was learned at that time that it was distributed over New England, 

 Long Island, New Jersey, and Delaware, where it had become 

 firmly established, and the next year it had spread to the large 

 asparagus beds in South Carolina, but so far as we are aware, little 

 if any but black spores (teleutospores) were noted in 1896 in 

 Massachusetts, and no perceptible damage resulted to the market- 

 able crop in 1897 as a result of the rust during 1896. 



The fact, however, that the rust should appear over so large an 

 area at practically the same time is rather astonishing, and if the 

 infection started from a single point or even from distant places in 

 this country, it is interesting as showing how quickly a fungus like 

 this can spread over a large area in so short a time. There appears 

 to be some doubt among practical growers in some localities in 

 regard to .the first appearance of the rust in 1896. We have recently 

 learned from a number of different people residing on Cape Cod 

 that it has been known there for some years, but it is impos- 

 sible at the present time to procure absolute proof in regard to the 

 reliability of this assertion. Some of the evidence in regard to these 

 ideas may not be out of place here. One correspondent on the Cape 

 writes as follows : " We have had the asparagus rust in this town 

 for four or five years, but to no great extent until 1897 ;" and 

 another gentleman from the same locality states that " The aspara- 

 gus rust has been seen in this vicinity for a number of years," and 

 that " Last year (1897) every one had it." The following from the 

 Cape is along the same line. " I am confident that I have had the 

 rust on my beds longer than 1896 * * * * and I feel cer-tain 

 that I had the disease two years before the growers in Concord." Or 

 in other words as far back as 1894:. At first we were strongly 

 inclined to regard these ideas as mistaken ones, but as they appeared 

 to be universal and strongly believed we became convinced that 

 there might be some truth in them. Nevertheless it is not unlikely 

 that in some instances certain other things have been mistaken for 

 the rust or confused with it. It is well known that the young suc- 

 culent stems of the asparagus as they are cut for the market fre- 

 quently show reddish or rusty blotches upon their stems, and we have 

 observed the same blotches upon the more mature plants just below 

 the surface of the soil. These reddish blotches seem to occur upon 

 plants grown in some soil more abundantly than upon others, and 

 we are told that this is the reason why asparagus is not grown in 



