SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, JUNE 28. 
Ixv 
some of the flowers fade, owing to the shrivelling of the stalk 
some two or three inches below the flower. Last year whole 
roots were affected.” It is difficult to pronounce without seeing 
the early stages, but the general opinion was that frost had 
checked the buds, and a fungus, possibly a Myxomycete, followed. 
Buds of Pyrethrum, arrested in an early stage, appeared to have 
been spoilt by frost and wet having got into them. 
Beeches Dying. —Mrs. A. C. Campbell Swinton, of Berrywell, 
Dunse, Berwickshire, sent some bark, &c., showing much decay, 
taken from a very fine old Beech at Kimmerghame. It was 
described as having a cavity at a fork in which rain-water lodged, 
but since the tree is only nineteen yards from the bed of the river, 
the suggestion that the roots have got into the cold soil by the 
side or beneath the river is, with very little doubt, correct. 
Beeches preferring dry soil by nature, the above would be a 
sufficiently probable cause. Mr. Wilks described a case where, 
in a space of 150 by 20 yards, every shrub and tree dies 
after a time. The destruction began with a hedge, then Scotch 
Firs, Oaks, Ashes, and lastly Beeches of about forty-five years 
of age perished. The cause appeared to be a bed of white sand 
into which the roots penetrated, thus starving the trees. 
Black Currant Shoots Falling. —Mr. E. Ballard sent speci¬ 
mens from a large plantation, which break off at a slight touch 
or by the wind. Dr. William G. Smith, who has. examined 
them, reports upon them as follows :—The Currant leaves 
bore a mildew, but other fungi were also present when I 
examined the material. The characteristic mode of attack 
pointed to a species of Peronospora. I have raised good crops 
of one on fresh portions of the leaves, and am following up the 
clue. If it be really a species of this family it is new to Britain, 
although one (Plasmopora ribicola, Schrceter) has been reported 
from the United States of America. I have observed the emis¬ 
sion of motile swarm spores from the sporangia (so-called 
spores) of fresh material, and otherwise feel sure of the 
PeronosporeaB nature of this fungus. As to remedy, I should 
recommend a spraying of Bordeaux Mixture or allied copper 
mixture. To a Black Currant plantation, this could be done by 
a knapsack-sprayer. Probably one can be had from the Straw- 
son Company.” 
Cherry Leaves Diseased .—Specimens of the foliage was 
