Notes and News 



173 



The leaf-blight of the plane-tree (Gloeosporium nervisequum) 

 became very noticeable on the Garden grounds during the first 

 week in June, but the attacks of the fungus did not appear to be 

 particularly injurious this season. 



According to Mr. Perley Spaulding, of the U. S. Dept. of Agri- 

 culture, the white pine blight includes several distinct diseases : a 

 leaf blight accompanied by Septoria parasitica, two leaf diseases 

 caused by Lophodermium brachysporum and Hypoderma lineare, 

 a leaf and twig blight caused by winter freezing, and a twig blight, 

 probably caused by insects. 



Mr. W. M. Scott, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, 

 D. C, has been conducting experiments for the past two years in 

 various states with lime-sulphur mixtures for the summer spraying 

 of orchards. Circular 27, of that bureau, is a report of the second 

 season's experiments on peach, apple and cherry orchards. The 

 experiments resulted in certain modifications of the mixtures for 

 the peach and the Japanese plum, but were very encouraging for 

 further experiments and for widespread use in the orchard where 

 Bordeaux mixture is found objectionable. 



The Classification of the Basidiomycetes is discussed in a recent 

 article by M. Leon Dufour (Rev. Gen. Bot. 20: 417-429. 1908), 

 in which he proposes for the higher Autobasidiomycetes three 

 principal divisions : the Cantharellineae, including Clavaria, Thele- 

 phora, Hydnum, Craterellus and Cantharellus; the Polyporineae, 

 ranging from Polyporus to Fistulina, and related to the preceding 

 group by such genera as Cyphella and Dictyolus; and the Agari- 

 cineae, comprising Boletus, Paxillus, and a series of genera cul- 

 minating in Amanita. The Polyporineae are characterized as a 

 heterogeneous group which will probably have to be divided. In 

 closing, the author states that the difficult problem of classifying 

 the Basidiomycetes is just on the point of being solved. 



