July 3, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



269 



physical control and grim determination that might be envied 

 by an Indian. It is to let the poison severely alone — to "grin 

 and bear it" — never under any circumstances allowing it to lie 

 rubbed or irritated in any way. Under this treatment the blis- 

 ters will begin to wither in a day or two, and will soon disap- 

 pear, and the itching soon subsides, especially if a little cool 

 water be applied to the spot occasionally. Another useful 

 remedy is sour buttermilk (the sourer the better) applied occa- 

 sionally, and allowed to remain on. A decoction of Lobelia 

 inflata is also good as a wash, but should never lie taken inter- 

 nally. The mineral water of the famous Lelianon Thermal 

 Spring, situated about a mile from us, is also largely used here 

 with beneficial effect, a single application for an hour or so 

 usually being sufficient for an ordinary attack. 



As there is a popular belief that the Poison Ivy has no insect 

 enemies, I may be pardoned for adding that in IVIarch, 1894, 

 while digging out some of the Ivy here on our place we were 

 fortunate enough to discover numerous minute galls on its 

 small fibrous roots, each containing an almost microscopic 

 red larva. They proved to be of an entirely new species, and 

 were sent to Professor L. O. Howard, chief of the Division of 

 Entomology at Washington, who placed them in charge of 

 Professor D. W. Coquillett, (lie division specialist for that class 

 of insects. At our request he kindly described and named 

 them, speaking, in part, as follows ; " Up to the present time 

 no case has been recorded in this country of any species of 

 Cecidomyiidoe living on plants belonging to the genus Rhus. 

 . . . The species is evidently new to science, and may be 

 characterized as follows : Cecidomyia rhois, n. sp. . . ." The 

 perfect flies issue early in May, and are brownish black in 

 color, slightly marked with yellow and red, and having hairy 

 bodies and grayish wings. The size is very small, being only 

 from 1.5 mm. to 2 mm. in length. The original description 

 will be found in Insect Life, vol. vii.. No. 4, page 348. 

 Lebanon Springs, N. Y. IV. H. Harrison. 



Figs in Buffalo, New York. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have a Fig-tree that became a member of the house- 

 hold as a very small pot-planf, a gift from a friend. After a 

 while it outgrew pot-culture and was set in the ground, more 

 to get rid of it than anything else. In the fall it went into a 

 box and was set in the cellar, along with Fuchsias, Hydran- 

 geasand other tender shrubs. It grew very slowly, butalways 

 did well, and seemed to enjoy that sort of life, developing into 

 the average Fig-tree, I suppose, a knotty, dark-barked affair, 

 with several stems, the largest nearly four feet high and about 

 an inch through at the ground. 



Last spring it set some fruit, the small eye-like blossoms 

 pushing their way tlirough between the scales of the terminal 

 buds in a very novel fashion to one not acquainted with the 

 growth of Figs, the leaves opening some time later. The 

 heavy early rains took all the fruit olf, as tliey did all of the 

 young grapes in the yard. When it began to rain last fall, 

 after the long drought, the ambitious Fig set another crop, out 

 of which seven or eight figs grew to the size of small chest- 

 nuts. Wlien the tree was set in the cellar the leaves soon 

 came off, but the fruit remained. During February the tem- 

 perature was several times below freezing and the more tender 

 plants were all killed, but the figs stood up straight on their 

 stems, and when the tree was planted they began to grow, 

 even before the leaves started. Then a new crop appeared, 

 so many that the tree wisely allowed most of them to dry up. 

 Now the figs of both years are pushing on side by side, none 

 of the setting of last fall having droppe'd off, and all are about 

 three times as large as when the tree was set in the ground in 

 April. Those of tlie new crop are about half as large. 



Fig-trees are not at all common here, even as tender house- 

 plants, and the behavior of this specimen, though possibly 

 common to the species, is a novelty to many. 



Buffalo, N. y. John Chamberlin. 



Witches' Bfooms on Cherry-trees. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In Europe the cultivated Cherries, Prunus Avium and 

 P. Cerasus, are attacked by a disease which the Germans call 

 He,\enbesen (witches' brooms). The fungus which causes it 

 is closely related to the leaf-curl fungus of the Peach. For- 

 merly it was considered to be identical with the disease on the 

 Peacli, but Professor Sadebeck, in a recent monograph,'' 

 makes it a distinct species, giving it the name ExoascusCerasi. 

 Although the English Cherry, P. Avium, is commonly culti- 



* " Die pai"asiti5chen Exoasceen." 



vated in the eastern United States, and has become thoroughly 

 naturalized, the disease was not observed upon it here until Mr. 

 Thomas Meehan reported it from Germantown, Pennsylva- 

 nia, in 1886. The specimens which he collected were dis- 

 tributed in "North American Fungi," No. 2286. under the 

 name Exoascus wiesneri. So far as I can learn it has been 

 found upon the cultivated Cherry in no other locality in 

 America until I found it this spring on Long Island in five' dif- 

 ferent places, namely, Oueens, Westbury, Floral Park, Cutch- 

 ogue and Fhitbush. It appears to be widespread on Long Island. 



The disease manifests itself by causing the leaves to become 

 reddish and wrinkled before they attain full size. By May 23d 

 the under surfaces of the leaves are covered by a white, mealy 

 layer which is composed of the spore sacs (asci) of the fungus. 

 Dr. Robinson saysf that the asci occur on both surfaces, but 

 Professor Atkinson found them only on the under surface in 

 the Germantown specimens. I have examined a large quan- 

 tity of the Long Island material, and in no case have I found 

 asci on the upper surface. After the white layer makes its 

 appearance the leaves dry up and fall off in a few days. Later, 

 new leaves come out. The affected branches produce no 

 flowers. Where flower-buds should be found twigs appear 

 instead, and the repetition of this process brings about the 

 " broom." 



Probably the scarcity of the disease in America is due to our 

 climate being unfavorable to it. Mr. Meehan states that 

 it does not seem to spread. This is strange, because, accord- 

 ing to Mrs. F. W. Patterson,:;; the same fungus occurs in America 

 on Prunus serotina, P. Americana, P. Virginiana, P. demissa, 

 P. hortulana and P. Pennsylvanica. The form on P. serotina 

 is common, and why should it not thrive on P. Avium ? 



In case the disease should show a tendency to become 

 troublesome, it could probably be controlled by cutting out 

 and destroying the "brooms" before the spores come to 

 maturity. This can easily be done, the diseased twigs being 

 indicated by the red color at least a week before the spores 

 mature. 



It should be remembered that the fungus is perennial in the 

 twigs ; hence the disease may be transmitted by grafts. 

 Jamaica, N. Y. F. C. Stewart. 



Recent Publications. 



The HorticuUurist's Rule Booh. By L. H. Bailey. New 

 York: Macmillan & Co. 1895. 



This is the third edition, and a considerably enlarged 

 and thoroughly revised one, of the compendium of useful 

 information for fruit-growers, truck-gardeners, florists and 

 all others who need a hand-book of horticultural refer- 

 ence, which was originally published some six years 

 ago. The book now contains three hundred pages, and 

 costs only seventy-five cents, and yet it would be liard to 

 find another manual which offers so much practical advice 

 as to horticultural details upon so wide a range of subjects. 

 Since the first edition was published a great amount of 

 knowledge has been gained concerning injurious insects 

 and fungous diseases, and the Rule Book in its revised form 

 gives all the improved and current methods for dealing 

 with these pests. It contains also practical remedies and 

 preventives of injuries to plants by mice, rabbits, birds and 

 squirrels. We add the titles of some of the chapters : 

 Wa.xes for Grafting and for Wounds ; Cements, Mortars, 

 Paints and Glues ; Planting Tables, giving dates and direc- 

 tions for planting ; Seed Tables, giving statistics of weight, 

 size, time required for germination, etc.; Computation 

 Tables; Time of Maturing Different Garden Crops and 

 Average Yields ; Methods by which Various Fruits and 

 Vegetables are Multiplied ; Greenhouse and Window-gar- 

 den Work ; Methods of Storing Fruits and Vegetables ; 

 Preserving Specimens for Cabinets or E.xhibition ; Postal 

 Rates. These are only a few of the leading topics, but 

 they serve to indfcate the scope of the work. A list of the 

 names of plants and vegetables in different languages, a 

 good glossary and a complete inde.x help to make readily 

 available all the information in the book, so that the gar- 

 dener who turns to it for instruction will rarely fail to find 

 what he wants to know, fully, clearly, and yet very 

 tersely, expressed. 



t " Notes on tlie Genus Taplirina," Ami. Hot., i., p. i 

 t " A Study of North American Parasitic Exoasceie,' 



69, 



University of Icroja, p. 121. 



Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist. SUi 



