266 



Mycologia 



Gautieria has been recently studied by S. M. Zeller and C. W. 

 Dodge, and the American species treated in a recent issue of the 

 Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Five species are recog- 

 nized, one from Indiana, G. plumbea, being described as new. 



A canker of poplars and willows caused by Cytospora chryso- 

 sperma is described by W. H. Long in the Journal of Agricultural 

 Research for May 6, 1918. The author states that this canker 

 is serious and prevalent throughout the semi-arid regions of the 

 southwestern United States. Methods of control include the use 

 of resistant species, careful tillage, protection, and strict super- 

 vision over nursery stock. 



Dr. F. C. Stewart, in Bulletin 448 of the New York Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, fully describes and beautifully illus- 

 trates the appearance and habits of Collybia veiutipes, an edible 

 fungus remarkable for its ability to withstand cold. Dr. Stewart 

 believes that it should be better known and more generally used 

 for food, and he intimates that it may be possible to cultivate it. 



Young plants of red cedar, and certain other species of orna- 

 mental conifers, have been subject recently to a disease which 

 has caused great loss in a number of nurseries. This seems to 

 be due to a species of Phoma, a microscopic parasitic fungus. 

 Spraying has had little effect on controlling its attacks. 



It is stated on good authority that nearly 100,000,000 bushels 

 of wheat and oats are destroyed annually by grain smuts, which 

 could easily be prevented by the simple and inexpensive formalde- 

 hyde treatment of seed. The tiny spores of the smut-fungus 

 cling to the grains and germinate with them in the soil. For- 

 maldehyde prevents the germination of the spores but does not 

 affect the seed. 



English walnuts are often attacked by Armillaria root-rot, 

 which spreads from one tree to another through the soil. It has 



