440 NEW JERSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



There is a form or species (Sderotina hidhoruni Wak. ) upon the 

 onion. Others are upon the wind flower {S. tiiberosa Fckl. ), lettuce 

 {Botrytis vulgaris Fr. ), eggplant fruit (B. fasdcularis Sacc. ), and 

 another is common upon carnation blooms. 



The most common gray mould is Botrytis c'meria Pers., associated 

 with an ascoform, the Sderotinia Fuckeliana DeBy. The former and 

 older name was given to the more conspicuous stage of the fungus, 

 which may be met with upon decaying vegetation quite generally. 

 The second and "perfect form," as it is called, is less common, and, 

 therefore, the confusion in the determination of a species, unless the 

 perfect stage, is present with the mould form. 



The tulip plants that were affected were set in the previous autumn, 

 the bulbs being procured direct from Holland. The plants in the 

 same bed where the mould appeared last year were the worst of all. 

 Some specimens of Lilium candidum, growing near tulips, were appar- 

 ently affected with the same trouble. 



FUNGI AS RELATED TO WEATHER. 



In temperature 1901 had a cold February, with a very hot July, 

 that continued into August. There was an excess of rain in June 

 and July, with an official record for August as follows : " The pre- 

 cipitation, the heaviest ever recorded during any August since the 

 Service was established, came in the form of severe local thunder- 

 storms. * "^ * The average (rainfall) for the month, 9.43 (inches), 

 is 5.22 above the normal, and 6.75 above the average for the cor- 

 responding month of 1900." 



The year has been one in which there has been very severe losses 

 among the truck crops throughout the State ; but perhaps nothing 

 has suffered more than the muskmelon (citron, canteloupe). This 

 crop has been ruined in some parts of the State, and this was largely 

 due to the remarkable development and spread of a mildew (Plasmo- 

 pa/'a cubensis B. & C. ) 



This is a fungus quite closely related to the mildew of the grape, 

 and in its need of moisture for its spread resembles the one causing 

 the rot of potatoes. It is not unlikely that the unusual temperature 

 and moisture at the time when the melons were growing most rapidly 

 served to develop this enemy to the destruction of the forming fruits. 



It is true that persons who lost their fields will have less chances of 

 escaping the scourge next season, the conditions remaining the same, 



