1908.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 127 



rule the summer stage (uredospore) , which causes practically 

 all the injury, was checked, and as a result the fall stage (teleu- 

 tospore) developed early in the summer. This often occurs 

 on beds which never suffer materially from the rust, but it is 

 the fii'st instance noticed in this section of the uredospore stage 

 being supplanted by the teleutospore stage in midsummer on 

 beds which are usually infected with the uredospore stage, and 

 which suffer more or less loss from such infection. This sup- 

 planting of the summer stage by the fall is an advantage to the 

 crop, as the fall stage causes little damage, and there is not 

 the slightest opportunity for infection during the summer, as 

 the teleutospores do not germinate until they are given a rest- 

 ing period. Prof. R. E. Smith ^ has shown that this often 

 occurs in California, attributing it to a lack of atmospheric 

 moisture. 



6. Asparagus Fusariu^i. 



During the past few years our attention has been called to an 

 apparently new fungous trouble affecting asparagus, which has 

 appeared in some instances in the spring, attacking the fresh, 

 marketable shoots. On one bed it occurred two years ago, but 

 the owner has not been troul)lcd with it since. In this case 

 the young, tender shoots rotted off near the surface of the 

 ground, and an examination of the soft rot in the tissue 

 revealed that the asparagus shoots Avere infected with a species 

 of fungus known as fusarium. Many instances of fusarium 

 infection have also been observed by us later in the season on 

 the mature stalks, the infected stalks being contorted in their 

 growth and often split open, and an examination of these stalks 

 always reveals a dense growth of this fungus. 



7. Peony Troubles. 



For two years we have had complaints in regard to a serious 

 trouble of the peony, concerning which much has been written 

 in the florists' journals. The disease is characterized by the 

 dj'ing of the plant to the ground, and an examination of the 

 portion under ground usually reveals a decidedly bad state of 

 affairs. In most of the specimens examined, the crown of the 



1 The Water Relation of Puccinia Asparagi. R. E. Smith, Bot. Gaz., Vol. 38, July, 

 1904, pp. 19^3. 



