140 
Nebraska—the only states from which this injury has been re¬ 
ported—the Lawson is the worst and most commonly affected 
variety. 
As indicated above, the buds are first seen to be attacked early 
in the fall, as the first flowers appear, and diseased buds become 
most abundant, under ordinary conditions, about the latter part 
of October or the first of November. In houses where the blos¬ 
soms are regularly picked, the trouble almost entirely ceases late 
in December or by the middle of January. It thus appears that 
the mite, bearing the fungus spores, is carried into the houses in 
the sod soil in summer, and that as soon as the flower-buds begin 
to appear it ascends the plant and enters the immature carnation 
bud. The spores carried by the mite find a suitable breeding place 
in the bud, and in a comparatively short time decay sets in,—a 
condition most favorable to the breeding of the mite. The female, 
which is very minute when it first enters the bud, is sooner or 
later fertilized, and its abdomen becomes greatly swollen by rea¬ 
son of the developing eggs within. The young hatch within the 
abdomen of the female and remain there until fully mature, by 
which time the abdominal sac disintegrates, thus freeing them. 
Some of the mites now crawl to other buds, and probably in most 
cases carry with them spores of the fungus. 
Remedial Measures .—The statement of Dr. F. D. Heald* that 
this rot is a disease of neglected houses is not true for Illinois, 
as I have found it cpiite as prevalent in the best-managed estab¬ 
lishments as elsewhere. It is true, however, that in houses where 
buds are not regularly picked off, the disease will remain for a 
more extended period. 
The only line of treatment which can be recommended is the 
gathering and burning of all infested buds, and as these are easily 
and quickly recognizable, it may be done at slight expense of time 
and money. As the decay is usually evident before a new genera- 
tion of mites is developed, and as the latter scatter slowly, the 
prompt and continuous destruction of all affected buds will gradu¬ 
ally and considerably lessen the number of new infestations. 
Foliar Eel-worm 
Aphelenchus olesistus Bost 
During the winter of 1907-08, in one of the Chicago green¬ 
houses, my attention was called to a peculiar spotting of the leaves 
of the Gloire de Lorraine begonia. (Fig. 52.) Upon examination 
*The Bud-Rot of Carnations. Bull. Neb. Agr. Exper. Station, No. 103 
(Jan. 10. 1908), pp. 12-13. Lincoln. 
JThe species has kindly been determined for us by Dr. N. A. Cobb. Agri¬ 
cultural Technologist for the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. 
