255 



XoTES ON Apple Rusts. 

 H. H. Whetzel. 



The following notes on the apple rusts of Crawfordsville and vicinity 

 are presented with the hope that they may prove helpful to those inter- 

 ested in this group of fimgi. The observations recorded here are the re- 

 sults of three years' study of these plants. No systematic classitication 

 of our forms has been attempted, but the species studied is probably 

 Tremella .Tuniperi-Virginianae (Schw.i. as listed by Arthur in his Generic 

 Nomenclature of Cedar Apples. This is the most common one in our 

 locality. Special work on the anatomy of the cedar apple and the various 

 forms in Avliich this fungus occurs is now under way and will be ready 

 for presentation soon. 



GENERAL rKEVALEXCE OF THE PARASITE THROUGHOUT THIS 



DISTRICT. 



The general prevalence and abundance of this pest throughout this 

 section of the State is to be attributed to two causes: First, the occur- 

 rence of cedars thi'oughout the timbered ti'acts of this region in such num- 

 bers and so generally distributed as to insure a universal infection of the 

 orchards of the district: secoud. the prevailing ignorance of the farmers 

 and apple growers in regard to the relation of the galls of the cedar to 

 the Roestelia of the apple. Most farmers have planted cedars about their 

 yards, either for ornament or protection, and as the orchards are always 

 in close proximity to the house, the fungus is placed in a position for easy 

 dissemination and perpetuation. One farmer not far from Crawfordsville 

 alternated a row of apple trees with one of cedars throughout his orchard 

 for protection from winds. Another gentleman, in the city, planted a row 

 of cedars through his orchard along either side of the path that led from 

 the street to his house. The result in both cases, of course, is evident. Al- 

 most every lawn in the outskirts of the city supports one or more cedars 

 to the detriment of every susceptible apple tree in the neighborhood. 



PHENOMENAL ABUNDANCE OF THE FUNGUS DURING 190O AND 

 ITS MARKED SCARCITY THE FOLLOWING SEASON. 



The phenomenal abtindauce of the cedar apples and the very marked 

 ravages of the rust on the apple trees of the city during 1900 aroused the 

 Interest not only of those acquainted with the parasite, but also very 



