60 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



were cut and burned late in the fall. The bed was well 

 cultivated and fertilized, and no rust appeared upon it in 

 1897 (that is, not enough to l)e noticeable) until well into 

 the fall, when the black rust stage was quite as abundant as 

 it had been in 1896. Mr. S. T. Davis of Orleans also men- 

 tions having observed a small bed, which was cut in the fall 

 of 1896, upon which no rust appeared in 1897. Whether 

 the cutting of the tops or some other factor kept down the 

 rust in these beds, we are not prepared to say. The cutting 

 which was quite extensively practiced in the summer of 1897 

 seems to have been entirely without effect, as the rust ap- 

 peared again just as badly on the second growth. 



The experience of another season is necessary to demon- 

 strate the actual effect and seriousness of this disease. Its 

 perennial occurrence to the extent of the past season could 

 not fail to have a disastrous effect upon the asparagus-grow- 

 ing industry. It is not the sort of disease which is efiect- 

 ually suppressed by spraying methods, though something 

 of that sort may be developed if it becomes necessary. * It 

 should be remembered, however, that the past season was 

 an unusually favorable one for all fungous diseases, and 

 consequently it may have developed much more extensively 

 than it ordinarily would. If it could be mostly confined to 

 its teleuto or black rust stage, which appears in the fall 

 when the plants have practically completed their growth, it 

 is not probable that any serious injury would result. At 

 all events, the effect of the great prevalence of the rust in 

 1897 upon the asparagus crop of 1898 will be awaited with 

 great interest by all interested in its cultivation. 



The Fire Blight. 



(^Micrococcus amylovirtis.) 



This disease of the pear, quince, apple and other poma- 

 ceous trees has been the subject of frequent inquiry during 

 the past season. It ordinarily causes the most damage on the 

 pear and quince, and is one of the most destructive of plant 



* Recent experiments indicate some amenability of the rust to spraying, although 

 not more than twenty-five per cent, reduction is claimed. 



