some localities. It is not unlikely that these blotches have been 

 mistaken for the genuine rust. This view of the matter appears to 

 have some support in the statement which we have received ; namely, 

 that the asparagus rust has been observed by one grower as occur- 

 ring as early as April and May, which is quite contrary to all of our 

 observations and to those of growers throughout the State. ]t is 

 quite possible that this observer had in mind the rusty appearance of 

 the stems, which so far as we are aware has no connection with the 

 genuine rust. 



Notwithstanding this however, it does not necessarily prove that 

 the genuine rust did not exist here previous to 1896, inasmuch as it 

 would be quite natural for one who saw the rust the first time to 

 associate everything with it which resembled it. The impression is 

 so strong among certain growers on the Cape that the rust existed 

 there before 1896 that we are inclined to believe that this assertion 

 is true, as it would seem to account more satisfactorily for the 

 sudden outl>reak in the middle states which occurred in 1896. The 

 fierce and prolonged north-east winds and storms peculiar to that 

 region could readily drive the rust spores in the direction of Long 

 Island and New Jersey, where the rust when first discovered had 

 secured a good foothold. 



In 1897, the rust (uredospores) appeared early in some sections 

 of this Stale and as a result of that summer's occurrence it com- 

 pletely incapacitated the asparagus plants — so far as the function of 

 assimilation was concerned — which caused considerable alarm to 

 asparagus growers. The date of the first appearance of the rust in 

 1897 as reported at Concord, Mass. was July 11th, and in the course 

 of a few days the tops of the infected plants were completely brown. 

 Few beds at Concord escaped the rust during the summer of 1897, 

 and the injury resulting from it was quite marked. During the past 

 season (1898) the rust did not make its appearance until September, 

 in which instance the black spores (teleutospores) predominated. 

 There is, however, one exception to this statement, and that is an 

 instance where the rust (uredospores) appeared in July on a bed at 

 Concord which was practically ruined in 1897, although none of the 

 other beds in this locality during the same season showed any evi- 

 dence of the red spores or summer stage, notwithstanding the fact 

 that they were subject to infection. It should be stated, however, 

 in connection with the rust, that in the majority of places in Massa- 



