48 MYCOPHAGY. 



of American origin, has always been free from mildew. 

 But though the varieties which are strictly American 

 do not suffer, European kinds imported into the United 

 States frequently suffer." 



Berkeley is one of those who attribute the potato 

 murrain to a mould whose spawn attacks the tissues in 

 every direction, being present in the tubers and stems 

 as well as in the leaves. Its spawn never being super- 

 ficial, the sulphur remedy is unfortunately inapplicable ; 

 and for the same reason all external applications, such 

 as lime, are equally worthless. Early planting and the 

 destruction of the haulm immediately after the appear- 

 ance of the fungus, give the best prospect of success. 



It is unfortunate that the word mildew (mehl-thau, 

 meal-dew) should be applied to any save the white 

 leaf-moulds, seeing that its application to a particular 

 disease of wheat is constantly inducing error. The dis- 

 eases produced by fungi with loose, dust-like fruit, and 

 popularly known as smut, bunt, mildew, rust, are many 

 and most injurious ; smut and bunt attacking the tis- 

 sues of the seeds, their floral envelopes, or the receptacle 

 in which the flowers grow, or sometimes the leaves and 

 stems, converting them into a mass of loathsome, and 

 sometimes fetid, dust; whereas mildew and rust attack 

 the leaves and stalks more especially, forming little 

 rusty streaks or spots, and exhausting the plant by the 

 growth of its spores and spawns at its expense. Bunt 

 may be easily extirpated, as the spores, being lighter 

 than water, may be removed by simple washing, and 

 are destroyed by various chemical compositions. The 

 most efficacious remedy for bunt in wheat is perhaps 

 that used in France viz., steeping the grain in a strong 

 solution of Glauber's salt (sulphate of soda), and then 

 dusting it with quicklime, which coats the seeds with 

 sulphate of lime or gypsum, and sets free encaustic 

 soda for the destruction of the spores. 



Under the name of ergot, another fungus produces 

 disease in the grains of rye, barley, wheat, and many 



