314 



Blister-canker of Apple Tree. [july, 



this type. It is probable that this type of germ has some 

 important part to play in the ripening processes, and that it 

 has an important influence on the quality of the cheese, as 

 in the case of the Swiss Emmenthaler. 



Indeed, some claim to have observed that the practice of 

 applying farmyard manure to pasture is conducive to the 

 production of Cheddar cheese of the best quality; while, on 

 the other hand, the application of artificial fertilisers only is 

 held to be responsible in some measure in some cases for an 

 increase in the number of inferior cheeses. 



While the introduction into milk of bacteria conveyed in 

 cow excrements is to be deprecated, the judicious use in 

 Cheddar cheese-making of a milk starter prepared from a 

 culture of germs of the lactobacilli type, will be found to have 

 a beneficial effect on the quality and dietetic value of the 

 product. Lactobacilli cultures are now readily obtainable, 

 with full directions as to cultivation, and the resulting starter 

 may be safely used in the same way as an ordinary lactic 

 starter, at the rate of not more than '25 or '3 per cent, of 

 the whole milk. Such a starter has been used with good 

 results. It is probable, however, that a starter containing 

 both lactic streptococci and lactobacilli would prove equally, 

 if not more, effective; and this will be a matter for further 

 investigation. 



BLISTER-CANKER OF APPLE TREE. 



(Nummularis discreta, Tul.) 



The genus Nummularia is cosmopolitan in its distribution, 

 and generally occurs under the form of black, hard, crust-like 

 patches on dead bark or wood. These patches are usually 

 quite flat, and more or less circular in outline, hence the 

 generic name. A r . discreta is readily distinguished from other 

 species by the thick raised edge surrounding each patch or 

 fruit-body, and by the compressed, circular, dark brown 

 spores with an equatorial paler line. It occurs in France, 

 Germany, Italy, United States, and Cuba, and was first met 

 with in this country during the past year, on the fallen branch 

 of an apple tree, at Sandsend, near Whitby, Yorkshire. Ad 

 a rule the fungus is a saprophyte on various trees, as elm. 

 magnolia, Judas tree, apple, &c, and is not recognised ir 



