268 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 633 



sections. Paper accompanied by photo- 

 graphs. 



Parasitism of Buckleya disticJiophylla 

 (Nutt.) Torr: Samuel M. Bain, Univer- 

 versity of Tennessee. 

 This shrub, known from only a few local- 

 ities in the Tennessee and North Carolina 

 mountains, is parasitic on the roots of other 

 trees. Like its Japanese congener, B. 

 Quadriala, it has several hosts, and was 

 found growing on Fagus americana, Pinus 

 virginiana and Tsuga canadensis, and 

 doubtless occurs on other species. Speci- 

 mens growing on Tsuga appeared more 

 robust than those growing on other hosts. , 



The Plant Disease Survey of the United 

 States: W. A. Obton, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture. 



The department has for many years col- 

 lected information and statistics in regard 

 to the distribution and prevalence of plant 

 diseases in the United States. Beginning 

 in 1899, an annual summary has been pub- 

 lished in the appendix to the year book. 

 In 1905 the scope of the survey was ex- 

 tended by the adoption of a plan for secur- 

 ing the active assistance of plant pathol- 

 ogists in some of the experiment stations, 

 who were made collaborators in the depart- 

 ment. It is expected that the work will be 

 further extended as circumstances permit. 

 The object of the survey is to gather facts 

 that will serve as a basis for the study of 

 the science - " the geographical distribution 

 of plant diseases. It is desired, first, to 

 learn and record the distribution of plant 

 diseases throughout the country ; second, to 

 record the varying prevalence of these dis- 

 eases from year to year, and the losses 

 caused by them ; third, to study the condi- 

 tions governing the development and 

 spread of plant diseases, including the re- 

 lation of weather conditions, association 

 of crops, the invasion of the host by its 



parasite and the natural resistance of vari- 

 eties; fourth, to bring together a collection 

 of specimens representing the distribution 

 of plant diseases in the United States, 

 which will assist in settling questions that 

 may arise in the future respecting these 

 matters; fifth, to summarize the additions 

 to our knowledge of plant pathology, and 

 the progress made in the treatment of 

 plant diseases, and to make all this infor- 

 mation available to workers everywhere 

 through the files and collections open for 

 reference in Washington, the publication 

 of an annual summary in the year book, 

 and through more complete reports in bul- 

 letin form to be published at intervals of 

 a few years. 



Such a project can be carried out only 

 by a national organization like the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The underlying pur- 

 pose in carrying on this work is to assist 

 the collaborators by bringing them into 

 closer touch with farmers and others in 

 their states, as well as with the department, 

 and to aid them in the investigations of 

 their special problems. 



There is a growing interest in the geo- 

 graphical distribution of plants and their 

 relation to each other and to their environ- 

 ments ; it is hoped that similar interest can 

 be aroused in studies of the distribution of 

 plant diseases and the important scientific 

 and economic problems growing oiit of this 

 line of work. The cooperation of many ob- 

 servers is required for the successful accom- 

 plishment of such a survey. It is the pur- 

 pose of this paper to request the aid of all 

 interested persons. 



Fasciation in the CEnotheras: Alice Ade- 

 laide Knox, Carnegie Institution. 

 Fasciation in the CEnotheras is caused 

 by mechanical injury due to the attacks of 

 insects in the meristems of the growing tips. 

 In the material studied most of the injuries 

 came from moths, species of Mompha, 



