10 



stock of the asparagus plant affords an excellent opportunity for a 

 similar occurrence. We have in several instances found fungous fila- 

 ments growing in young asparagus stems near the base and also in 

 affected roots. We are not, however, prepared to say that they 

 were those of Puccinia Asparagi or that they were not those of some 

 other fungus having no connection with the rust whatever. It is at 

 any rate an interesting question whether the asparagus rust cannot in 

 this way become perennial and approach a life history closely 

 resembling that of Puccinia Malvacearum. 



We allude in discussing " The probable cause of the severe out- 

 break of the rust," to the reasons why the earlier stages of the 

 fungus are so infrequent. It is apparently the ability of the healthy 

 and vigorous plant to resist infection by the rust which confines its 

 appearance to late summer and fall when the part of the plant above 

 ground is beginning to lose its vitality by the normal process of 

 approaching death. Thus, though unable to follow its complete 

 course of development, the fungus manages to adapt itself to cir- 

 cumstances sufficiently to reproduce itself from year to year, and 

 goes on, or will go on as long as possible, awaiting the opportunity 

 for its complete development which a season unfavorable to the 

 growth of the plants would give. 



Amount of Damage Caused by the Rust. 



The economic importance of asparagus is such that a serious 

 malady affecting it means a great loss to those market-gardeners 

 making it a specialty. Heretofore it has generally been acknow- 

 ledged that the asparagus plants in this country have been particu- 

 larly free from fungous diseases, although they have been more or 

 less subject to the ravages of insects. The fact that the asparagus 

 plant can persistently exist for two hundred years in an isolated 

 neglected spot such as we have already alluded to is an excellent 

 indication of its hardiness and adaptation to our climate. The rust 

 in this State having been most severe in 1897, the damage to the crop 

 would naturally be felt the most during the past season (1898). It 

 should be stated here, however, that no perceptible damage has 

 occurred to the asparagus in those localities where only the fall out- 

 break has occurred, which, with some few exceptions, is the only 

 manner in which the rust has manifested itself in Massachusetts up 

 to the present time. This stage of the rust, (teleutospore stage), 



