lx PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



host plant long before it makes any external appearance. Even the 

 picking off of diseased leaves has no effect, and the only alternative seems 

 to be to burn the plants and thoroughly disinfect the pit. In such a case, 

 even, it would be extremely hazardous to use the same pit for Melons or 

 Cucumbers for a year or two. Moreover, an infected pit should at once 

 be isolated, and pits in which the disease has not appeared should be 

 watched and protected. 



Supposed Wild Form of Lilium candid urn. — Dr. Masters showed from 

 Mr. Sprenger, of Naples, specimens from the mountains of Calabria. 

 The segments were smaller, narrower, and less recurved than in the 

 ordinary cultivated form. 



Fruit of the Tea-plant. — Dr. Masters exhibited from Mr. Guttridge, 

 the Botanic Garden, Liverpool, a specimen of Thca Bohca bearing a 

 ripe capsule. Similar but larger fruits are not uncommon in Camellias, 

 but are not so often met with on the Tea-plant. 



Diseased Larch. — Mr. Elwes sent specimens for examination and 

 report. 



Diseased Vines. — Mr. Close sent specimens in which the roots were 

 dying or dead. On examination, it was considered that the mischief was 

 due to an over-rich soil, or to having been kept too long in a pot. 



Plum Pockets. — Mr. Holmes sent some pieces of Primus spinosa in 

 which the fruits showed an extraordinary development. They were 

 yellowish, oblong obovate, and hollow, showing no sign of stone, the 

 ordinary fruits being small and dark green. He considered that this 

 development of the abortive fruit must be due to a fungus, as they pre- 

 sented a peculiar " bloom " like " curled " Almond and Peach leaves. It 

 is worthy of note that if the same disease were to attack the Plum trees 

 it would make a considerable difference in the crop. The specimens sent 

 were from wild bushes near Hope's Nose, Torquay, and near Churston 

 (seven or eight miles apart), where the Sloe bushes were covered with 

 these aborted and distorted fruits. The aborted fruits were from \ to 

 | inch long, and of a pale yellowish colour, which gave them a very 

 striking appearance. 



Dr. Cooke said that the specimens of Prunus spinosa with the hollow 

 spurious fruits, covered with a glaucous bloom, are attacked by a parasitic 

 fungus, which converts the fruits into " bladders," and of course wholly 

 destroys their character as fruits. This disease is not uncommon on 

 cultivated Plums, but is rarely seen in this country on the Sloe. The 

 fungus is named Exoascus jrrnni, and is closely related to the fungus 

 which causes the Peach-leaf curl. Trees infected with this disease 

 should not be permitted to grow in the neighbourhood of Plum trees. 



