374 Journal of Agricultural Research voi.v,n <>.9 
By comparing the figures given by Westerdijk (1912) for the cherry 
fungus with those given above, it will be seen that they fall well within 
the range of 5 . cinerea , and as this difference in the size of the asci and 
of the ascospores was the only one upon which she based her conclusion 
as to its being a separate form, it seems safe to conclude that what she 
described was the perfect stage of 5 . cinerea. 
It has already been pointed out that the Monilia stage of the apricot 
fungus, described by Aderhold and Ruhland (1905), compares favorably 
with the Monilia stage of the American brown-rot fungus, and they 
showed that it was identical, except for slight differences in chlamydo- 
spore size, with that of the European 5 . cinerea . By referring to Table 
II it will be seen that the ascus and ascospore measurements given for 
the perfect stage of 5 . laxa fall well within the limits determined for 
5 . cinerea . Considering the fact that at present there are no known 
morphological differences between S. cinerea and the apricot fungus, is 
the fact that Aderhold and Ruhland were able to get infection of plum 
flowers in only a few cases with chlamydospores of 5 . laxa sufficient evi¬ 
dence to make this a separate species? 
* MICROCONIDIAL STAGE 
The microconidial stage, as was stated above, has been described by 
Woronin for a number of species of Sclerotinia, including 5 . fructigena and 
5 . cinerea . He, however, could show no differences between the spores of 
the two latter species, and they are therefore of little value in identifica¬ 
tion of the species. 
The production of the microcondia was first seen by the writer in a 
potato-plug culture of the local fungus nearly a year old. The spores 
ranged from 2.2 to 2.6*t in diameter, were spherical, and contained a large 
refractive globule. They were later found on agar cultures in great 
abundance, in hanging drops of distilled water, and also in hanging drops 
of 1 per cent malic, 0.062 gallic, 0.062 and 0.25 per cent tannic acids. In 
the latter cases the flask-shaped sterigmata could be seen. Chains of 
from 15 to 20 spores were not uncommon. They were also produced in 
great abundance on the surface of a very young Surprise plum picked and 
inoculated June 3. These spores ranged in size from 2.55*1 to 3.22*1, aver¬ 
aging for 25 measurements 2.72*1. The microconidia produced in the 
1 per cent malic-acid solution were larger, ranging from 2.60 to 3.79*1, 
measurements of 25 spores averaging 3.14/i. 
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL RELATIONS 
INFECTION 
Opinions differ as to the ability of the brown-rot fungus to penetrate 
the uninjured surface of fruits. Peck (1881) was unable to get infection 
of fruits when the spores were planted on the uninjured surface. Smith 
