NEWS AND NOTES 



The Charleston Museum has secured the assistance of Mr. E. 

 R. Memminger in a revision of the Henry W. Ravenel herbarium 

 and the preparation of a catalogue of the fungi of South Carolina. 



Mr. W. H. Rankin, Fellow in Plant Pathology at Cornell Uni- 

 versity, made his headquarters at the Garden during most of 

 May, while beginning an investigation of the chestnut canker 

 with special reference to its control in New York state. 



Under the title " Fungi Lyndonvillenses novi vel minus cogniti," 

 Dr. Chas. E. Fairman (Ann. Myc. 9: 147-152) describes the fol- 

 lowing new species of fungi: Phoma cercidicola, Phoma Halesiae, 

 Phoma regina, Cladosporium Vincae, Voluteila Vincae, Mollisia 

 lanaria, Septoria I an aria, and Phial ea phaeconia. Also Ophio- 

 bolus vulgaris, Gnaphalu Sacc. & Br. is raised to specific rank and 

 the new variety, Ophiobolus Gnaphalii lanaria is described. 



We learn from Science that, on April 11, Governor Tener sent 

 a special message to the Pennsylvania legislature, recommending 

 immediate legislation for control of the chestnut canker. A bill 

 has since been passed providing for a commission to undertake 

 this work, and carrying a total appropriation of $275,000. So 

 far it is only the eastern and southeastern counties of Pennsyl- 

 vania that are completely infected with this disease, and it is 

 hoped, by the elimination of spot infections in advance of the 

 line of general occurrence of the disease, to restrict its spread to 

 this area. The great chestnut forests of the state which, accord- 

 ing to the state department of forestry, have. a total valuation of 

 approximately $50,000,000, are still essentially untouched by the 

 disease, and the great object of the proposed legislation is to save 

 these. Experiments made by the national department of agri- 

 culture appear to have demonstrated practical methods of quar- 



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