6 
CLOVER. 
lower part of a branch of a Clover plant, which in the centre was 
dying also in the infested buds. In No. 41 found them in the inflated 
buds only.” 
(The plants marked No. 3 were noted by Mr. Elder as “ unhealthy 
plants grown on undrained land at the end of field, after Oats destroyed 
by Tulip-root. Oats after Turnips manured with farmyard manure” 
and those marked No. 4 were “ unhealthy plants grown on land not 
very well drained, where preceding Oat crop was destroyed by Tulip- 
root.” Oats after Turnips, town manure, consisting principally of 
ashes and farmyard manure.) 
Other specimens were subsequently sent by Mr. Elder, in com¬ 
menting on which Dr. E. Bos made the following remarks :—“ I think 
it to be evident that this form of ‘Clover-sickness,’ ‘Tulip-root’ in 
Oats, the ‘ Stem-disease ’ in the Eye, the ‘ Eing-disease ’ in Hyacinths, 
&c., are all caused by the same parasitic Nematoid worm, Tylenchus 
devastatrix , for the worms found by me, sometimes in a large number, 
in the Clover plants were T. devastatrix ; those found by me in Tulip- 
rooted Oats were T. devastatrix ; and in Clover-sick plants grown on 
land where previous crops were Tulip-rooted Oats I found often the 
same parasite. In the plants of Mr. Elder, which were not grown on 
land where Tulip-rooted Oats had been the previous year, I found no 
Tylenchi 
On July 8th specimens of diseased Clover plants were forwarded 
to me from the Experimental Farm, Woburn, by Mr. F. E. Fraser, 
in which the peculiar bulb-like deformation of the attacked bud or 
shoot, which often characterises Tylenchus attack, was very noticeable. 
Mr. Fraser mentioned that the ground from which these plants were 
taken was exceedingly hard, as there had not been any rain for the 
previous month. 
On examining the specimens of Clover some of the stems with 
flowering heads were still to be found, but also there were a large 
number of short brown barren shoots about an inch long, oval in 
shape, and with the distorted growth of leaves now merely forming an 
imbricated or tile-like exterior. These shoots were placed closely 
together, apparently from the growth of the shoot having been stopped. 
They varied in number; sometimes as many as five grew on an inch 
length of shoot, one at the extremity and two at each side below, so 
as to form together a flat fan-like mass. I did not find they grew 
■round the central stem. They were not all similar in form of diseased 
growth, but were commonly irregularly and oval or somewhat bulb- 
sliaped, but sometimes they were much prolonged, so as to resemble 
what is known as a duck-necked onion in shape, and sometimes the lower 
part of the flowering stem was enlarged for an inch or two at the base. 
* For further communications by Mr. Elder on Eelworms, see paper on “ Tulip- 
root ” on Oats. 
