JANUAEY 22, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



131 



positions in the forest service, testing the fit- 

 ness of those who wish to become forest officers 

 through outdoor examinations in riding, sur- 

 veying, timber estimating, and similar mat- 

 ters as well as by more conventional methods; 

 its exhibit will illustrate the duties of these 

 officers. Cooperation also exists in the prep- 

 aration of exhibit material, between the for- 

 est service and the bureau of education. This 

 shows how forest subjects are used in the pub- 

 lic schools, in connection with nature study, 

 commercial geography, agriculture and the 

 like. One of the exhibits is a display made 

 by the normal school pupils of the District of 

 Columbia, in which a number of those who are 

 studying for teachers' positions entered a prize 

 contest on tree study. Each of the contes- 

 tants prepared a separate exhibit showing the 

 life history and the products of individual 

 trees, such as white pine, hickory or sugar 



UNIVESSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 



Pomona College, Claremont, Cal., has com- 

 pleted the collection of an endowment fund of 

 one million dollars toward which the General 

 Education Board contributed $150,000. 



Mrs. Eussell Sage, who had undertaken to 

 give $100,000 towards a $500,000 dining hall 

 for Princeton University, has increased her 

 ofEer to $260,000, provided an equal sum is 

 collected by July 1. Sums amounting to $75,- 

 000 have been subscribed, of which $30,000 are 

 due to efforts of the sophomore class. 



By the will of the late Dr. T. Bell, of New- 

 castle, the sum of £3,000 is bequeathed to the 

 Armstrong College. 



Dr. p. J. Anderson, formerly field pathol- 

 ogist with the Pennsylvania commission for 

 the investigation and control of the chestnut 

 blight disease, has been appointed instructor 

 in botany at the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 College. 



Dr. Harry M. Ullmann has been made pro- 

 fessor of chemistry at Lehigh University, in 

 charge of the department. Ralph J. Pogg, 

 assistant professor in the department of civil 

 engineering, has been made associate professor. 



DISCUSSION AND COSBESPONDENCE 



OCCURRENCE OF SILVER SCURF OP POTATOES IN THE 



SALT LAKE VALLEY, UTAH 



While making a plant disease survey in the 

 Salt Lake Valley, Utah, during the past sea- 

 son the writer's attention was called to some 

 diseased potatoes, which, upon examination, 

 proved to be infected with the silver scurf 

 fungus (Spondylocladium atrovirens Hartz). 

 Microscopic examination of the organism to- 

 gether with the study of the fungus in pure 

 culture proved its identity beyond a doubt. 

 Both the conidial and sclerotial stages were 

 found in great abundance on potato tubers 

 collected from various parts of the valley. 

 The conidia are dark brown and elongate-ovate 

 with the apex narrowed and subhyaline. They 

 are found to be five to eight celled, and aver- 

 age approximately 42 microns in length by 

 about 8J microns in diameter. A large num- 

 ber of measurements gave lengths ranging 

 from 30 to 75 microns, and diameters ranging 

 from 6 to 11 microns. The conidia are borne 

 in more or less irregular whirls on the upper 

 half of the eonidiophores which vary consider- 

 ably in length, but averaging about 125 

 microns. In addition to the characters of the 

 fungus, the typical appearance of infected 

 spots on the tubers leaves no doubt as to the 

 identity of the disease; the silvery or glisten- 

 ing appearance of the spots showing very 

 plainly. The presence of the minute black 

 sclerotia is also very characteristic. Typical 

 specimens of discolored, shrunken and shriveled 

 tubers showing the later stages of the disease 

 were also found in considerable abundance. 



Very little is to be found on this disease in 

 American plant pathological literature. It 

 was first seen by Clinton^ in 1907; Orton^ 

 mentions it as spreading rapidly in the 

 eastern states; Melhus^ states that the disease 

 has been found on potatoes from Maine, Ver- 

 mont, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, 



1 Clinton, G. P., Connecticut Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, Annual Report, 1908. 



2 Orton, W. A., Farmers' Bulletin No. 544, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. 



sMelhus, I. E., Circular No. 127, Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



