PLANT DISEASES OF CONNECTICUT. 343 



replenished the supply greatly depleted by the drought of 1911. 

 This wet spring put back the earlier crops considerably, and 

 late frosts about the middle of June added further to their 

 troubles. These frosts injured garden crops considerably, and 

 even killed the leaves of certain trees in the northern part of the 

 State. The wet spring, however, favored forage crops as a 

 whole. 



June and July (to the middle), however, showed another long 

 drought period, but this was not so hot as that of the preceding 

 year, and because of the supply of water in the ground, the deep- 

 rooted crops did not suffer much. From the middle of July on, 

 while some localities suffered from lack of rain, most of them 

 had enough scattered rains to mature the crops in good shape, 

 except potatoes, and, in some cases, onions. 



Another factor that made the season a favorable one for veger 

 tation in general was the very late appearance of the fall frosts. 

 While very slight frosts occurred the last of September and the 

 first of October, these only partially killed the most tender plants, 

 as melons, etc. The first heavy frost did not occur until Novem- 

 ber 2, thus giving in the end an unusually long growing 

 season despite the late spring. On the whole, the season was 

 much more favorable to vegetation than the preceding one. 

 Peach trees showed the best foliage conditions for some years. 



Diseases Prevalent in 1912. Fungous diseases were more 

 prominent this year than the preceding, especially those that 

 developed into prominence because of the wet spring. Among 

 those occurring abundantly may be mentioned the following: 

 Black Rot of apple, on the foliage, and Rust and Scab on the 

 same host, especially the former, were abundant. The Cedar 

 Apple, Gynnosporangium macropus, Plate XVIII c, which is 

 the III stage from which the apple rust develops, was also 

 unusually common in the spring, thus accounting for the abun- 

 dance of the apple rust which followed later. 



Rust of white ash, Mcidium Fraxini, was also very common, 

 being sent in for identification from a number of localities, 

 especially along the shore. It was prominent there because the 

 III, or mature stage, of this rust occurs on marsh grass, Spartina 

 sps., which is common along the shore. The appearance of the 

 I stage on the ash is shown in Plate XVII a. 



