21 G THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



eon considers the Oldenburg as hardy as any except the crabs. He 

 had found nothing but the crabs that would endure the past win- 

 ter, which was the most severe of any that they had experienced. 



" Professor Bessey of Nebraska gave an illustrated lecture on In- 

 jurious Fungi. While most people look out upon the fields of 

 grass, vegetables and fruits, considering that these cover the ex- 

 tent of plant life, Professor Bessey tells us that there is another 

 race of plants often too small to be discovered by the naked eye, 

 one differing from another, and each having as remarkable pecu- 

 liarities, as the plants that are visible in our fields. This great race 

 of plants, called Fungi, should be better understood by practical 

 men and women, as it has much to do with the health of plants, 

 trees and human beings. Forest trees four hundred feet in height 

 differ from the particles of moss that thrive upon their trunks no 

 more than one species of fungi differs from another in size. We 

 often hear the remark made that certain disorders are caused by 

 fungus growth. This would be something like stating that apples 

 belong to the vegetable kingdom. It would scarcely mean any- 

 thing, for there are as many kinds of fungus growth as of other 

 plants, and each one has its peculiarities. The puff ball is referred 

 to as one of the largest fungi. Fungi is divided into three classes 

 parasite, saprophytes and parasite-saprophytes. The parasites 

 feed only upon living tissues, and the saprophytes feed only on 

 dead matter, while the parasite-saprophytes are more greedy, and 

 feed upon both living and dead matter, attacking more largely lan- 

 guishing tissues. 



"William Saunders remarked that scientific men were for a long 

 time puzzled to know whether bacteria belonged to the animal or 

 vegetable kingdom. Professor Bessey treated them as plants. If 

 an apple was magnified as we magnify bacteria under our best 

 glasses, it would appear to be two and one-half miles in diameter. 



