210 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
reproduce throughout the year, and owing to their extreme lethargy may easily 
be overlooked when sought for by the aid of a magnifying glass. When very 
numerous in the bud and about to migrate, they have the appearance of frag- 
ments of cotton-wool at the bases of the bud leaves, which fragments are visible 
to the naked eye. Examination with a lens shows that these white fluffs are 
colonies of worms in compacted masses. Placed in water the fluffy fragments 
disintegrate, and the separated nematodes wriggle actively. Migration from 
bud to bud occurs only if the requisite degree of moisture — rain mist, or heavy 
dew — is present. Destruction of attacked buds is rapid, especially in the spring, 
when the buds are minute : the consequent efforts of the tree to produce new 
wood result in an irregular growth, which with the accompaniment of dead 
shoots and shrivelled bark is typical of the presence of the eelworm. The worms 
do not invade the buds if the stems are kept dry, but they can, on the other hand, 
penetrate the soil and infect the moist basal buds below the surface. Attempts 
were made to ascertain whether the red currant and gooseberry could be infected 
by the eelworm. It was found that after inoculation the worms were present 
in the buds in limited numbers, but that on the whole the buds were normally 
developed. These plants, it is therefore concluded, are uncongenial hosts 
of the nematode. 
It having been suggested to the author that the parasite might be identical 
with Aphelenchus fragariae, which causes the rather rare disease known as 
Cauliflower Disease of the Strawberry, attempts were made both in the green- 
house laboratory and in the field to infect strawberry plants with the nematode. 
The results were on similar lines to those in the case of gooseberries and red 
currants, i.e. some infection took place under greenhouse conditions, but the 
development of the strawberry plants was unaffected. In the field where the 
choice of hosts was between black currant and strawberry, the latter was always 
free from the worm. 
The Anguillulidae, under unfavourable food conditions, may become desiccated, 
and in this condition may remain in a state of suspended vitality for months 
or years. A similar state is induced if twigs of black currant infected with the 
black currant eelworm are kept dry. After nine months' desiccation, followed 
by immersion in water, very few of the nematodes are found to be alive. Shorter 
periods of desiccation — six weeks up to six months — appear not greatly to affect 
the worms, which on moistening for one to two hours are found to have returned 
to the normally active state. As so lengthy a dry period as nine months does 
not occur in the case of black currant bushes, it is clear that under field con- 
ditions the mortality among the nematodes due to this cause is negligible. 
Full details of the morphology of the nematode are given, illustrated by a 
plate of ten figures. It is provisionally assigned to the genus Tylenchus with 
the specific name vibes. — /. E. W. E. H. 
Black-Rot, Leaf-Spot, and Canker of Pomaceous Fruits. By L. R. Hesler 
(U.S.A. Exp. Stn., Cornell, Bull. 379, August 1916, pp. 50-148; 20 figs., 8 
plates). — This is primarily a disease of the Apple (Pyrus Malus L.), but it affects 
other trees, such as the Pear (P. communis L.), the Quince (Cydonia vulgaris 
Pers.), and the Crab Apple (P. coronaria L.) showing similar symptoms of the 
disease. 
The causal organism is Physalospora Cydoniae Arnaud and it reproduces 
by ascospores contained in perithecia, as well as by pycnidia and sclerotia. 
Certain varieties of apple — 'Esopus' and 'Twenty Ounce'' — are more susceptible 
to canker than are other varieties, but ' Twenty Ounce ' is one of the best varieties 
in New York. 
It is interesting to note that a fungus Helicomyces Sphaeropsidis Potebnia, 
has been found living as a parasite upon the conidia of Physalospora Cydoniae, 
and that infection takes place when the host fungus is in the macrophoma stage. 
A very full bibliography is appended. — A. B. 
Bones : How to make into Manure (Queensland Agr. Jour. p. 291 ; Nov. 
1 916). — Bones, which when properly treated form a valuable fertilizer, may 
be readily reduced to powder without the aid of a crushing mill. A simple 
plan is to pack the bones, layer by layer, with fresh wood ashes in a barrel, and 
keep the mixture moistened for some months. A quicker method is to boil the 
bones in an iron or copper boiler with strong caustic lye . The proportion of bones 
and lye to be used is, roughly, 15 parts by weight of bones to 5 of caustic soda, 
or 7 parts by weight of caustic potash dissolved in 15 parts by weight of water. 
The boiling should be done for two or three hours. But even without boiling, the 
bones w ill become disintegrated by being simply kept in the caustic liquor for about 
a week, Another method of softening bones is by mixing them in heaps with 
