REPORT OF THE SECTION OF VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY, 
Sir: I have the honor to present herewith my first annual report 
as chief of the Section of Vegetable Pathology, being the second re- 
port of the section of the Botanical Division devoted to the investi- 
gation of the fungus diseases of plants. 
The constantly increasing correspondence has occupied much time 
and has been an important means of diffusing knowledge relative 
to plant diseases and the relations of our fungus pests to agriculture. 
he collections of material illustrating the families of fungi have 
been considerably increased during the year and the specimens have 
been properly arranged for ready reference. There are now in the 
collection 5,572 sheets, standard herbarium size, on which are 
mounted 9,300 labeled specimens, in 3,000 pockets of uniform size, 
63 by 3} inches; there are an equal number of specimens, largely 
duplicates of those mounted, arranged in order by host, constituting 
what we term the economic collection, : 
_ Permanent mounts of microscopical preparations, to the number 
of about 500, have been made of uatevil Guaor investigation during 
the year. The series of slides illustrating the downy mildew, the 
grape-rot producing fungi, and the smuts and rusts of grains and 
rasses are particularly full, Thanks are due to Mr. W. W. Calkins 
or a large and well-prepared collection of Florida fungi, and to 
Prof. 8. M. Tracy for a particularly interesting collection of Western 
species. A collection of Kuropean fungi of the vine has been pre- 
sented by Prof. P. Viala. This is particularly valuable as illustrat- 
ing the species described in Professor Viala’s work, ‘‘ Les Maladies de 
Vicon” 
Many valuable specimens have been acquired through correspond- 
~ ents who have submitted them for examination, affording valuable 
‘material for future investigations. 
IL.—NOTES ON THE DISEASES OF THE VINE. 
The study of the fungus diseases of the vine has been continued, 
particular attention being given to the subject of the treatment of 
mildew and black-rot. A detailed account of the work of the Section 
in this direction has been published in a special bulletin. 
Throughout the Atlantic and Southern States the season of growth 
was generally wet and the weather such as to promote the develop- 
mont of fungi. From western New York through Ohio, Indiana, 
Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouria long-continued drought 
prevailed, preventing the development of destructive plant parasites, 
and from this section there have been very few complaints of the 
ravages of fungi. ; 
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