XV 



FUNGUS DISEASES 



AiSPARAGUS is siibje(5l to the attacks of a number 

 ^_^ of fungi, the most widespread and destrudlive 

 ^^ being the "rust," the cause of which is a 

 fungus described by De Candolle as Puccinia 

 asparagz in the j^ear 1805. From this it is seen that 

 the rust upon the asparagus has been known to scien- 

 tists for nearly a hundred 3-ears, and it is but reason- 

 able to suppose that more or less of this fungus has 

 existed bej-ond the history of man. 



The first mention of asparagus rust in the United 

 States was by Dr, Harkness, who claimed to have 

 observed it on the Pacific Coast in 1880, although it is 

 doubtful whether the genuine asparagus rust was ever 

 found there. The first mention of it in the Eastern 

 States was in the fall of 1896, and since then its range 

 has been widening each year. Dr. Byron D. Halsted, 

 of the New Jersey Experiment Station, was the first to 

 call attention to it, and made it the subjecfl of careful 

 study. The results and conclusions derived from his 

 experiments were published in a special bulletin, and 

 from this the greater part of the following has been 

 condensed. 



RECOGNITION OF THE RUST 



When an asparagus field is badly infested with the 

 rust the general appearance is that of an unusually 



