79 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JULY 
affected stalks die. These effects are traceable to deficiency in the root system. — 
The lower leaf sheaths of affected canes do not fall away as they normally do, 
ut remain cemented together by the whitish mycelium of a fungus, Marasmius 
plicatus, which occurs saprophytically upon decaying vegetable matter, and is 
also able to attack living tissues of low vigor and thus to become a parasite. The — 
conditions favoring attack are summarized as follows: ‘‘Slowness of germina- 
tion and early growth; improper cultural procedures; unsuitable soil; bad drain- 
age; unfavorable seasonal conditions; the stubble crop.’ Preventive measures 
are: ‘‘careful cultivation; selection and disinfection of seed cane; resistant varieties; 
destruction of infected trash; resting land from cane.” 
A second bulletin by the same author treats diseases of pepper and beans.?5 He 
mentions a wilt of pepper caused by a non-sporing sclerotial fungus; the beam — 
anthracnose due to Colletotrichum lindemuthianum,; the bacterial blight due to 
s onas Phaseoli; and a disease caused by Rhizoctonia. : 
Eustacr”® has been experimenting on fruit rots. Tests were made of the — 
ability of fungi to produce decay in cold storage. On March g several varieties 
of apples were inoculated with bitter rot (Glomerella rufomaculans), black rot 
(Sphaeropsis malorum), blue mold (Penicillium glaucum), brown rot (Sclerotima 
fructigena), pink rot (Cephalotheciwm roseum), and Alternaria. ‘The fruit was 
then placed in cold storage at a temperature of 31° F. When removed and && — 
amined on May 9, it was found that the only fungus which had caused decay 
was Penicillium glaucum. When removed to warmer temperature, all the other 
species developed and caused decay. Decay was not entirely prevented by4 — 
temperature from 35 to 56° F., and decay proceeded rapidly at a temperature of 48° 
to 69° F. Sclerotinia fructigena on the peach developed decay slightly in two 
weeks at a temperature of 32° F., when inoculated by puncture. Fruits inoc ay 
by contact merely showed no decay at the end of two weeks under these condi- 
tions. Experiments were made to determine whether sulfur fumigation (I 02. of 
sulfur to 25 cubic feet of space) would kill the spores of rot producing fungus 
It was found that the spores of Penicillium glaucum can be killed this way, but 3 
that injury is caused to the apples themselves by the sulfur fumes. Carel) — 
notes were made concerning the development of apple scab, and it was asc 
tained that the scab of the apple can increase even when the scab in questio= i. 
is completely covered with a coating of the Bordeaux mixture. a 
Apple leaf spots have long perplexed the plant pathologist. One of them 
has at last been definitely proved to be caused by Sphaeropsis malorum.”’. ™ 
disease in question is characterized by circular or irregular reddish-brown 
25 FULTON, H. R., Diseases of pepper and beans. Bull. ror, La. Agric. Expet- e 
Sta. Jan. 1908, : 
*° Eustace, H. J., Investigations on some fruit diseases. Bull. 297, N. ¥- ABH 
Exp. Station, Geneva, N. Y. Feb. 1908, 
27 Scort, W. M., and Rorer, J.B., Apple leaf spot caused by Sphaeropsis malor 
U.S. Dept. Agric., Bur, Plant, Ind. Bull. r21, part 5. March 1908. es 
