NEw York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I41 
BUD-ROT OF CARNATIONS! 
In November, 1905, a Long Island? florist sent to the Experi- 
ment Station some diseased buds of the carnation, Dianthus caryo- 
phyllus L., accompanied by a request for information concerning 
the cause of the disease and its control. The sender stated that he 
had been growing carnations extensively for thirteen years and had 
never before had any trouble of this kind. ‘Six to eight per ct. of 
the buds were ruined. The plants bearing the diseased buds were 
thrifty and belonged chiefly to the varieties Lawson, Bradt and 
Enchantress. The disease reappeared in the autumn of 1906 and 
again in 1907 with about the same severity as in 1905. Each year 
the diseased buds have been most plentiful between October 1 and 
January 1, the trouble disappearing almost completely after about 
the middle of January. 
The disease is characterized as follows: Outwardly, ‘the affected 
buds usually appear like normal buds partially opened, but upon the 
interior they are brown, decayed and generally moldy. Sometimes 
the decayed tissue shows at the center of the bloom on top and in 
the advanced stages it may be seen on the sides between the calyx 
teeth. The stamens, styles and lower portions of the petals are at- 
tacked first. Frequently, the pistil, also, is affected. The tips of 
the petals are the last to be attacked and it often happens that petals 
badly decayed in their lower parts covered by the calyx appear 
quite normal at their exposed tips. When small, unopened buds are 
killed by the disease the calyx also frequently becomes affected, but 
in large buds the calyx usually remains green and normal although 
the other parts may be a mass of decay. 
The brown decayed tissue on the interior of the diseased buds is 
thoroughly permeated by the mycelium of a fungus, a species of 
Sporotrichum, usually plainly visible as a loose, cottony white mold. 
The first lot of specimens from Long Island contained eight 
partially-opened buds every one of which showed an abundance of 
the Sporotrichum sporulating freely. No other fungus was present. 
In every case the Sporotrichum was apparently in pure culture. 
However, three of the buds contained, also, a few glistening, 
*By F. C. Stewart. 
* The exact location of the infested greenhouses is withheld out of deference 
to the wishes of the owner who desires to avoid publicity and possible 
injury to his business therefrom. 
