- 

 clertna lignorum, Diplodia cacaoicola, Moriilia sitopliila, and Thiela- 

 viopsis. The effect of an unexpected period of dry weather was es- 

 pecially noted as a primary cause of death. Seed inoculated with 

 Collet otrichnm falcatum suffered severely, some varieties losing as 

 high as thirty-five per cent. 



MTNOE FUNGI AND DISEASES. 



Of the various fungi here-in-after considered very few can in 

 any sense be considered as causes of disease. Some act as wound 

 parasites or in some instances have been found apparentlj^ as true 

 parasites, but all are of relatively minor importance. 



210 



