13 



ities where the summer stage of the rust appeared during 1897, and 

 in fact these are the only places where the rust has done any , harm 

 although the fall stage during the same season was' abundant every- 

 where, we found that in every instance the beds were confined to 

 light sandy soil with little capacity for holding water. In every 

 town where the soil was heavier and possessed more water-retaining 

 property only the fall or injurious fctage has been found. During 

 the early part of the present season we became convinced that the 

 severity of the rust was caused by the unhealthful conditions of the 

 asparagus beds, a feature which appeared to us in almost 

 every instance to be due to the enormous drain upon the plants, 

 caused by the two excessively dry seasons of 1895 and 1896. 



On the strength of these ideas and from the general ap[)earance 

 of the asparagus plants which we examined last summer, we repeat- 

 edly expressed the opinion to growers that there would be, in all 

 probability, no summer stage of the rust that season, but that they 

 might expect the fall stage. This prediction has been amply fulfilled, 

 there being but one exception to it, as far as we have been able to 

 learn, and that was where the summer stage appeared on a bed 

 where the roots were all half dead from the effects of the rust in 

 1897, and which showed a loss of 80% in last spring's crop. 



The fall stage of the rust has also been much less abundant than 

 at any time since it was introduced. There are many beds only 

 slightly affected at the present time, and some of those that we know 

 were formerly subject to the fall stage have not a particle on them 

 this year. There is a large bed upon the college grounds which has 

 been badly'infected with the fall stage of the rust ever since 1896, 

 but which at the present time is almost entirely free from it. While 

 we are convinced that the severe attack of the rust was due to exces- 

 sive dryness, this may not have been in every case the sole cause of 

 it, and it is not unlikely that the extremely abnormal rainy season 

 of 1897 had something to do with aggravating the trouble. 



Asparagus plants may become unhealthy from other causes such 

 as would result from poor treatment, and in such cases they may 

 become susceptible to rust. We do maintain, however, that per- 

 fectly vigorous plants are not likely to have the summer stage of the 

 rust, or, in other words, to suffer from it, and our examinations of 

 the asparagus beds in this state have convinced us of this. We 

 have seen, too, many instances in connection with the rust, as with 



