99 



the larger area to be cared for this year, but increased sufficiently 

 to give a higher sum per acre. 



In the February Journal of the New York Botanical Garden 

 attention is called to the danger to buildings from the dry rot 

 {Merulms lacrymajis). It has not " been recognized in this coun- 

 try as it has in Europe and builders have been allowed to use 

 unseasoned wood to a large extent. A recent investigation in 

 New York City by Professor I. H. Woolson, of Columbia Uni- 

 versity, brought to light an astonishing condition of affairs in a 

 great number of wooden buildings, which may collapse as did 

 the Gledhill factory unless speedily repaired." 



A recent paper by Haven Metcalf calls attention to the fact 

 that the chestnut disease {Diaporthe parasitica^ " ordinarily gains 

 entrance through wounds, of which the commonest are the tun- 

 nels produced by various bark borers. Such wounds as these 

 are always moist, and hence favorable to the growth of any spore." 

 This bark disease shows "no definite relation to the points of the 

 compass, as the location of lesions is determined by the position 

 of the wounds through which the fungus gained entrance. In 

 small, smooth-barked trees, death may be prevented by a system 

 of inspection and cutting out of diseased tissue, somewhat similar 

 to that practiced with pear-blight. On large, thick-barked trees 

 this is impracticable, as it is impossible to distinguish disease 

 lesions under the thick bark." 



NEWS ITEMS 



Dr. G. Haberlandt of Graz has been appointed to the chair of 

 botany at the University of Berlin. 



Professor Alexander Agassiz, the naturalist, died of heart 

 disease, March 27, while returning to America on the Adriatic. 



Mrs. Eliza Caroline Bommer, widow of the botanist J. E. 

 Bommer, died January last in Brussels. Mrs. Bommer was 

 known chiefly for her work with ferns. 



