62 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



quite gone, save perhaps eight or ten. On closer examiuatiou I 

 found that the stock right at the surface of the soil for about an 

 inch appeared soft and pulpy and could be scraped away to the 

 hard heart, which in most cases was black and dead. I could not 

 account for if in auy way, unless it was some fungous disease. 



There are many others around here who are troubled the same 

 way ; some called it lice on the roots, others " aster blight," and 

 let it go at that. The varieties most affected were "Queen of the 

 Market," "Victoria" and the "Comet," while the new "Giant 

 White Comet " was entirely free from it, although separated from 

 the worst bed only by a four-foot path. 



If you can suggest any treatment, I should be glad to try it an- 

 other year, for I dislike to be obliged to give up growing asters, 

 but will have to unless some remedy can be found for the trouble.* 



The disease is one that requires further investigation, es- 

 pecially in the field near greenhouses where the asters are 

 grown, in order that the first stages can be more closely 

 observed. The cause of the disease is not unlikely due to- 

 some improper method of cultivation ; at all events, it is not 

 desirable to recommend any method of treatment until more 

 is known about it. In one instance, when the })lants were 

 badly affected in 1895, they were raised in a new field the 

 following season, wdth the same disastrous results. 



In this connection we wish to state that Professor Smith 

 observed some aster plants in a small bed last summer quite 

 similarly aflected, but in this instance the death of the plants 

 was undoul)tedly caused l)y a small grub which devoured the 



roots. 



'■'■ Leaf SpoV of Decorative Plants. 



We use here the term " decorative " in a special and lim- 

 ited sense, as it is ordinarily used by florists, meaning to 

 include such plants as palms, Dracaenas, Ficuses, etc., which 

 are used mostly or entirely for the ornamental effect of the 

 plant as a whole, and this on account of the leaves. Speci- 

 mens of such plants may be found in almost any florist's 

 establishment, the leaves of which are more or less " spotted ; " 

 that is, certain portions of the leaf are dead and withered, 



* We attempted to obtain specimens of diseased plants from the Springfield grow- 

 ers, but unfortunatcl}' it was so late in the season when the disease was reported 

 from this locality that we were unable to do so, as the affected plants had been de- 

 stroyed. 



