A DISEASE OF THE GGOSEBRFRRY 21 
The owner of the bushes kindly forwarded a supply of surface- 
soil taken from the field where the diseased gooseberries had grown, 
and in it I planted potatoes, beans, and ar aes all plants that 
have suffered from sclerotium disease. e t two plants re- 
ma cel entirely healthy. Some of the Ltteibe: died off, and on a 
withered sta got Botrytis cinerea with small spores tang to 
the one found on the gooseberry, but it may not have sed the 
death of the lettuce; it may have been an after-effect oly. 
g host t 
as a saprophyte, and is easily and quickly cultivated. The grow 
of the fungus has been watched from stage to stage by many careful 
workers, and recent rsndutids seems . prove that this fungus is 
generally more or less of a te Se. even on living plants. The 
spores usually require a short stage of saprophytic growth to set 
' ai ‘ 
y large type. The hyp 
secrete a poison—oxalic acid—which kills the cells ahead, and the 
fungus then lives on a dead tissue. Nordhausen (4) has stated, 
however, that he has seen the growing hyphe of B. cinerea aaa 
living cells, and that the action of the poison was noticeable only at 
some distance from the ends of the hyphe 
ee canes Fuckeliana, with its conidial form Botrytis cinerea, as 
already stated, is well known as a disease of the Vine, of which it 
atte ‘nd destroys the leaves and young twigs. In this, as in 
nearly all the instances recorded, the Botrytis fungus and also the 
sclerotium forms prey on herbaceous plants, or on the young and 
_— parts of those of woody growth. The exceptions known to 
e are the young lime trees that were found by Ralph EK. Smith (7) 
. be suffering from a sclerotium disease. 1ey grew in a field of 
lettuces that had been destroyed by a similar fungus. The point of 
attack was the base of the stem, and the disease spread upwards. 
The other case is that of the peony disease, where the iri is 
attacked at the ground-level, and develops sclerotia on the 
stem. Some peony leaves were sent to me la yor for invedtipation 
rrey. Th ioles only; re 
diseased, and they were covered with a growth of Botrytis. The 
stems in this case were uninjured. 
I have for some time er specimens of Botrytis, all of them 
presumably B. cinerea, which is now held to be synonymous with 
B, vulgaris. The size of the spine varies very considerably. I give 
the extreme measurements :— 
On a withered herbaceous stalk from Hereford. 10-12 » x 6-8 yp. 
don 
On a sweet chestnut, Lon : 12-14 p x 6-8 pw. 
On a horse chestnut, Worcester es ee cs ae Ae ea 
On a lily, locality unknown : oY Ss bas a x St a: 
On a diseased tulip, Herefor ad. . 11-20 p x 6-10 p. 
B. cinerea var, sclerotiophila on umbellifer stalk, 
Dumfriesshire eee 1 ex FO 
Botrytis of gooseberry disease . ee B11 pK t6 
