'507 



12 to 14 inclies. All tlieae are on the hills north of tlie college-building-^ 

 in a locality much exposed to winds, and on a gravelly soil. In another 

 part of tlie nphind grounds, silver-maples, from seed planted in 1871, 

 are 8 to 10 feet high; ailantns, of same age, 7 feet, and very vigorous; 

 white elm, three years, from seed, 8 to 10 feet high ; chestnut, three 

 y^ars old, about 3 feet. In several places on the upland were cot- 

 touwood-trees, some from chance seed and others from cuttings, all 

 showing the vigor oi' tliis great native tree. Both the native willows 

 and willows from cuttings received from this Department had nuide a 

 very satisfactory growth. 



'' No one looking at the ])incs near the college-building; can doubt the 

 feasibility of covering the uplands of Eastern Kansas with pine-forests. 

 Upon the whole, the experiments with forest-trees at the State Agricul- 

 tural College, though on a limited scale, are highly satisfactory in their 

 re'sults. Tliey show witli v.'hat ease the prairie farmer may surround 

 himself with trees from seeds and cuttings of the natives. But how 

 many farmers will heed the lesson!" 



MICROSCOPIC INVESTIGATIONS. 



By Thomas Tayloti. • 



Potato blight and rot. — The potato-disease was first observed hi 

 Germany, near Liege, in 184li ; in Canada in 1841, and in England in. 

 1845. In the following year it prevailed very extensively ov^er almost 

 all parts of Europe. The sununer was unusually cloudy and moist, a 

 circumstance which probably had some effect in fostering the disease. 

 It has been estiiuated that the damage sustained by Great Britain and 

 Ireland for the year 1845 was not less than £21,000,000, and^in 

 1840 probably twice that amount. The London Times estimates that 

 the loss sustained by Great Britain during the present year, in conse- 

 quence of this disease, will be about from twenty to thirty millions ster- 

 ling. Many of the best minds of Europe are now engaged in investigat- 

 ing the nature of the disease, and recent microscopic investigations 

 show that, notwithstanding tbe fact that daring the last thirty years 

 the potato-rot has been attributed to the presence of a parasitic fungus 

 known as Botrytiis infestans, a new form of fungus has been lately dis- 

 covered in the rotting potato by Dr. M. Payen. Berkeley and others, 

 however, consider the form to be probably a secondary fruit (oospore) 

 of the potato-fungus itself. Further investigations are deemed neces- 

 sary, as the habits of the fungus are not yet fully understood. It has 

 long been observed that the fungus attacks the stalks first, causing 

 brown blotches. The disease is next transmitted to the tubers. If we 

 take a withered stalk, which has decayed in consequence of the fungus,, 

 it will be found that the brown markings have ripened into forms simi- 

 lar to, those discovered by M. Payen, and if a longitudinal section of 

 the stalk is made, it will be seen that the interior is also covered with 

 these si)ores highly matured and generally connected with a very slender 

 jointed light-brown mycelium. The dark rounded forms are visible to 

 the naked eye, but when viewed under a power of 50 diameters they 

 appear to vary in size, although with this power they generally appear 

 to be about the size of a large pea. Some are elongated, and all are of 

 a very dark brown color. 



Fig. 21. A represents various groupings on the interior of the stalk. 

 When highly matured they are covered with dark-brown, ridged, thorn- 

 like appendages having a slight wavy appearance. 



