342 



Mycologia 



maintain cultures of fungi of importance in phytopathology, medi- 

 cine, veterinary science, technology and soil biology, types useful 

 for teaching purposes and any rare or interesting species. The 

 Cooperation of bacteriologists and mycologists is earnestly invited, 

 and in return every effort will be made to supply the needs of 

 applicants for cultures. In the case of fungi it is necessary at 

 present to restrict the collection to fully identified species. Cul- 

 tures will be supplied on demand, so far as possible, to workers at 

 home and abroad, and, as a rule, a small charge will be made to 

 defray the cost of media and postage. Annual lists of the fungi 

 in the collection will be published in the Transactions of the British 

 Mycological Society. 



The Journal of Agricultural Research for April 15, 192 1, con- 

 tains an important illustrated article by Annie May Hurd on seed- 

 coat injury and viability of seeds of wheat and barley as factors 

 in susceptibility to molds and fungicides. An unbroken seed coat 

 ordinarily affords absolute protection against attack of living seeds 

 by Penicillium or Rhizopus, while the location of a break in the 

 seed coat determines the ability of these and other saprophytic 

 fungi to invade seeds, either in the soil or in storage. If the injury 

 is over the endosperm, 100 per cent, fatal infection results when 

 the spores of Penicillium or Rhizopus are present ; but if it is over 

 the embryo, the seeds remain practically immune. The vitality of 

 seeds is also a factor in determining the ability of Penicillium and 

 Rhizopus to attack them. The damage that will be done to seed 

 wheat by the copper-sulphate treatment for smut and by sapro- 

 phytic fungi can be predicted by examination of the physical con- 

 dition of the seed. All these troubles can be reduced by greater 

 care in threshing the seed wheat so that the seed coats are not so 

 badly broken. 



According to Korstian and others in the Journal of Agricultural 

 Research for May 2, 1921, chlorosis has been the most serious 

 problem encountered in the successful production of coniferous 

 nursery stock at a nursery in southern Idaho. The disease affects 

 all coniferous species grown in this nursery. With chlorosis were 



