1897.] PUBLIC DOCUMKNT — No. 33. 73 



spring attack the asparagus again, and i)roduce secidia. In 

 each stage the fungus consists of minute iihunents, which 

 grow in the tissue of the plant and draw their nourishment 

 therefrom. In some rusts one of the stages is most promi- 

 nent, in others it is another. In the wlieat rust the uredo 

 or red-rust stage is perhaps the most conspicuous. In the 

 present case the black or teleuto spores are most prominent. 

 They appear in October and November, when the affected 

 plant becomes thickly covered over with small, irregular 

 black lines and blotches, which are the masses of spores 

 pushing out through the surface. This is the stage which 

 has been observed this fall in Massachusetts and New Jer- 

 sey. Doubtless the other two stages were developed during 

 the season, but did not become sufficiently prominent to at- 

 tract attention. 



Since this disease does not become prominent until late in 

 the fall, and the asparagus crop is gathered in May and June, 

 a question naturally arises as to how it can have any serious 

 effect. There is indeed no great danger to be apprehended 

 of its actually disfiguring the marketable product ; but no 

 plant can undergo a continuous and vigorous attack of a par- 

 asitic fungus without a serious loss of vitality, if it be not 

 killed outright. If this rust appears only intermittently and 

 not extensively, its ravages need not be seriously feared ; 

 but, should it continue to develop in the present abundance 

 year after year for any considerable time, it cannot fiiil to 

 become a most serious obstacle to the raising of asparagus. 

 Moreover, we have examples in similar rusts, like that of 

 the hollyhock upon its first appearance in Europe and later 

 ill this country, which have developed with unusual vigor and 

 destructiveness immediately after their first outbreak in a new 

 locality and climate. The raising of hollyhocks in Europe 

 was well-nigh impossible for some time after the introduction 

 of the rust. The progress of this asparagus rust is therefore 

 worthy of close attention and some apprehension. Mean- 

 time, attempts should be made to check it as much as possi- 

 ble by cleaning up the bed in the fall and burning the infested 

 tops, thus destroying countless numl)ers of spores. This 

 should be done as early as possible, before the spores shall 

 have become mature and scattered by the wind. 



