EEPOET OF THE BOTANIST. 75 



much from the value of many edible fungi, but I have never 

 found them in this species. It is about the same size as the 

 common edible mushroom, A. campestris, and not very dis- 

 similar to it in general appearance, but the lamellae, as well 

 as the rest of the plant, are white, and never have the bright 

 pink color seen in the common mushroom. Its taste, when 

 cooked, is similar to that of Coprinus comatus, but its flesh 

 is less tender. It combines beauty and utility in an unusual 

 degree, it being very even and symmetrical in form. 



My attention having been directed to the fact that, in some 

 parts of the Great Northern Wilderness, the spruce trees 

 were rapidly dying, to the great pecuniary loss of the lumber- 

 men and land owners, I visited the counties of Hamilton and 

 Essex, partly with the purpose of making some investiga- 

 tions into the nature and cause of the malady. It is said that 

 in some tracts of considerable extent, nearly all the spruce 

 trees are killed, giving to the forest a desolate look and a pre- 

 vailing brown hue, much as if a fire had run through the 

 woods. I failed to find any of the affected districts, and it is 

 perhaps hardly worth while to speculate concerning the cause 

 of the evil. It may not be out of place, however, to mention 

 three supposable or possible causes, by way of suggesting 

 directions in which those having the opportunity of investi- 

 gation may look. The three are insects, fungi and drought. 

 It is recorded that considerable tracts of pine forest are some- 

 times killed by the attacks of multitudes of small coleopter- 

 ous insects, and it is at least supposable that spruce trees may 

 have a similar foe. Young spruce trees were observed in the 

 town of Keene, which, at a distance, appeared to have their 

 branches terminated by an abundant crop of cones, but, upon 

 a closer observation, the apparent cones proved to be only 

 the dead and discolored tips of the branches. In most cases 

 every leaf upon the affected parts of the branches was dead, 

 and had a gall-like enlargement at its base, evidently the 

 work of some insect. Attacks of this kind, if sufficiently 

 numerous and persistent, would kill the tree. 



Fungi sometimes cause the death of trees, but cases of this 

 kind are comparatively rare, and it is not very likely that the 

 destruction of the spruces will be found due to such a cause. 

 An interesting instance of a fungoid malady among them will, 

 however, be noticed presently. 



