﻿160 Halsted : Mycological Notes 



That the source of infection was the old asparagus bed is be- 

 yond question. About midway between the two beds stands a 

 house and a few trees around it, and it was observed that 

 there was less rust upon that portion of the new bed that was in 

 line with this house and the old bed. In short, there was a barrier 

 between the old bed and the new that interfered with the free pas- 

 sage of the spores. When the surface of the rusted stems of the 

 old bed were dry and the winds blew from it towards the new bed, 



the spores were doubtless carried in great abundance, and these 



spores alighting upon the tender stems of the young shoots, encour- 

 aged by hot dewy nights, quickly germinated and rusted the plants. 

 There is no reason to doubt that some of the rust spores were car- 

 ried by the winds to long distances and infected plants miles from 

 where they were produced. 



A close Relation between Rainfall and Potato Rot. — The year 

 1897 had its counterpart in that of 1889. During the past ten 

 years there have been in the Eastern States two Julys noted for 

 their excess of rainfall as shown in the following* averages of rain- 

 fall for New Jersey during the past ten years : 



s «""-*«fc> 



Year 1888 1889 1890 189! 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 Average 



Rainfall 3.50 10*19 5.62 5.30 4.03 2.72 1.66 4.24 5.50 11.42 5-4 2 



J 



the same month 



of last rear. 



In 1889 there was an unusual outbreak of potato rot, and 



tophthora inft 



ork- 



ing alone or together carried off a large portion of the potato 



crop. Large growers throughout whole sections of the country 



did not harvest their potatoes at all. Others dug them and after 



they were placed in heaps the rot worked their complete destruc- 

 tion. 



Similar results have obtained in the potato fields the past year, 

 and the writer recalls visiting some of the leading potato growing 

 regions, only to review the scenes of 1889 and listen to the same 

 Story of heavy rains and destructive decay. 



There have been seven Julys since 1 889 that were either nor- 

 mal or comparatively dry, and during that time potato growers 



