UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Los Angeles Chamber 
 of commerce
 
 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OK 
 
 Rust or Mildew on Wheat Plants. 
 
 1892. 
 
 LONDON: 
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 1893. 
 Price Ninepence.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 MEMORANDUM ----- 3 
 
 REPORT ON INQUIRY OF 1892 : 
 
 Extent of Injury _.-- 6 
 
 Estimate of Loss .-.----,- 6 
 Date of Appearance of Rusty (Uredo) Form - 7 
 
 Date of Appearance of Black (Teleutospore) Form - 7 
 
 Nature of the Soil, and the relative Mineral and Organic 
 
 Constituents .._.--.-- 8 
 Previous Cropping and Manuring ------ 8 
 
 Nitrate of Soda - 10 
 
 Date of Sowing - - ... 10 
 
 Varieties of Wheat 11 
 
 Weather. 12 
 
 Barberry Trees - 12 
 
 Experience of former Seasons _---.- 14 
 
 Other Particulars on the Subject 16 
 
 Previous Investigations concerning Mildew - 18 
 
 Mildew in Foreign Countries : 
 
 Australasia ..._..--- 21 
 
 Germany _..._- .___24 
 
 India 24 
 
 Japan -----------25 
 
 The Cause of Mildew .... 25 
 
 The Life History of the Fungus 26 
 
 The Berberis and Mildew 30 
 
 Predisposition -----------32 
 
 Modes of Prevention ----------34 
 
 Preventive Spraying - 34 
 
 Rust-resistant Varieties ---------39 
 
 Spring Rust and Mildew - - - - 42 
 
 LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 PLATE I. Barberry Blight (^Ecidium Berberidis) 27 
 
 PLATE II. Summer Rust and Mildew of Wheat (Puccinia Gramiitix) 28 
 PLATE III. Wheat Grains. A. from healthy plant ; B. from plant 
 
 attacked by Rust- - - 33 
 
 PLATE IV. Spring Rust and Mildew of Wheat (Puccinia Rnbigo Veni) 42
 
 GOS 
 Wf& 
 
 Rust or Mildew on Wheat Plants, 
 
 MEMORANDUM. 
 
 THE Board of Agriculture, having had repeatedly brought 
 under their notice the extensive losses sustained by agriculturists 
 from the presence of Rust or Mildew in wheat, have deemed it 
 desirable to publish the following summary of the information 
 collected in the summer of 1892 from various observers of the 
 circumstances of this year's attack in different parts of England. 
 
 In order, at the same time, to place before wheat growers the 
 conclusions of former investigations, and the results of the more 
 recent researches into this matter abroad, and in order to recall 
 attention to the leading features of the life history of this destruc- 
 tive and widely-prevalent fungus, Mr. Whitehead was requested 
 to append to his report on the replies of the representative 
 agriculturists, selected by him to give their experience in the 
 past season, a series of more general notes on the points above 
 indicated. He has also materially increased the usefulness of the 
 report by the coloured illustrations supplied, exhibiting the various 
 phases of the fungoid attacks now the subject of examination. 
 
 It is to be regretted that out of 144 agriculturists addressed 
 by the Board in June last, with a request for co-operation by sup- 
 plying the details of their experience, only thirty-seven have found 
 themselves in a position to furnish precise replies founded on 
 their own observations to the schedule of questions issued. 
 The reports received, however, embrace the experience of gentle- 
 men residing in as many as twenty-six different counties. In all 
 but seven of these counties more or less disastrous attacks of 
 rust were experienced in 1892. Few indications of novel ex- 
 planations of the phenomena in question have been supplied 
 by the reporters, although the connection between extensive 
 attacks of mildew and sudden atmospheric changes and un- 
 timely frosts has again, as in all earlier inquiries, formed a 
 prominent subject of comment. 
 
 74690. 3000. 3/93. Wt. 19066. A 2
 
 As pointed out in the following pages, the most notable of the 
 earlier investigations throwing light on the character and con- 
 sequences of Rust were those conducted by the Secretary of the 
 old Board of Agriculture, Arthur Young, and published in 1805 ; 
 by the President of that body, Sir John Sinclair, published in 
 1809 ; and, lastly, by Mr. W. C. Little, on behalf of the Royal 
 Agricultural Society of England, in 1883. 
 
 Among the incidental questions which necessarily pass undei 
 review in connection with the development of the fungus known 
 as "Puccim'a graminis," is the part asserted to be played by 
 the barberry as the host of a certain stage of the fungus. This 
 matter was prominently noticed in Arthur Young's inquiry in 
 the early years of the century. It had specific attention also 
 called to it in Mr. Carruthers' note in the " Royal Agricultural 
 Society's Journal," in 1882, when it was pointed out that the 
 experiments of De Bary had proved that the dEcidium of 
 the barberry and rust and mildew of wheat were only stages 
 in the life of the same plant. This matter was specially urged on 
 the Board by one of their earlier correspondents on this occa- 
 sion as deserving further inquiry and observation. There is, 
 however, but little corroborative evidence on this point furnished 
 by the observers reporting in 1892, and the important extracts 
 from the Australian reports herein given seem to indicate an 
 increased probability that the barberry plant despite what has 
 been proved against it may not be indispensable to the pro- 
 pagation of this fungoid attack. 
 
 It had been at one time hoped that the German and American 
 investigations conducted in 1892 would have been completed in 
 sufficient time to allow of the results being incorporated in this 
 Report. But as these are not yet available it has been deemed 
 inadvisable further to delay the issue of a statement which, it is 
 hoped, may direct increased attention to a question of no little 
 importance and interest, and which, on many of the points 
 noticed, and particularly on that of the production of rust- 
 resisting varieties of wheat, might usefully attract the careful 
 examination of scientific observers.
 
 REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 RUST OR MILDEW ON WHEAT PLANTS. 
 
 In pursuance of a decision by the Board of Agriculture to 
 make inquiry concerning rust or mildew on wheat plants, in the 
 summer of 1892 the following schedule of questions was issued 
 to certain agriculturists in different districts of the country, 
 asking them to co-operate with the Board by giving their general 
 experiences concerning mildew, as well as by recording facts 
 derived from their observations in connection with it during that 
 season. 
 
 Schedule of Questions, 
 
 I. 
 
 State (a) extent of farm ; () area sown with wheat in 1892; 
 (c) proportion of wheat crop attacked by mildew in 1892. 
 
 II. 
 
 Estimate of injury caused by mildew in 1892. 
 III. 
 
 Date of first appearance of the yellow, rusty (Uredd] form 
 of the mildew, and stage and growth of wheat plants at the time 
 of its appearance. 
 
 Date of first appearance of the black (Teleutospore] form of 
 the mildew, and stage of growth of wheat plants at the time of 
 its appearance. 
 
 The nature, composition, and general characteristics of the 
 soil of the affected wheat fields, noting especially, as far as 
 possible, the relative mineral jand organic constituents. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The cropping and manuring of the affected wheat fields during 
 1890 and 1891. 
 
 VII. 
 
 State (a] date of sowing ; () variety of 'wheat sown j 
 (c) nature of weather generally from sowing to harvest.
 
 VIII. 
 
 State whether Barberry trees, or shrubs, Berbcris vutgaris, or 
 other varieties of Berbcris, are growing near field affected by 
 mildew. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Give opinion and experience as to the connection between 
 the Barberry and wheat mildew. 
 
 X. 
 
 State experiences of former seasons when mildew has affected 
 wheat plants. 
 
 XI. 
 
 State any other particulars bearing upon the question. 
 
 Extent of Injury. 
 
 Taking these questions seriatim, it appears from the answers 
 received to No. I. that thirteen correspondents, in the counties of 
 Bedford, Berks, Cambridge, Essex, Gloucester, Hants, Hereford, 
 Lincoln, Norfolk, Northumberland, Somerset, and Warwick, 
 reported that all, or nearly all, of their wheat was affected. 
 
 A similar number of observers, in the counties of Bedfordshire, 
 Dorset, Essex, Hertford, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Warwick, Wilts, 
 and York, reported attacks of rust in varying percentages of their 
 crops. 
 
 On nine farms in the counties of Essex, Monmouth, Northamp- 
 ton, Northumberland, Stafford, Surrey, and York, no attack of 
 rust was observed. 
 
 Estimates of Loss from Mildew. 
 
 With regard to the amount of injury caused by the mildew, 
 this is estimated, in the answers to Question No. II., at from 
 nine bushels on a farm in Kent, to as high as sixteen bushels per 
 acre upon land at Dillington, Somerset, as returned by Mr. 
 Obed. Hosegood. Upon one farm in Norfolk, at West Barsham, 
 the loss is set at from four to sixteen bushels per acre. Mr. 
 Albert Pell puts the diminution in the yield of 120 acres in 
 the Isle of Ely, on account of the mildew, at from 100 to 150 
 quarters. Mr. Palmer, of Re veil's Hall, Hertford, estimates 
 his loss at 1507. on seventy-five acres of wheat land. Mr. 
 Martin, of Littleport, Ely, considers that his crop was decreased 
 from two to four quarters per acre, adding that " it is the most 
 serious and universal attack I have known for many years." Mr. 
 Game says of a farm at Great Rissington, Bourton-on-the- 
 Water, Gloucestershire, that the loss on twenty acres of wheat 
 and from mildew equalled 35 per cent. Mr. Murton Matson, 
 of St. Osyth, Colchester, states that it is hard to tell the 
 amount of loss, but certainly three sacks per acre: Mr. 
 Charles Clarke, of Scopwick, Lincoln, who sowed 125 acres with
 
 wheat, reckons that " mildew caused from one to two quarters 
 less yield, which at present value would De 28s. and 5 6s. per 
 acre." Besides the loss of weight of grain, the straw where mil- 
 dewed was of indifferent quality. Thus Mr. Clare Sewell Read 
 reports : " On the twenty-five acres, all the thin-planted part 
 of the field was badly blighted, and the straw very much dis- 
 coloured and spoiled, but little apparent damage was done to 
 the grain, which was a fair crop and a nice sample. Mr. 
 Charles Howard, of Biddenham, Bedford, says, " the straw was 
 more injured than the corn." Mr. Gearey, dating from King's 
 Langley, Herts, remarks that the estimate of injury caused by 
 mildew on his farm is " about 305. per acre, including damage 
 done to straw, the greater part of which is rendered black and is 
 very rotten." Mr. Allsop, of Romsey, Hants, who sowed forty-two 
 acres of wheat, puts the reduction of the yield at one-half, and 
 states " that the straw is very black." 
 
 On the other hand, it was found by some reporters that 
 though the mildew was present no actual loss was experienced. 
 Mr. Glenny, of Barking, Essex, noticed that a portion of hi? 
 wheat plants were mildewed, but records no damage. Mr. 
 Philip Shepheard, of the Hall Farm, Hunningham, near 
 Leamington, makes the following observations : " I do not 
 consider in my own case that very much damage has been done ; 
 the yield will not be affected probably beyond about two 
 bushels to the acre. The warm sunny days we had in the 
 middle of August came just in time to arrest what threatened to 
 be a serious attack." Mr. Palmer, of Revell's Hall, Hertford, 
 considers that the value of the straw upon a large portion of his 
 wheat land was reduced by 105. per load. 
 
 Date of Appearance of the Rusty (Uredo) Form. 
 Concerning the dates of the appearance of the yellow, or 
 rusty (Uredo), form of the mildew, there is a great difference in 
 point of time. In some cases it was noticed at the end of May. 
 In others not until the end of July, and even as late as the 
 first week of August. Mr. Clare Sewell Read remarks that 
 after the heavy rains of the middle of July, accompanied by a 
 sudden fall of temperature, some rough spots were observed 
 under the ear, and then the yellow rust became general 
 towards the end of the month. In Suffolk, Mr. Smith, of 
 Rendlesham, perceived it just before the wheat came into ear. 
 Mr. Gibb, of Lymington, Hants, first saw rust " about the 2oth 
 of June, when plants had been about a fortnight in ear, but the 
 attack was not very severe until the 2oth of July." Mr. Galpin, 
 of Blandford, Dorset, did not notice any rust until after the 
 severe frost of June 13 and 14. At Cardington, near Bedford, 
 Messrs. Maiden found rust " on June loth ; the ear was just 
 bursting the sheath." 
 
 Date of Appearance of the Black (Teleutospore) Form. 
 The black form (Teleutospore) showed itself also at some- 
 what varying periods. The earliest note of it was made on the
 
 1 9th of July, near Leamington, after ten days of very wet and 
 cold weather and complete absence of sunshine. The beginning 
 of August is the time most usually given, and just as the 
 ripening process commenced. In Wiltshire, near Chippenham, 
 Mr. Selman noticed it " in the second week in August, just as 
 we commenced reaping, and it developed rapidly during the 
 time the wheat was being cut." The first appearance of the 
 black form of mildew in the neighbourhood of Ely, was on the 
 ist of August, according to Mr. Martin, of Littleport, who pre- 
 viously observed a large amount of yellow rust on the flag. 
 Messrs. Maiden, of Cardington, near Bedford, give the " 3rd of 
 August ; grain commencing to harden, and straw turning," as 
 the time the black form of mildew showed itself on their 
 wheat. Mr. Clare Sewell Read noticed this form "just before 
 the wheat was cut towards the end of August," and Mr. 
 Palmer, of Revell's Hall, Hertford, states that the wheat was 
 cut early on the 2nd of August, when it was still green, and 
 before the black form of mildew had developed. The black 
 form, the Puccinia graminis was extensively present upon 
 straw forwarded some weeks later on. Mr. Alfred Smith, of 
 Rendlesham, Suffolk, who has furnished much valuable informa- 
 tion, gives the period of this appearing of the black form as 
 " about a week or ten days before cutting. Began to cut 
 August 4th Carter's Earliest of All; and the I3th August, 
 other varieties. The first appearance was after a rainy day 
 or two.' 1 
 
 The Nature of the Soil, and the relative Mineral and Organic 
 Constituents. 
 
 From the replies received it is apparent that the attributes of 
 the soil did not affect materially the attack of the mildew. 
 Light soils of a gravelly and sandy composition were as much 
 affected as those of a heavy, clayey, and alluvial nature. To 
 take a few typical instances where the injury done by mil- 
 dew was great. The soil of Mr. Clarke's farm at Scopwick, 
 Lincoln, is a " light heath, waterpit stone, and black soil, with 
 gravel subsoil to the latter " ; while that of Mr. Pell's " Aus- 
 tralia " farm, in Cambridgeshire, is " black fen land ; subsoil, 
 gravel." Upon Mr. Hunt's holding in Come, Lincolnshire, the 
 soil is heavy land with a gault and clay subsoil. The land upon 
 Mr. Ellis' farm at West Barsham, Norfolk, is "very varied, 
 ranging from a gravelly, very light soil, to a strong clay, in- 
 cluding, between the extremes, strong mixed soil resting on 
 chalk, but there was little difference in the amount of blight, 
 with the exception of the wheat following beans, where the 
 attack was very serious." In the return furnished by Mr. Obed 
 Hosegood, of Dillington Farm, Somerset, whose loss was from 
 eight to ten bushels per acre, " the soil affected most generally 
 is sandy, light soil." Mr. Kimber, of Abingdon, Berks, whose 
 estimate of loss is from 15 to 20 per cent., states "the 
 soil is chiefly of a sandy, friable nature, but in some of the
 
 fields in which the underlying rock contains a considerable pei- 
 centage of lime, the soil is of a sticky nature when wet. The 
 percentage of organic matter is very low." Mr. Charles 
 Howard's account of his land is "a light gravelly soil;" and 
 the Messrs. Maiden, also near Bedford, say, " The soil is all 
 alluvial, and varies from light gravel to very heavy loam. The 
 land is farmed fairly high, as it is used largely to grow market 
 garden and special croppings. A slight deficiency in lime, 
 owing to the land having been under arable cropping for a very 
 considerable period, is the only feature worthy of notice. All 
 the fields seemed to suffer but the more typical wheat land, the 
 medium loams, perhaps, suffered most. The land is well 
 drained, and there is nothing naturally prejudicial in the soil. 
 In fact it holds a good reputation." 
 
 The seventy-five acres of wheat land belonging to Mr. Palmer, 
 of Revell's Hall, Hertford, upon which the whole of the crop 
 was affected, are categorized as under : 
 
 15 acres, mostly gravelly. 
 
 1 8 gravel and light loam. 
 
 13 gravelly. 
 
 17 gravel and light loam. 
 
 15 light loam. 
 
 Upon a very heavy clay soil in Kent the attack was very 
 slight, and only the red wheat was affected. The white wheat 
 escaped. 
 
 At Hunningham, near Leamington, Mr. Shepheard, whose loss 
 was equal to about two bushels per acre, reports that one of his 
 affected fields is " a good mixed loam of medium, or light tex- 
 ture, overlying clay, with gravel under in places. Another is a 
 marly clay. The relative organic and mineral constituents are 
 such as are usually found in fairly fertile land. I am not aware 
 of any particular preponderance or lack of any one constituent, 
 but probably in the six-acre field the organic elements in the 
 shape of nitrogen from the decay of the clover roots (the clover 
 was a great full crop) would preponderate." 
 
 Previous Cropping and Manuring. 
 
 It is remarked by Mr. Shepheard, of Hunningham, that the 
 wheat after clover was the most mildewed this season, a 
 few pieces sown after beans and peas were not attacked 
 nearly as much. Messrs. Maiden write : " The cropping and 
 manuring of previous years seem to have had very little influence 
 upon the wheat mildew. It has been most impartial. Some of 
 our wheat is on land which has received artificial manure within 
 the last three years, and some has not. Some is after potatoes ; 
 other after clover ; other after roots fed ; other after peas ; 
 but there is nothing to choose between them." 
 
 In many cases the wheat was sown upon clover ley. On 
 account of the wet autumn of 1891, it was very difficult to get 
 some land in with wheat after turnips, beans, or peas.
 
 id 
 
 Mr. Kimber, of Abingdon, found that his wheat after clover 
 was the worst affected. He gives the following account : " The 
 land is farmed on the four-course system, and grew clover in 
 1891, or else beans, or vetches fed off by sheep, and barley in 
 1890. The barley followed roots fed on the land by sheep. 
 The beans in 1890 were manured with farmyard manure. Part 
 of the clover had dung, and part had none. The wheat following 
 the clover was most affected with mildew ; that after vetches 
 next ; and the wheat after beans least affected." 
 
 Mr. Joseph Smith, of Hasketon, Suffolk, whose crop was consi- 
 derably injured, sowed his wheat on a clover ley, well manured 
 with farmyard manure, once mown, then fed with sheep having a 
 liberal supply of cake. " If land is farmed high," Mr. Smith 
 remarks, " with much decaying vegetable matter in the ground, 
 then we may look for mildew, more or less severe, almost 
 certain to develop itself if the plant is thin and backward." 
 
 Mr. Martin, of Littleport, Ely, states that " all land is affected 
 more or. less, whether sown with artificial manure, superphos- 
 phate, or farmyard manure. From observation, I am inclined to 
 think that, as a rule, the mildew is most serious where wheat was 
 sown after oats." 
 
 Mr. Hosegood, Somerset, found that wheat after mangels was 
 the least rusted. After turnips fed off and got in after Christmas 
 it was more rusted. But the worst generally was wheat after 
 clover. 
 
 Mr. Pell says " all the crops on the fen lands are affected, 
 quite irrespective of the cropping." 
 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 But few records are given as to the influence of nitrate of 
 soda, which is generally considered to be very conducive to the 
 spread and injury of rust. Mr. Ellis, of West Barsham, holds 
 that top-dressing a thin plant of wheat with nitrogenous manures 
 nearly always intensifies, if it does not cause, mildew. Mr. 
 Read, of Southam, Warwickshire, detected rust only in one acre 
 out of fifty he had under wheat. This acre was in wheat after 
 clover ; and, as the plant rooted weak in spring, nitrate of soda 
 had been applied of i cwt. per acre, and forced a heavy crop of 
 straw. Taken as a whole, the evidence of the reporters tends 
 to show that previous cropping and manuring have not an 
 important influence upon mildew, though, on the other hand, 
 it is believed that many farmers in Scotland hold that manuring, 
 and especially with nitrate of soda, materially affects the attack 
 of mildew.- 
 
 Date of Sowing. 
 
 Owing to the unusually wet autumn, the dates of wheat- 
 sowing vary considerably in the reports, ranging between the 
 first week in October to the end of February. It is said, 
 however, that there was no difference noted between wheats
 
 II 
 
 Sown early or late, as regards mildew. In one case the autumn- 
 sown wheat was more affected than that got in during February ; 
 while exactly the reverse is chronicled in another instance. As 
 will be seen later on in this Report, the Australian farmers find 
 that early-sown wheat is always much less liable to mildew 
 than that sown late. 
 
 Varieties of Wheat. 
 
 Upon the whole, it is shown that there is not much specific 
 difference in the mildew-resisting powers of various kinds of 
 wheat. Some reporters affirm that " Square-head" is less liable 
 to mildew than other varieties. Mr. Middleton, of Marton, 
 Yorkshire, remarks as follows : " there has been no mildew in 
 my wheat this season. I attribute this in a great measure 
 to the fact that I only sow the Square-head variety. I 
 observe on several farms where I have been valuing the crops 
 between the outgoing and incoming tenants that this variety 
 has suffered much less than others, some being damaged 
 fully one-half." On the other hand, Mr. Shepheard, of 
 Hunningham, notes " that the Square-head variety of 
 wheat is considered by many people to be particularly 
 subject to mildew." Another reporter endorses this statement. 
 " Rough chaff white " was in one instance much worse mil- 
 dewed than other sorts. Mr. Kimber's experience is that the 
 red wheats on his farm suffered most, and of these " Golden 
 Drop " was the worst. 
 
 Mr. Rowland Wood, of Thrapston, makes this interesting 
 note as to varieties : " Twice when I have had Reedy Red wheat 
 and the old white Square-headed wheat, both have mildewed, 
 when adjoining fields of Browick Red wheat, drilled the same 
 time and the fields cultivated the same, have never blighted or 
 mildewed. I have frequently tried to grow the white chaff 
 Square-headed wheat, which has always blighted or mildewed, 
 and I have never had the old Browick Red either blighted or 
 mildewed. My land is woodland soil, and subsoil clay." 
 
 Upon Mr. Clarke's farm, at Scopwick, near Lincoln, Swal- 
 low's Red mildews as little as any variety. Mr. Clarke adds : 
 " I have ten acres harvested this year from seed picked from 
 the best ears, and it was only attacked slightly. I have thrashed 
 it, and get four quarters per acre, and shall sow it this year all 
 round." 
 
 " All red wheats," says Mr. Idiens, of Penkridge, " are less 
 liable to mildew than white. I never knew a case of mildew on 
 a variety known as the Old Red Lammas." 
 
 Most interesting records are furnished by Mr. Alfred Smith, of 
 Rendlesham, upon this point. Mr. Smith sowed a field called 
 Park Hill, in October 1892, with two varieties of wheat. "This 
 field," he says, "in 1890 was cropped with peas, in 1891 with seeds, 
 fed by sheep till July, when half of it was ploughed and sowed 
 with mustard, which was fed off by sheep the latter part of Octo- 
 ber, the other part remaining seeds until October, when it was
 
 12 
 
 mucked at the rate of sixteen carts per acre. The whole field 
 was then ploughed the short way of the field, and drilled directly 
 crossways of the plough. The half of the field next the Toad 
 was drilled with ' Kinver ' wheat, and was badly affected with 
 mildew. The upper half was drilled with 'Windsor Forest/ 
 and was free. Both varieties were drilled at the same time." 
 It would seem from this that there is some resisting power in 
 the Windsor Forest wheat, seeing that both varieties were sub- 
 jected to the same treatment. 
 
 Samples of the grain and straw of Kinver and of Windsor 
 Forest were sent most kindly by Mr. Smith, which bore out his 
 statement. The straw and chaff of the former were much 
 spotted with the black sori of Puccinia graminis, and the grains 
 were shrivelled. But the Windsor Forest straw was bright and 
 almost entirely free from sori, and the grain was plump and well- 
 shaped, and as good a sample as could be seen in any season. 
 
 Mr. G. Watkins, of Gulpho Hall, Ipswich, experienced 
 exactly the same result as Mr. Smith. Windsor Forest was 
 perfectly healthy, whereas Square-head's Master, sowed along- 
 side, and on the headlands round Windsor Forest, was badly 
 blighted. 
 
 Weather. 
 
 . In the reports received there is a general approximation with 
 .respect 'to the weather conditions. The autumn was very 
 wet, so that the seed was got in late, and in very many cases 
 v went in badly. Here and there it could not be got in until 
 February. After this there was a very dry time in most dis- 
 tricts, which lasted more or less until the beginning of harvest. 
 The temperature was below the average, according to all the 
 correspondents. Beyond the fact that the difficulties of 
 seeding, and the bad "season" caused a "thin plant," stated 
 by several to be more liable to be attacked by mildew than a 
 full and even plant, not much stress is laid upon the influence 
 of unfavourable climatic conditions, with the exception of the 
 remarkable frosts of June the i3th and i4th. According to 
 many, the yellow, or rusty, form of the mildew showed 
 itself soon after these frosts. This is corroborated by Mr. 
 Duckham, the well-known agriculturist, who says, " I ex- 
 perienced a sharp frost in 1867 on the 28th of June. At 
 that time my wheat was a grand crop. Yellow rust followed 
 to a very serious extent." Mr. Duckham considers that wet 
 weather also causes mildew, as he says that in 1879 and 1880, 
 two very wet years, black mildew very seriously injured the 
 crop ; so much so, that the straw broke into short lengths when 
 thrashed, and it was with difficulty he obtained any for thatching 
 the ricks. 
 
 Barberry Trees. 
 
 Not much light is thrown upon the connection between 
 barberry trees and mildew. They are said to be growing in the
 
 13 
 
 neighbourhood of infected wheat-fields by some of the reporters, 
 who, however, do not seem to attach much importance to their 
 presence. Mr. Ellis, of West Barsham, reports that there are no 
 barberry trees near, but their evil effects have been noted in the 
 neighbouring district, but for several years the trees have not been 
 permitted to grow. " My opinion," he says, " is that the mildew 
 attacks are always rendered more virulent by the presence of the 
 barberry. In a field of some forty acres a few years ago one 
 hedge contained about seven barberry bushes, each of these most 
 seriously affected a space in the form of an equilateral triangle ; 
 where the base was some forty yards wide with the bush midway, 
 and the apex some 100 yards into the field, there the effect 
 seemed to die away. The remainder of the field was quite free 
 from blight." Mr. Kimber, of Fyfield Wick, has no barberry 
 trees growing near his land, but he remarks that he had a 
 farm for many years in the adjoining parish on which there 
 were two light sandy fields one lying on the east side and one 
 on the west side of a garden shrubbery in which a barberry tree 
 was growing. These fields when in wheat were often affected by 
 mildew, and he noticed that the attack always began in a small 
 spot in either field on the side adjoining the shrubbery, and 
 gradually spread itself from those points. 
 
 Mr. Charles Howard has a barbery tree growing in his 
 quite half a mile away from the wheat fields. He 
 " In my case it does not appear that the mil( 
 be caused by this single bush at such a distanc^ 
 beginning of this century, Batchelor, in his book of B^ 
 gives the experience of several persons upon this 
 appears that the wheat was only affected when 
 proximity to the barberry bushes which were in the he 
 
 Of infected wheat land, near Lymington, Hants, 
 writes : " Barberry trees or shrubs are present in adjoining 
 hedgerows, but are not very abundant. Wheat generally shows 
 symptoms of attack at outsides, or near to hedges, first, indicat- 
 ing that uredospores are carried by the wind from hedges or 
 other foul sources. Where barberry plants have been seen to 
 be badly affected by ascidio-spores, if there is wheat near, an 
 attack of mildew of greater or less severity, according to the 
 season, has been seen to follow." One reporter, Mr. Galpin, of 
 Blandford, who has given much practical information, remarks 
 that his farm when he took it had been " beggared out, as they 
 say." He states that there were several barberry bushes in the 
 hedges. These he roote'd out, and the farm, although naturally 
 poor, is not nearly so liable to blight as it used to be. He adds : 
 " With regard to the connection between barberry bushes and 
 mildew I am not qualified to speak, but believing there to be 
 some connection between the two, I thought it best to get rid 
 of the barberries. I have noticed very little mildew in barberry 
 bushes this year. My own opinion is that the best way to 
 combat mildew in wheat is to farm high and sow early." 
 
 Messrs. Maiden report that wild barberry, and many other 
 species of Berberis, are very commonly found in the gardens,
 
 14 
 
 as they are very popular shrubs. They are occasionally met 
 with iii the woods, hedges, and coverts in the neighbourhood. 
 Messrs. Maiden first noticed blight on the barberry this year 
 about May i2th. On June i8th the cups were numerous, and in 
 an advanced condition, and the microscope showed the spores 
 being given off in large numbers. 
 
 Mr. Shepheard reports that there are no barberry trees near 
 him. He has known instances in which a patch of mildew has 
 spread across part of a field, apparently taking its rise from a 
 barberry tree, and the attacked strip gradually narrowed as it got 
 farther from the tree, but he has never farmed land where bar- 
 berry trees have been in proximity. 
 
 Experiences of former Seasons. 
 
 Mr. Palmer, of Revell's Hall, Hertford, says, " We nearly 
 always have had some mildew in this neighbourhood, and it is 
 generally more prevalent in wet summers than in dry, but 
 this is not always the case. There is not any doubt that wheat 
 is best cut early when attacked by mildew, and it has always 
 been my practice to cut it, if possible, before it has become 
 black. There are two advantages in this : first, the straw 
 is more valuable ; second, the wheat is of better quality." 
 
 Mr. Stratton, of the Duffryn, Monmouth, reports that mildew 
 generally attacks the wheat crops, especially when late sown. 
 Crops grown on land in a high state of cultivation are more 
 liable to it than any others ; also on lands lying low and damp 
 they are more often affected. Damp and sunless weather is 
 very conducive to the development of mildew. 
 
 Mr. Clare Sewell Read has often had partial attacks of 
 mildew, which generally followed heavy top-dressings or thin- 
 planted wheats, especially from nitrate of soda, and frequently 
 the grain has been greatly injured ; but he never experienced 
 such an attack of mildew which so damaged the straw, and 
 spared the grain, as in the season of 1892. 
 
 On Ossemly Manor Farm, near Lymington, Mr. Gibb 
 reports an attack in 1891, and writes: "Late-sown wheat 
 was attacked, early-sown escaping. Where backward wheat 
 is top-dressed with nitrate of soda, I have found it parti- 
 cularly liable to mildew; or wherever there be an excess 
 of nitrogen in the soil, from whatever cause, when rain in 
 June follows warm dry weather, an attack is almost certain. 
 White wheats, particularly the long -stra wed and delicate 
 varieties, are more subject to attack than red. I have found 
 the application of lime, where the soil is deficient in this 
 property, very beneficial, either in the form of hot lime, 
 gas lime, marl, chalk, or, latterly, basic slag. Superphosphate 
 sown with wheat on the black peaty soils adjoining the 
 New Forest will greatly lessen the chance of attack, and 
 increase the yield of grain, and give stiffer and better straw, 
 even when half the ordinary application of farmyard manure 
 has been withheld."
 
 '5 
 
 " Mildew," Mr. Geary, of King's Langley, states, " has 
 generally appeared in wet seasons, or when late frosts have 
 been experienced. No blight in 1868, 1869, 1870, 1877, 1886, 
 and 1887, except in the field near to the barberry tree." 
 
 The experience of Mr. Allsop, of East Wellow, Romsey, 
 Hants, is that in seasons of mildew there is always a very bad 
 yield of corn, a very bad sample, a very low price, and very 
 poor weight per bushel. He says, " I am stacking my last field 
 of wheat to-day, and it is the blackest straw, and the worst 
 sample of corn, I have ever seen." 
 
 " Never experienced mildew, except there have been frosts ; 
 but people must rise early to know this," are the observations 
 of Mr. Game, of Bourton-on-the- Water, Gloucestershire. 
 
 Mr. Alfred J. Smith, of Rendlesham, has attributed mildew 
 to game and rabbits keeping the plant backward during the 
 spring, and consequently a very luxuriant growth later on, but 
 he is not convinced of this. 
 
 Mr. C. Lee Campbell, of Glewstone Court, Ross, whose 
 loss was heavy this year, states that his wheat crops were 
 never seriously affected before. 
 
 Writing of his district in Bedfordshire, Mr. Charles Howard 
 remarks : " It is thought that mildew has not affected the wheats 
 so much since 1855." 
 
 " It has generally happened that the wheat has been 
 mildewed when the summer has been dull and cloudy, with a 
 lack of sunshine," writes Mr. Selman, of Chippenham. 
 
 Mr. Kimber's experience is that hitherto mildew has confined 
 its attack at Fyfield Wick to single fields, or parts of fields, and 
 the cause could generally be attributed to some special treatment 
 which the fields had received ; usually to an excessive dressing 
 of nitrogenous manure. He adds : " This season it would 
 appear that on our poor light soils the wheat plants suffered 
 from weakness, and from some cause or other had not suffi- 
 cient strength and vitality to resist the attack of the fungus." 
 
 " If a piece of wheat becomes laid about a month before 
 ripening it has generally become affected by mildew," is the 
 opinion of Mr. Albert Pell ; and Mr. Joseph Martin, of Littleport, 
 has always considered that the appearance of mildew is entirely 
 owing to the weather/and this season has strongly confirmed his 
 previous opinion. 
 
 Mr. Idiens, of Penkridge, Stafford, remarks that he has had 
 a good deal of experience with mildew in former years, and is 
 of opinion that it is sometimes caused by July frosts when the 
 corn is in a milky stage, adding that such would be the case 
 this year. He says "rough chaff wheat is the most liable, 
 particularly if it is shown on a clover ley, and should it happen 
 to be a thin plant in spring, and late in its spring growth, it 
 is very certain to be blighted unless the summer is very dry." - 
 
 The worst attack of mildew within the experience of 
 Messrs. Maiden, of Cardington, Bedford, was in 1879, when they 
 weighed wheat only 49 Ibs. the imperial bushel. They observe": 
 " There is wheat in this country now no better ; but, as it was
 
 16 
 
 harvested in a dryer condition than in 1879, it weighs rather 
 more; 1880 was nearly as bad as 1879. Every cold wet 
 summer produces mildewed wheat. In fact, it is present 
 and does damage every year, though, as a satisfactory 
 yield is often obtained in spite of it, its evil effect is not 
 noted. Between this and Luton, towards the left to Big- 
 gleswade, most of the plaiting straw used in the English 
 straw plait manufacture is grown, and doubtless those who 
 examined the straws carefully would say they never knew 
 a season when all the straws were clean. There have been none 
 of good quality for plaiting since 1887. The loss to the 
 country must amount to an average of millions of pounds per 
 annum. The disease is most prevalent in sunless years. Also 
 in years like the present, when there are severe frosts in June. 
 Stout straw wheats, such as Rivett's, generally suffer less than 
 that of weaker varieties. Before 1887 Rivett and Hardcastle 
 formed a mixture for which this parish was celebrated, but 
 during the cold seasons after tnat period they could not be grown 
 profitably ; no sorts are profitable now. Square-head, Rivetts, 
 and others had to be grown in their places. Latterly we have 
 been able to grow the two former varieties with fair success, 
 but this year all are a failure. No wheat in this parish has 
 fetched 305. per quarter (504 Ibs.) this season. It would be 
 most serviceable if it could be proved that the wheat mildew 
 can only originate after it has passed through the barberry. As 
 far as scientists have gone the point seems to be, can the 
 uredo spores exist through the winter ? If they cannot, the 
 question lies in a nutshell." 
 
 .Other Particulars on the Subject. 
 
 The answers under this head are somewhat diversified, and 
 give a good deal of general information of a useful character. 
 For instance, Mr. Ellis, of West Barsham, replies that top- 
 dressing a thin plant with nitrogenous manure nearly always 
 intensifies, if it does not induce, the blight ; and, again, a thin 
 plant is always more liable to blight than a full plant. Top- 
 dressing in any case is, in his opinion, dangerous for wheat on 
 starved land. 
 
 Mr. Idiens believes that rust and mildew are very fre- 
 quently brought on through top-dressings of nitrate of soda 
 and sulphate of ammonia on thin plants, and very rarely so if 
 the plant be a thick one. 
 
 The opinion of Mr. Marsden, of Morley, Yorkshire, is, " that 
 cold, wet weather in summer, and the absence of sunshine when 
 the wheat is in bloom, is the chief cause of mildew, especially 
 when the straw becomes lodged on the ground." 
 
 Another statement as to a thin plant of wheat being more often 
 affected than a good,, full plant is made by Mr. Selman, of 
 Chippenham. " In a field," he writes, " of eleven acres, one- 
 half of which was a good plant and free from mildew, the other 
 half was this year affected badly, and on this part, although
 
 T 7 
 
 sown the same day, the plant was thin, and this has been my 
 experience on former occasions." 
 
 Mr. Clare Sewell Read remarks that late wheats, those 
 thinly planted, and all those growing on peaty soils on 
 low-lying lands, or where the field is surrounded with high 
 hedgerows, and many trees, are more subject to mildew than 
 early wheats with a full plant and growing upon high sound 
 land. " Indeed," he adds, " it is only rarely that upon such 
 soils, unless too heavily manured, that mildew does much 
 damage in this part of Norfolk." 
 
 Mr. Primrose McConnell, of Ongar, Essex, believes that the 
 attacks of mildew may be largely prevented by draining, 
 liming, cutting down the hedges, and the use of mineral manures, 
 so that a flaggy growth may not be induced, and by the growth 
 of red wheat in preference to white. 
 
 Under this head, Mr. Chrisp, of Hawkhill, near Alnwick, 
 writes : " I intended spraying all my wheat last spring by means 
 of the Strawsonizer with hot lime and sulphur, two bushels of 
 the former, and 4 Ibs. of the latter to the acre, as a similar 
 application worked wonders upon turnips the previous summer, 
 but was prevented from carrying out my intention. This appli- 
 cation, together with keeping the plant firm at the root by 
 means of repeated rollings would conduce to its health and 
 power of warding off disease." 
 
 Besides these communications in reply to the questions 
 issued by the Board of Agriculture, others have been re- 
 ceived complaining of the prevalence of mildew, notably in 
 the Midland Counties and the Fen districts. These add to the 
 conviction that the attack of mildew in 1892 was one of the 
 most severe, if not the most severe that has ever been experi- 
 enced in this country. They do not, however, throw any more 
 light upon che cause of the disorder nor upon the conditions in 
 which it appears, spreads, and devastates. 
 
 With regard to these conditions, the only definite consensus of 
 opinion expressed in the answers to the Schedule of questions is 
 that the low temperature in June caused the unprecedented attack. 
 In some cases rust was noticed soon after the unusual frost of the 
 morning of June i3th. In others the intensity of the attack is 
 attributed to the general low temperature at the periods of the 
 blossoming, and of the commencement of the hardening of the 
 grains. No modes of cultivation seem to have made much 
 difference. In respect of the influence of manures, some observers 
 noted that mildew was worse when nitrate of soda had been used. 
 It was also stated by several that wheat after clover ley was more 
 severely affected than wheat after mangels and turnips. This 
 evidence agrees remarkably with the opinion of Sir J. Lawes and 
 Dr. Augustus Voelcker given in extenso later on, that mildew 
 does far more harm to wheat on land having large available 
 supplies of nitrogenous food. And, it must also be remembered, 
 that an unusually large proportion of the wheat this year was 
 put in after clover, as it was impossible to get it in on heavy soils 
 after mangels and swedes, 
 
 74690. B
 
 i8 
 
 There is nothing particularly new or striking in the evidence 
 that has been obtained in the various answers to the Schedule 
 of questions, and perhaps it could hardly be expected, as the 
 subject involves close and continued observations, which busy 
 men have not time to give. One or two points, however, 
 stand out prominently, and require special comment. The first 
 is that most of the reporters connect this severe attack of 
 mildew with the changes of temperature, and particularly 
 with the unusually severe white frosts in the spring and 
 summer. And it is remarkable that in previous inquiries made 
 with regard to mildew in this country by the Board of Agricul- 
 ture in 1804, and by the Royal Agricultural Society in 1883, 
 there is a similar agreement as to the connection between 
 its attacks and abnormally cold weather. Another point 
 is the apparent power to resist mildew in some varieties 
 of wheat, as exemplified by Mr. A. Smith's experience above 
 described. Mr. Smith's experience in this direction has been 
 corroborated by the experience of Mr. Rowland with regard to 
 the immunity from mildew of Red Browick. 
 
 PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS CONCERNING 
 MILDEW. 
 
 It appears from agricultural literature that mildew has been 
 common in this country for a long while. Hartlib, in his 
 " Legacy of Husbandry." written in 1655, sa y s > " Our hus- 
 bandry is deficient in this, that we know not how to remedy 
 the infirmities of our growing corn, especially smut and milde . 
 which bring great calamities upon our country, the former in 
 wet years, mildew in dry." 
 
 Jethro Tull, in his Horse-Hoeing Husbandry, published in 
 1731, speaks of mildew as causing " a year of blight, the like of 
 which was never before heard of, and which I hope may never 
 happen again."* It would seem that we do not know more 
 " how to remedy this infirmity of our growing corn " than when 
 Samuel Hartlib penned his Legacy. Though this has been for 
 so long a persistent " infirmity," there have been only three 
 inquiries of any importance concerning it. or at least inquiries 
 of an official, or semi-official character. The first is that of 
 Arthur Young, Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, made in 
 1805, and recorded in the Annals of Agriculture ;f the second was 
 conducted by Sir J. Sinclair, in 1809,^ also in connection with 
 
 Horse-Hoeing Husbandry, by Jethro Tull, p. 74. 
 
 j- Annals of Agriculture and other Useful Arts, collected and published by 
 Arthur Young, Esq., Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, vol. xliii 
 1805. 
 
 J Results of an Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Blight, the Rust 
 and the Mildew, which have particularly affected the Crops of Wheat on the 
 Borders of England and Scotland, by Sir J. Sinclair, Bart., M.P., 1809.
 
 19 
 
 the Board of Agriculture ; and the third by Mr. W. C. Little, in 
 1883, undertaken for the Royal Agricultural Society of England.* 
 These inquiries were conducted pretty much upon the same 
 lines, by means of a Schedule of questions forwarded to leading 
 agriculturists in different parts of the country ; and although in 
 the first two the results are not particularly conclusive, except, 
 perhaps, as to cold, changeable weather being, to a great extent, 
 the cause of mildew, there are more definite conclusions 
 stated by Mr. Little, which may be given here in his own 
 clear words : 
 
 1 . "It would appear that seasons are the chief cause of 
 mildew, and that sudden changes of temperature and rain, 
 accompanied by close, still weather, are favourable to the 
 spread of the disease. 
 
 2. That low-lying soils are most subject to this attack. 
 
 3. That high farming and too generous manuring, parti- 
 cularly with nitrogenous manure, promote mildew. 
 
 4. That early sowing is desirable on all land subject to 
 mildew. 
 
 5. That a thin and gathering crop runs more risk of the 
 disease than an evenly-planted -crop." 
 
 Mr. Little also received most important communications 
 from Sir J. Lawes and Dr. Augustus Voelcker, which are worthy 
 of reproduction here, as they show that the effects of mildew 
 depend materially upon the constituents of the soil. Thus, Sir 
 John Lawes writes : " I consider that plants are liable to be 
 attacked by fungi, parasites, insects, &c., in proportion as the 
 soil is deficient in available mineral food. I happened to pass 
 through the Fen district in the summer of 1881, and I 
 particularly noticed the dreadful state of the wheat in that 
 district ; and as my own wheat, although not a good crop, had 
 not suffered from mildew, I was anxious to know whether the 
 season in that district possessed any special characters differing 
 from my own. According to my view, fen-land wheat should 
 be especially liable to mildew, as the balance of the soil-con- 
 stituents is organic and not mineral. Ordinary arable land 
 such as mine contains about 97 per cent, of mineral matter, 
 and 3 per cent, of vegetable substances. Some of the fen land 
 must have these proportions almost reversed. It is quite pos- 
 sible that when the climate favours mildew, it will prevail more 
 or less, but the extent to w*hich it will prevail, will greatly 
 depend upon the relation between the mineral and organic 
 matter in the soil, and I should be disposed to say that the 
 greater the amount of available mineral matter, potash, lime, 
 silica, phosphate at the disposal of the plant, the greater 
 would be its power of resistance." f 
 
 * The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xix., 
 2nd ser. 
 
 j- Mr. Little's Report, Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. 
 xix., 2nd aer. 
 
 B 2
 
 20 
 
 Dr. Augustus Voelcker, writing to Mr. Little in 1882, 
 remarks, after having given the analysis of a soil upon which 
 wheat was much mildewed : " This is a very instructive case, 
 for it confirms the frequent observations I have made in various 
 parts of England, that an excess of available nitrogenous food, 
 be it nitrate of soda, ammonia, salts, or organic matters which 
 are readily decomposed in the soil, appears to me to have a 
 decided tendency to cause mildew in wheat." Dr. Voelcker 
 goes on to show that wheat after a root-crop would be expected 
 to be far less mildewed than wheat after clover, which leaves 
 a large amount of nitrogenous food in the land. 
 
 These are valuable contributions to the theoretical knowledge 
 of this subject, and are to some extent borne out by the various 
 inquiries that have been made respecting it, but it requires 
 careful experimentation and close observation to prove exactly 
 what is the effect of nitrogenous manures upon mildew, as well 
 as to demonstrate accurately what other conditions are favour- 
 able or unsuitable to its development and progress. Looking 
 at the four sets of inquiries that have been made since 1805, 
 and comparing them together, it is evident that the last does 
 not throw much more light on the question than the first, and 
 that if this question is to be solved satisfactorily it must be 
 relegated to trained observers. 
 
 MILDEW IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
 
 Mildew, or rust, as it is generally termed abroad, is exciting 
 as much interest in other countries as in Great Britain. In the 
 United States, mildew, or rust, is a frequent trouble to wheat- 
 growers, occasionally causing much injury,* and is fitful and 
 uncertain in its visitation. In the United States, as in England, 
 and probably in all wheat-growing countries, there are other 
 kinds of mildew, or rust, than that due to Puccinia graminis, 
 which affect wheat crops, though they are not generally 
 differentiated by agriculturists. For example, in Great 
 Britain the fungus Cladosporium herbarum in some dis- 
 tricts did as much harm as Puccinia graminis in 1892, and 
 possibly in previous years. Rust is the common term employed 
 in the United States for affections of this nature as distinguished, 
 however, from smut, Ustilago segetum, and in Australasia rust is 
 generally used to designate the effects of Puccinia graminis and 
 other fungi of similar characteristics. In Germany the attack 
 of Puccinia graminis is styled rust, Getreide-rost, 
 
 Great interest in the question of rust is being taken in the 
 United States at this time. The Massachusetts Experiment 
 
 In the Bulletin cf the Agricultural Experiment Station of Indiana, 
 U.S., it is stated that rust is often credited with damage equal to 50 per 
 cent, of the normal crop, and it is estimated that the annual average loss 
 from thjs cause represents a sum of 820,000^,
 
 21 
 
 Station sent out a circular of inquiries early in May 1892, to 
 farmers, gardeners, and mycologists as to the condition in which 
 rust is prevalent and destructive and as to its effects upon the 
 crop. There were eight questions asked, and they are very 
 similar to those at the head of this paper. The answers and the 
 report thereon have not yet been received, but they cannot fail 
 to be interesting, as the Massachusetts Experimental Station 
 is one of the most important and most ably-conducted of these 
 numerous American institutions. 
 
 A large number of experiments were made in 1892 by the 
 Division of Vegetable Pathology of the United States Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture upon wheat-rust ; the results of these have 
 unfortunately not yet been published. Experiments upon rust, 
 or mildew, on wheat were also carried out in 1890 at the Agri- 
 cultural College at Guelph, in Canada, and the following 
 conclusions were arrived at : 
 
 i st. Seasons are the chief cause of rust. Sudden 
 changes of temperature and rain, accompanied by close 
 sultry weather, are favourable to its increase. 
 
 2nd. Low-lying rich soils are most subject to its attacks. 
 3rd. An excessive use of manures rich in nitrogen 
 encourages the disease. 
 
 4th. Late-sown grain-crops are the most liable to the 
 attack. 
 
 5th. Thinly-sown wheat crops are most liable to rust. 
 An inquiry of this nature was also instituted by Professor 
 Panton, Natural History Professor to the Ontario College 
 of Agriculture, in which the results were identical with those 
 arrived at from the Guelph experiments. 
 
 Australasia. 
 
 Rust has been present in some of the Australasian colonies for 
 a long while, according to Sir J. Banks, who states that it was 
 known in New South Wales in 1803 ;* but it appears to have 
 increased lately, and has caused considerable excitement during 
 the last few years. In 1890 a Conference of delegates from 
 New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, 
 and Tasmania was held at Melbourne to discuss the subject, and 
 to consider what modes of prevention and remedies could be 
 adopted. A similar Conference was held in 1891 at Sydney, and 
 in 1892 delegates from the above colonies assembled at Adelaide. 
 At the meeting at Sydney in 1891 the President, the Hon. 
 Sydney Smith, Minister of Agriculture, in his address to the 
 delegates said : " No one can deny the immense amount of 
 damage caused by rust in special years, and the considerable 
 mischief caused even in what may otherwise be called favour- 
 able years. When we learn that the loss in our greatest wheat- 
 
 * A Short Account of the Cause cf the Disease in Corn called by Farmers 
 the Blight, the Mildew, and the Rust, by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., P.R.S.
 
 22 
 
 growing colony has been estimated at 1,500,0007. for one year, 
 and that the total loss to Australia is not far short of 2,000,000 /. 
 sterling, it can easily be seen that the subject \ve have to discuss 
 is one of national importance." 
 
 As a preliminary to these Conferences a circular of inquiries 
 was sent to numerous farmers in each colony. Many replies 
 were received, but, as was pointed out in 1892, by Dr. Cobb, a 
 delegate from New South Wales, " The sending out of questions 
 has been rather unproductive. If the Conference does nothing 
 but propose a continuance of this plan of elucidating information 
 from the farmers, any further meeting would be without practi- 
 cal result." It was stated by the President at this Conference 
 that experiments were being regularly conducted at the Agricul- 
 tural College in South Australia, thirty miles from Adelaide, and 
 in various parts of the same colony, six experimental plots of 40 
 acres each had been established by the Government for the 
 purpose of making experiments as to rust in different climatic 
 conditions. 
 
 The conclusions of the Conference of 1892 may be shortly 
 summarized. As they practically embody the results of the 
 Conferences held in 1890 and 1891 it is unnecessary to go 
 further. They are mainly, that the influences upon the develop- 
 ment of rust of various kind of manurings, of treatment of the 
 ground, treatment of seed, different times of reaping, of the 
 variety of wheat grown, and so forth, were put to the test of 
 experiments extending over two years, and found to be unim- 
 portant as compared with the time of sowing, and, especially 
 with the variety of wheat grown. Manuring and treatment of 
 the soil, methods of cultivation, time of reaping, etc., have an 
 influence upon the development of rust, but that influence is 
 trifling compared with the influence of the variety of wheat 
 grown and the time of sowing. It was clearly shown that 
 there are several varieties of wheat, which, except under very 
 unusual circumstances, are never seriously attacked by rust. 
 And it was also shown that in many districts early sown 
 wheats of a kind liable to rust generally escape damage by rust 
 while the same wheats sown late suffer seriously. 
 
 In view- of these facts, the Conference directed attention 
 mainly to encouraging the growth of varieties less liable to be 
 attacked by rust, and also to early sowing. To this end it 
 was found desirable to find out precisely what are the charac- 
 teristics of those wheats which are less liable to be attacked by 
 rust, and a step has been taken in this direction. In the first 
 place, the following classes were made in which to place the 
 various wheats : 
 
 First Class. Rust-proof wheats, by which are meant 
 w r heats which will not permit the mycelium of rust to enter 
 into their tissues. 
 
 Second Class. Rust-resisting wheats, by which are meant 
 wheats which in localities suited to their growth and under 
 normal conditions, resist at all seasons of the year either
 
 the entrance of the rust mycelium into their tissues, or its 
 subsequent growth and outburst. Of this class many 
 examples are known. 
 
 Third Class. Rust-liable wheats, by which are meant 
 wheats which, under the usual conditions of growth, offer 
 no resistance to rust. Australian wheats now mostly belong 
 to this class. 
 
 Fourth Class. Rust-escaping wheats, that is to say, 
 wheats which, like the third class, are rust-liable, but which 
 if sown at the proper time, ripen so early as to be ready for 
 harvest before the rust of an ordinary season can prevent a 
 paying crop. 
 
 Of these two classes the most important are the second and 
 fourth. The characteristics of the second class, namely, the 
 rust-resistant wheats, have been found by a thorough and close 
 examination of 12 varieties to be as follows : The possession of 
 a thick or tough skin, so tough that though the mycelium may 
 enter the plant by means of the open stomata, yet it cannot 
 break through the skin in order to mature and shed its spores, 
 so that its further development is prevented. And, secondly, 
 the presence of waxy exudation on the surface of the plants 
 similar to the bloom of fruit ; this waxy covering, when 
 present about the mouth of the stomata, prevents the rust 
 mycelium from entering. Wheat-plants possessing tough skins, 
 and especially if possessing toughness of the skin in con- 
 junction with the waxy bloom, may be grown under all 
 conditions suitable to their normal growth without suffering 
 seriously from rust. On the other hand, rust-liable wheats, 
 which are characterized by the possession of a thin and tender 
 skin, and often by the absence of waxy bloom, can be 
 grown successfully during a rusty year only in one way, namely, 
 by sowing at such time as the plant shall be for only a short 
 time subject to the attacks of the rust- fungus. 
 
 The principal measures recommended by the experts and 
 farmers assembled in conference in Australia for dealing with 
 rust are the growth of suitable varieties of wheat, and for 
 this they advised that an organized system should be established 
 for the maintenance or improvement of the qualities of 
 the best existing varieties, and for the production and distribu- 
 tion of new and improved varieties. For this a definite scheme 
 of an Intercolonial character was arranged to be established, by 
 means of which farmers, it is hoped, may hare distributed 
 among them, as occasion may require, rust-resistant and rust- 
 escaping wheats suited to their districts, whose qualities have 
 been proved by stringent tests. 
 
 It was stated that at the Agricultural Show held in Adelaide in 
 June 1892 two very fine and complete collections of rust-resistant 
 wheat were exhibited, and prizes awarded. 
 
 No absolutely rust-proof variety of wheat has yet been 
 discovered ; but experiments have proved that by importing 
 varieties, and carefully selecting and crossing them within the
 
 colonies certain kinds have been found to escape to a con- 
 siderable extent the ravages of rust, and the last Conference 
 recommended that the work of selecting and crossing imported 
 wheat should be continued ; and for this it was resolved to 
 recommend the Governments to establish a central station in 
 each colony for testing new wheats imported, and producing 
 new varieties, and distributing them among the farmers. 
 
 Germany. 
 
 The German Agricultural Society, Deutsche Landwirtschafts- 
 Gesellschaft, issued a list of questions upon the prevalence of 
 rust throughout Germany in 1891. There were no less than 
 400 replies from all parts of the country. 
 
 From these it was shown that East Prussia and the Rhine 
 Provinces had suffered the least from rust. Posen and Silesia 
 had suffered considerably more, as well as the Middle States 
 to Hanover and Oldenburg, and through Hesse and Nassau to 
 Wurtemburg and Baden. Thus in Prussia 83 per cent, of the 
 wheat-land was rust-free ; and 80 per cent, in Westphalia and 
 the Rhine Provinces, while in Posen, the Middle German States, 
 and Wurtemberg, the per-centage of rust-free wheat-land ranged 
 from 42*4 to 50 per cent. 
 
 With respect to the loss sustained in Germany from rust on 
 wheat plants in 1891, it was reported by 143 agriculturists, 
 having 19,855 acres of wheat-land, that their average loss 
 amounted to over five bushels per acre. 
 
 In answer to the question regarding the effect of manures 
 upon rust, the general reply was that where nitrate of soda 
 had been applied as a top dressing (kopfdiingung) the rust was 
 worst. Phosphatic manures, on the contrary, exercised a good 
 influence against rust. 
 
 But little information is gained from the replies to the 
 question as to varieties which resisted rust better than others. 
 Winter wheat, Noe Weizen, was found to be more rust- 
 resistant than spring wheat, and among the most resistant 
 varieties Square-head, or Sheriffs Square-head wheat stood 
 prominent. 
 
 The German Agricultural Society continued this inquiry in 
 1892, but the results have not yet been published. 
 
 India. 
 
 Rust is very destructive in India. At least it is certain, 
 according to the statement of the late Mr. A. Barclay, F.S.A. 
 that this disease exists in the Punjab, North- Western Provinces 
 and Oudh, the Central Provinces, and Berar. Mr. Barclay 
 estimates the annual average loss to the wheat-growers of this 
 area at nearly 3,000,000 rupees, adding that if rust prevails in 
 the other parts of wheat-growing India, as he believes it does
 
 prevail, the total annual loss would equal 4,000,000 rupees.* Mr. 
 Barclay, in a communication to the " Transactions of the Agri- 
 cultural and Horticultural Times of India," quotes Captain 
 Herman, who reported that he had seen, so long back as 1827, 
 " rich sheets of uninterrupted wheat cultivation for twenty 
 miles by ten in the valley of Narbadda, so entirely destroyed 
 by this disease that the people would not go to the cost of 
 gathering one field in four." 
 
 Japan. 
 
 Mr. Barclay also quotes the Director of the Agricultural 
 Experiment Station of Indiana, lately in the service of the 
 Government of Japan, wno states that in the northern parts of 
 that country, where the Government has made strenuous and 
 costly exertions to supplant rice-culture by wheat-growing, the 
 latter crop is frequently ruined, and on the average damaged to 
 the extent of 20 per cent, by rust. 
 
 THE CAUSE OF MILDEW OR RUST. 
 
 Mildew on wheat-plants has been known in Great Britain for 
 over 300 years, according to the records. Probably, however, it 
 has been present upon them since the first cultivation of wheat. 
 That it is a very ancient affection is proved by frequent 
 references to it,, and deprecatory remarks concerning its baneful 
 influences in old Greek and Latin writings. The first published 
 account of it, ascribing it to fungoid origin was, it is believed, 
 given by an Italian, Fontana, in 1767.1 Persoon gave a more 
 correct and elaborate description of the fungus in 1797, and 
 named it Puccinia, after Puccini, a Florentine professor.^ The 
 first highly-magnified figures of it were made by Bauer in 1805. 
 These admirable coloured figures were drawn to illustrate the 
 account of the mildew written by Sir Joseph Banks, President of 
 the Royal Society, and published as a separate essay, which was 
 published also in the " Annals of Agriculture," by Arthur Young. 
 Sir Joseph Banks had a very good idea of the cause of mildew, or 
 " the blight " in wheat, and of the action of fungus upon it by 
 its spores " germinating and pushing their minute roots, no 
 doubt, though these have not yet been traced, into the cellular 
 texture beyond the bark where they draw their nourishment, by 
 intercepting the sap that was intended by nature for the nutri- 
 ment of the grain." Sir Joseph Banks also considered it "more 
 than probable that the parasitic fungus of the barberry and that 
 of wheat are one and the same species, and that the seed is 
 
 Rust and Mildew in India, by the late A. Barclay, M B., F.L.S. 
 Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, vol. 30, January, 1892. 
 f Crittogamia agraria, pel Dr. Comes, 
 t Synopsis Methodica Fungorum. Gottingen, 1797. 
 Annals of Agriculture, vol. xliii.
 
 26 
 
 transferred from the barberry to the corn."* Professor Henslow 
 was the next authority upon this subject, who confirmed Sir Joseph 
 Banks' conclusions, and iirst propounded the theory, afterwards 
 confirmed by Tulasne, that the yellowish rust which appears in 
 summer, and the black mildew which comes later, are identical. 
 Professor Henslow also gave much credence to the connection 
 between the barberry and the wheat mildew, but did not much ad- 
 vance the knowledge of this part of the subject beyond Sir Joseph 
 -Banks' " possible " connection. f But little was added to the in- 
 formation as to mildew until 1865, when De Bary published the 
 results of experiments practically demonstrating that an 
 JEcidmm,^ or a stage of a fungus known as dEcidium berberidis, 
 found on the barberry tree, is the origin of the wheat mildew, 
 or, in other words, the first stage in the life of the mildew. 
 This explained the mystery. All attempts to produce the early 
 stage of the mildew, called " rust," upon wheat plants by means 
 of the black spores, or teleutospores, had utterly failed, and 
 De Bary proved that wheat plants can be affected by the 
 ^Ecidiospores, or spores direct from the barberry tree, and that 
 the teleutospores germinate upon and infect the barberry. 
 De Bary's discovery was not accepted at once, but now it is 
 generally recognised as the solution of the difficult question as to 
 the first cause of wheat mildew. 
 
 There is, however, a disposition to believe that the ^Ecidium 
 may have another host plant, at least in other climates, and in 
 some circumstances ; this will be dealt with later on. 
 
 THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE FUNGUS. 
 
 The wheat mildew, Puccinia graminis, belongs to the group 
 of fungi, termed Uredineae, which, as De Bary points out, are 
 all parasites on livng plants.|| Some of the -species of this group 
 go through the various stages of their existence upon our host 
 plants, being styled autcecious. Others are hetercecious, and 
 pass from one host to a different host in their various stages of 
 development. l j uccinia graminis is a typical instance of this, 
 as in its ^Ecidium form it lives upon varieties of Berberis ; and 
 only upon corn plants and grasses, first, in its uredospore, and 
 then in its teleutospore condition. 
 
 Those who have carefully noticed barberry bushes in the 
 
 A Short Account of the Cause of the Diseases in Corn, culled by farmers 
 the Blight, tin- MiltJcw, and the Rust, by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P.R.'s. 
 
 f On ih>. Dlxpa*f.n of Wheat, by Professor Henslow, M.A. Journal of the 
 Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. ii., p. 1, 1841. 
 
 J Literally, a small house. De Bary explains it as "in the Uredinese 
 a cup-shaped envelope and a bymenium occupying the bottom of the cup' 
 from the basidium of which spores, secidiospores, are serially and succes- 
 sively abjointed." 
 
 Neue Untersuchunijen iiber Uredineen. De Bary, Monatsbericht der 
 Berlin Akademie, 1865. 
 
 || Comparative Morphology and Biology of 'the Fungi. Mycetozoa, and 
 Bacteria, by A. De Bary.
 
 Barberry Blight. 
 
 Berbendis Pers.
 
 spring have frequently seen yellow spots upon their leaves 
 (PI. L, Fig. i), wheje threads of mycelium can be seen thickly 
 running throughrtfeeiKpferenchyma. In these spots there 
 kinds of fructification. The one consists of numerc 
 like bodies detached from hyphae, or branches, 
 mycelium formed in urn or flask-shaped receptacle^ 
 upper side of\the leaf (PI. I;.; Figs, i and 2). It hat; 
 been discovered what functions these spermogonia^ perform.* 
 The other fructification occurs on the underside of th^barberry 
 leaf, appearing, firstyas groups of tiny dots (PL I., Figs. 3 and 4). 
 These are surrounded with mycelial threads, and when ripe 
 they burst through the epidermis, or skin, of the leaf, forming 
 cups or bell-shaped cavities (PI. L, Fig. 5, A. & B). In the bot- 
 tom of the ^Ecidium cup there is a hymenium or collection of 
 " mother spore cells," from whose hyphae spores are being con- 
 tinually given off. They are not quite round, f and are 
 inconceivably numerous, so that thousands may be dissemi- 
 nated far and wide by the wind from one spot, or vEcidium 
 cluster. Mr. Marshall Ward, writing of another species of the 
 Uredineas,- the Hemileia vastatrix, the pest of Ceylon coffee 
 planters, estimated that upon one " disease spot upon a leaf of 
 a coffee plant there were 150,000 spores present." There 
 were 127 " disease " spots upon one pair of leaves, so that the 
 number of spores upon one plant might be beyond calculation. t 
 
 In Plate L, at Figure 5, is shown a transverse section through 
 a barberry leaf infected with JEcidium berberidis, displaying the 
 ^Ecidia in two forms at the lower part, (A. & B.) and the 
 spermogonia on the upper part, (E. & D. D.), with intercellular 
 spaces invaded, (C.) 
 
 Mr. Carruthers, in a concise report upon the wheat mildew, says, 
 "the quantity of spores produced on a barberry leaf is enormous." 
 
 These spores, .known as ^Ecidiospores, germinate readily 
 upon the leaves of the wheat and oat plant, and many grasses, 
 as enumerated by Mr. Plowright.il De Bary first germinated 
 these spores upon wheat plants, and his experiment has been 
 repeated by others. Mr. Marshall Ward observes, " These 
 yEcidiospores will germinate readily in water on the leaves of 
 wheat, and their germ tubes enter the stomata, and develop a 
 mycelium whiclj gives rise to the uredospores, and eventually 
 to the teleutospores of Puccinia graminis"^ 
 
 Mr. Worthington Smith says, " these spermogonia are supposed to be 
 little grains belonging to a male organism roughly answering to the pollen 
 of flowering plants." Diseases of Field and Garden Crops, by Worthington 
 G-. Smith. 
 
 f Sachs says, " Originally of a polyhedral form in consequence of pressure 
 from opposite sides, they afterwards become rounded." A Text-book of 
 Butany, by Julius Sachs. 
 
 J Report on the Coffee Disease, by H. Marshall Ward, Esq., 1881. 
 
 The Wheat Mildew, by W. Carruthers, F.R.S., Journal of the Royal 
 Agricultural Society of England, vol. xviii., 2nd Series. 
 
 || The Gardeners' Chronicle, August 1882. 
 
 ^f Illustrations of the Structures and Life History of Puccinia Graminis, the 
 Fungus causing the Rust of Wheat, by Marshall Ward, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S. 
 Annals of Botany, vol. ii., 1888-9.
 
 28 
 
 The ^cidiospores are formed from the latter part of April up 
 to as late as July ; the appearance of a plant infected by them is 
 described by Fig. i, PI. II. When the spores fall upon the leaf 
 of a corn or grass plant they germinate in from seven to ten 
 days if moisture is present. The filaments of the germinating 
 spores enter the stomata, and form the mycelium developed in 
 the tissues of the leaves. Uredospores are formed in longitu- 
 dinal red blotches, or sori, upon the leaves and stems of the 
 host plant, as shown by Fig. 2, PI. II., and in this stage the fungus 
 is usually denominated Uredo linearis. One of these pustules 
 considerably magnified is given in Fig. 3, PL II. A vertical 
 section of a sorus, more highly magnified (Fig. 4, PI. II.), 
 shows under the broken upturned epidermis of the leaf the 
 branching hyphae with spores. These spores are soon disen- 
 gaged and disseminated by the wind, or other agencies, and ger- 
 minate in favourable circumstances in a few hours upon wheat, 
 oats, rye, and some grasses. Their shape and appearance are 
 indicated by Fig. 5, PI. II., very highly magnified, and on either 
 side of the spores are shown germ tubes put forth from them in 
 the process of germination. There may be several generations 
 of this uredo form of the fungus during the season. 
 
 After a time a change occurs in the colour of the spores that 
 are produced. The spores become dark brown, and finally 
 black. The sori also turn to black brown, and the spores 
 then are termed teleutospores, or the final spores. This 
 change happens as the host plants ripen, and is caused by the: 
 process of maturing. And it is at this stage that the fungus 
 does the most mischief, or it may even be said its chief 
 mischief, as the host plants require all their starch for forming 
 seed at this period.* If there is much moisture at this time 
 favouring the development of the fungus, it frequently happens 
 that the straw is thickly covered with the black pustules, and 
 the grains of corn are shrivelled because of the abstraction of 
 the starch necessary to make them perfect. As a rule, the first 
 stage, or the uredo stage, with its reddish yellow spores, is not 
 particularly harmful to corn plants, unless the season is excep- 
 tionally favourable for its development. 
 
 The peculiarly shaped black pustules, or sori, of the teleuto- 
 spore stage, on the straw of corn plants, are delineated in Figs, 
 6 (natural size) and slightly magnified at 7, PI. II., and are shown 
 considerably magnified in Fig 8, PI. II. If a section of infected 
 straw is examined it is found that the tissues of the cells have 
 been completely broken down by the action of the mycelium of 
 the fungus, and the teleutospores can be seen upon their hyphae 
 (Fig. 9, PI. II.). These teleutospores are quite different in shape 
 from the uredo spores, being shaped like a club, and dark brown 
 or blackish, in colour, f They are divided in the middle by a wall 
 or partition, so that they form two cells. (Fig. 10, PI. II.) 
 
 As is well known, parasitic fungi cannot form starch like other plants 
 which have chlorophyll, and must get this food from the host plants. 
 
 f Uredo spores and teleuto spores can sometimes be found together 
 coming from the same mycelium, or centre.
 
 Summer Rust & Mildew of Corn. 
 
 6. 7(x-4) 8 (x-20) 9(x-IOO) 
 
 Puccinia Grammis Pers.
 
 29 
 
 Teleutospores are practically the rest, or resting, spores of 
 Puccinia graminis, in which form the fungus is carried through 
 the winter. They do not germinate at once, at least naturally, 
 and go through the winter on the infected straw, or grasses. It is 
 not known whether they "rest" on the ground, or in other 
 places where they may have been carried by the wind and other 
 agencies. 
 
 De Bary says : " Teleutospores of Puccinia graminis which 
 have lasted during the winter germinate with great readiness in 
 the spring which succeeds their period of ripeness ; more slowly 
 and more infrequently during the following summer months, 
 and I was unable to procure their germination after August, or 
 in the spring of the second year."* 
 
 Marshall Ward, on the other hand, gives a figure of four 
 teleutospores germinating, of which he says, " the one to the 
 top, and that to the right hand had been kept for three years in 
 my laboratory."t 
 
 The teleutospores are, at all events, upon the straw, upon the 
 stubble, and upon numerous grasses ; J but in this form tney will 
 not germinate upon corn and grass plants. So far, as is known, the 
 Puccinia graminis can only be reproduced, and its life history 
 completed, in this country at least, by means of the barberry, 
 upon whose leaves the teleutospores germinate, by putting 
 forth from their cells germ-tubes, like hyphae, forming the 
 promycelia producing sporida, which penetrate the epidermis 
 of the barberry leaves, and, like the potato fungus, Phytophthora 
 infestans, establish mycelia in the parenchyma. 
 
 In due course the aecidium form, sEcidium berberidis, is 
 evolved from these mycelial centres, and the ascidiospores are 
 distributed over the land in the same manner as the spores of 
 the fungus which attack the potato plant, and those of other 
 destructive fungi. 
 
 The ^Ecidiospores germinate and produce uredospores upon 
 wheat, oats, and rye -plants, and many grasses. Oat plants, 
 fortunately, are not materially injured in this country, but in 
 other countries, as Germany, Russia, Sweden, Norway, with 
 others, both oat and rye plants are as much affected as wheat 
 plants. The injury caused to oats and rye is similar to that 
 caused to wheat ; the straw is blackened and deteriorated in 
 value, and the grains are shrivelled, small, and deficient in 
 starch. 
 
 Comparative Morphology of the Fungi, Jfycetozoa, and Bacteria, by 
 A. De Bary, 1884. 
 
 f Illustration of the Structure and Life History of Puccinia Graminis, the 
 Fungus causing the Rust of Wheat, by H. Marshall Ward, M.A., F.R.S., 
 F.L.S. Annals of Botany, vol. ii. 
 
 J Mr. Plowright gives a list of thirty-two grasses which are hosts of 
 Puccinia Graminis. Among these are rye grass, couch glass, and other 
 common grasses in fields, meadows, aod hedgerows. 
 
 De Bary says that " If the tube receive sufficient nourishment it 
 developes directly in many cases into a mycelium or thallus, like that of 
 the parent, and it is therefore the primordium of the mycelium." Op. cit.
 
 30 
 THE BERBERIS AND MILDEW. 
 
 In the history that has been given of this remarkable fungus 
 and its many forms, it has been endeavoured to avoid minute 
 details and elaboration, and merely to place before those 
 principally and vitally interested the most salient and practical 
 points. The least clear and definite among these is in respect 
 of the intermediate host of the fungus, which is alleged to be the 
 Berberis ; and the Berberis alone. The careful investigations of 
 De Bary failed to discover any other means of continuity. Many 
 skilled mycologists have made experiments in this direction 
 without any new discovery. Mr. Plowright has especially 
 devoted himself to this study, and though once light seemed to 
 be showing, obscurity still prevails. 
 
 This Berberis connection has been long known. Sagacious 
 British farmers a great while ago suspected barberry trees of 
 blasting their wheat. It formed the subject of one of Arthur 
 Young's questions in the wheat mildew circular alluded to 
 before.* Sir Joseph Banks speaks of the possible connection 
 between the barberry and mildew. Sir John Sinclair also 
 mentions cases where the presence of " barberry bushes " caused 
 mildew in the neighbourhood, f 
 
 In France the pernicious influences of the barberry is 
 fully recognised. As recently as April 1891 an order was 
 issued by the Prefect of the Department of Eure-et-Loire, based 
 upon the law of 1888 empowering local authorities to decree 
 the destruction of insects and fungi injurious to agriculture, 
 compelling landowners, tenants, and metayers, to root out and 
 utterly destroy the barberry (1'epine vinette) upon their farms 
 and lands before the loth of July 1891, and in woods and 
 forests to a distance of 32 yards from their outsides, seeing that 
 the barberry is a veritable scourge of cereals, on which it 
 develops black rust (rouille noire). 
 
 Then there is the old barberry law of Massachusetts, America, 
 enacted by the Governor, Council, and House of Represen- 
 tatives,t which provided that, in order " to prevent damage to 
 English grain from barberry bushes " all such bushes should be 
 destroyed. 
 
 It should be understood that the cecidium of Pnccinia 
 graminis has been found upon several species of Berberis. 
 Mr. Plowright grvcs a list of eight of these, including one of 
 the pinnate species known as Mahonia, which are so frequently 
 found in ornamental woods and shrubberies. It has also been 
 produced upon Mahonia aquifolium, which is so largely used 
 
 Annals of Agriculture, by Arthur Young, Esq., F.R.S., vol. xliii., 1808. 
 
 f Result of an Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Blight, the Rust, 
 and the Mildew, by Sir J. Sinclair, Bart, M.P. 
 
 J Province Laws of Massachusetts, 1736-1761, p. 152. Anno Regni 
 Rejds Georgii II., Yicesimo Octavo, Cap. X. (Issued January 13, 1755). 
 
 Wheat Mildew and its connection with the Barberry. Gardeners' 
 Chronicle, August 1882.
 
 31 
 
 for planting in game covers, and it may be inferred that other 
 species of Berberis, and of other genera of the Berberidaceaa, 
 are also hosts of the fungus. 
 
 The weak point in the conclusions arrived at by scientists as 
 to the Barberry being the sole host of the secidium form of 
 Puccinia graminis is the fact that in countries where the 
 Berberidaceae are not indigenous, mildew on corn-plants is more 
 abundant and destructive than in Europe. In parts of America, 
 for instance, these shrubs are not known. In the Australasian 
 Colonies, where mildew is fearfully prevalent, they do not 
 occur. In India the barberry is common in the Northern 
 Provinces, but "throughout the plains of India there is no 
 species of barberry, and it is necessary to assume that the wheat 
 plants were attacked by the aecidiospores of the barberry 
 which had been wafted to them from enormous distances. 
 The spores are, however, exceedingly minute, and it is quite 
 possible they may be carried by the winds to such immense 
 distances." * 
 
 The Australasian mycologists are endeavouring to discover the 
 host of the aecidium, which stage has never yet been seen in 
 Australasia.f Dr. Cobb, the pathologist to the New South 
 Wales Department of Agriculture, states this, and at the Con- 
 ference of Australasian delegates at Sydney in 1891, he said 
 that " it was not true that the barberry stage was necessary for 
 rust to go annually through the barberry. The mistake had 
 been made in Australia in assuming this. The facts in a 
 cold country would probably warrant the assertion, but here, in- 
 asmuch as they could find red rust existing all the year round, 
 it followed that it was not necessary at all." 
 
 Mr. D. MacAlpine, of the Victoria (Australia) Department 
 of Agriculture, holds that as the barberry is not indigenous to 
 Australia, and cannot play the host to the promycelial spores, 
 either the red spores can prolong their germinating power in the 
 genial climate, and carry on the life of the fungus from year to 
 year, or there is an unknown plant on which the promycelial spores 
 germinate. Mr. Pearson, another authority, says, some botanists 
 hold that the promycelial spores, which are produced during 
 warm spring weather, and are wafted about in countless 
 numbers not long before the rust begins to show itself on 
 the wheat, alight on the young wheat plants, and if the 
 atmospheric conditions are favourable germinate thereon, 
 entering the wheat tissues through the stomata, and give rise to 
 the red or uredo stage." % 
 
 Plant pathologists in Australia are endeavouring to discover 
 another host than the barberry for the Puccinia graminis, or to 
 
 Rust and Mildew in India, by the late A. Barclay, M.B., F.L.S. The 
 Journal of Botany, vol. xxx., 1892. 
 
 j- Contributions to an Economic Knowledge of the Australian Rusts 
 (Uredineai), by N. A. Cobb, Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 
 January, 1892. 
 
 J Appendix to Report of Conferences on Rust in Victoria, 1890, by 
 Mr. A. W. Pearson.
 
 determine that the teleutospores can germinate upon corn 
 plants and grasses, and whether the climatic conditions which 
 differ totally from those of other rust-affected countries shorten 
 the chain of stages in the life of the fungus believed to be 
 necessary in Europe. 
 
 Attention is also being directed to this question by mycolo- 
 gists in all parts of the world since the Australasian Rust Con- 
 ferences have made fully public the extraordinary prevalence of 
 rust in hot, arid regions, and of its persistence without the bar- 
 berry. 
 
 PREDISPOSITION. 
 
 A certain predisposition of the host plant of parasitic fungi, 
 or of many of them, is generally recognised. In some cases an 
 unhealthy state of a plant may make it liable to receive injury, 
 and this unhealthy state may be caused by its environment, 
 such as influences of weather, situation, soil, cultivation, nitro- 
 genous manurings, changes of temperature, excess, or lack, of 
 water, and by conditions causing chemical changes in the 
 cellular system of the plant. De Bary says, " The physiological 
 reason for these predispositions cannot in most cases be exactly 
 stated ; but it may be said in general terms to lie in the 
 material composition of the host, and therefore to be indirectly 
 dependent on the nature of the food. In the case of the 
 Pythieae, for example, it is easy to see that the host displays 
 degrees of susceptibility or power of resistance in presence of 
 the parasite proportioned to the amount of water which it 
 contains."* 
 
 Mr. Marshall Ward also deals ably with this subject, and 
 shows that the host plants of fungi are more or less predisposed 
 to receive injury according to the limits of their health.f After 
 describing certain chemical and structural changes produced by 
 weather and other influences, Mr. Marshall Ward concludes 
 that " under certain circumstances the parenchymatous tissues 
 of the living plant may be in a peculiarly tender, watery con- 
 dition where the cell walls are thinner and softer, the proto- 
 plasm is more permeable and less resistant, and the cell sap 
 contains a larger proportion of organic acids, glucose and soluble 
 nitrogenous materials than usual. When the external conditions 
 become more favourable the temperature higher, the air drier, 
 and the sunlight more powerful increased transpiration and 
 respiration lead to more normal metabolic activity, for which 
 energetic assimilation provides the materials. Of course, all 
 kinds of combinations are possible in detail, but when dull, 
 cold, wet weather prevails for some time, after a period of bright, 
 
 De Bary. Op. cit. 
 
 j- Sorauer also holds that predisposition depends upon the limit of 
 health" Breite der Gesundheit," in his work, Die Schaden der e'nlieimischen 
 Kulturpflanncn, 1888.
 
 A. 
 
 Nursery Wheat from healthy plants. 
 
 B. 
 
 Nursery Wheat from rust-infected plants.
 
 33 
 
 hot, and dry weather, we are apt to have herbaceous plants in 
 such a condition as that described."* 
 
 This would seem to explain why in some seasons the epi- 
 demic of wheat mildew is prevalent, and in some seasons absent, 
 and is confirmed in a most practical manner by the statements 
 of many of the agriculturists who answered the questions con- 
 tained in the Schedule, as to the coincidence of the attack with 
 the abnormal white frosts and the frequent and great changes of 
 temperature during the last summer. 
 
 Moisture is necessary for the germination of the spores. It 
 has been considered that the moisture from the transpiration of 
 the plants is sufficient for their germination, at all events if it is 
 abnormal, or increased by unhealthy conditions. The entrance 
 of the germ-tube into the stomata of the wheat-leaf is easily 
 accomplished in normal circumstances, and is rendered easier if 
 the stomata are relaxed by influences unfavourable to the 
 health of the plant. Then, having gained an entrance, it would 
 appear to be dependent upon the nature of the food within its 
 reach in the cells of the wheat-plant, as to whether it forms 
 mycelium and continues its actively destructive work in trans- 
 porting the products of assimilation from the host to itself, as 
 Sachs puts it. "f" 
 
 This is the usual action of what are known as " obligate " 
 parasites, or those which the host plant serves directly to sup- 
 port, and it is the action of the wheat mildew fungus, at least, 
 in its stages upon corn and grasses. In its other, or aecidium, 
 stage this action is modified, as the fungus appears then to lose 
 some of its obligate characteristics. 
 
 This entire dependence of the fungus upon the wheat plant 
 naturally tends to injure it in proportion to the quantity of the 
 parasite upon it, if there is a continuance of conditions favourable 
 to the one and unfavourable to the host. The direct injury is 
 generally to the straw, which it blackens, disintegrates, and spoils 
 for every purpose but that of rough litter. 
 
 Then in bad attacks the number of grains are lessened in the 
 ears. There are empty awns, and some of the grains are much 
 shrivelled, having lost weight, shape, quality, and colour. In less 
 severe attacks there is a percentage of grains more or less shri- 
 velled and distorted, which serves to spoil the appearance of the 
 sample. This is illustrated by Plate III., showing wheat from a 
 field infested by the fungus last season, though not very badly. 
 In this sample there were about 70 per cent, of grains plump and 
 well-shaped, as seen in Fig. A., and the rest more or less shri- 
 velled and deformed, as given in Fig. B. It will be understood 
 in this case, as in most cases of attacks of mildew, that there 
 was an unusual quantity of " tail " wheat, and it was necessary 
 to "run down" the wheat more frequently and closely than usual 
 
 * Croonian Lecture, On some Relations between Host and Parasite in 
 certain Epidemic Diseases of Plants, by H. Marshall Ward, F.B.S. Pro- 
 ceedings of the Royal Society, 1890. 
 
 f A Text book on Botany, by Julius Sachs. 
 
 74690. C
 
 34 
 MODES OF PREVENTION. 
 
 Knowing that the Berberis is the host of the fungus, it seems 
 obvious enough that it is most desirable to banish all its species 
 from gardens, woods, and shrubberies. But this must be done 
 with one accord, and even then there may not be perfect immu- 
 nity from mildew, as the spores may be wafted from other 
 countries, where men refuse to sacrifice ornamental shrubs with- 
 out sufficient proof of their baneful influences, as they may 
 hold. The potato disease was brought by the wind to this 
 country in 1845, according to the statements of many observers. 
 It has been shown how far the spores of the Puccinia graminis 
 are carried in India, and those of the Hemileia vastatrix in Ceylon, 
 and if moths can be conveyed in the air from foreign countries, 
 the tiny spores of fungi may be thus brought from immense 
 distances. The legislators of the State of Massachusetts evidently 
 saw that it was useless for individuals to destroy the Berberis in 
 their State, at their will and pleasure, and, therefore, by their 
 famous barberry law, cited above, made its destruction com- 
 pulsory. 
 
 Burning the straw of infected corn plants has been recom- 
 mended by experts in this country, who affirm that even if the 
 straw were heated in mixens, the spores would preserve their 
 vitality. But burning straw would be an expensive process. In 
 a season like the last, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say 
 that a fourth of the straw produced was infected more or less \vith 
 mildew. The stubble also on infected fields sown with clover, or 
 seeds, may be a dangerous source of infection, as well as the 
 stems of the numerous grasses which this fungus attacks. 
 
 Burning in/ected straw is strongly recommended in Austral- 
 asia, America and Canada. At the Conferences of Australasian 
 delegates before alluded to, it was resolved that as the locus ot 
 the spores of the rust fungus is chiefly the straw of the infected 
 crop, it is advised that, where practicable, all infected straw, tail- 
 ings, or stubble, and all grasses immediately adjoining thereto be 
 carefully burned ; and that where infected straw must necessarily 
 be used as food or litter for stock, all the manure thereof be 
 well rotted and applied to land about to carry a non-cereal crop. 
 Straw, as a rule, in Australasia is practically a waste product, and 
 no loss is incurred in burning it, but in Great Britain it would be 
 impracticable to endeavour to stamp out infection in this way. 
 
 PREVENTIVE SPRAYING. 
 
 Corn plants upon land subject to mildew, whose composition 
 and constituents are of the character described above by Sir 
 John Lawes, as containing large quantities of organic matter, 
 might be advantageously sprayed with compositions of sulphate 
 of copper and lime, or sulphate of iron, and other compounds 
 similar to those employed in treating vines, potato, and other 
 plants for fungoid attacks. These should be applied as a pre- 
 ventive treatment, in the spring, before the wheat plants are
 
 35 
 
 high. The later this spraying is done the better it would be, 
 in order that as much as possible of the plant growth may be 
 treated with the composition. For putting this on, the best 
 machine seems to be the Strawsonizer, which distributes liquids 
 finely and evenly, and takes a good breadth at once. 
 
 It is considered that the best composition is sulphate of 
 copper, in the proportion of fifteen pounds of sulphate of copper 
 and five pounds of lime to 100 gallons of water. A small 
 quantity of molasses or treacle added to this, say two or three 
 pounds to 100 gallons of the compound, tends to make the 
 composition adhere to the leaves of the plants, and is highly 
 recommended by foreign experimentalists. The composition 
 should be put on so that, as far as possible, every part of the 
 leaves should be covered with fine spray. 
 
 If rust seriously attacks wheat plants later on when the 
 plants are high, it might be expedient to spray them even at 
 the risk of trampling down and injuring them to some extent. 
 This spraying would be a remedial measure obviously. It has 
 been adopted in Australia, and in answer to inquiries as to this, 
 Mr. McClean, the Under Secretary for Agriculture of Queens- 
 land, was good enough to state that from experiments made 
 with the sulphate of copper and lime composition, there was 
 every reason to believe that if " rust cannot entirely be 
 destroyed, it can be held in check sufficiently long to secure 
 a good crop." Mr. McClean further said, in reply to a remark 
 as to the difficulty of spraying as a remedial measure when the 
 plants were high, that at the time the last dressing was given 
 to the experimental plots in Queensland, the plants were fully 
 three feet high, and yet comparatively little damage was done. 
 ' Even if damage were done,' Mr. McClean concludes, " would 
 it not be better to save four-fifths of the crop than to lose the 
 whole from the rust ? " 
 
 With regard to these particular experiments, they were not 
 altogether satisfactory on account of the impossibility of proper 
 supervision, as the experimental plots were 150 and 180 miles 
 respectively distant from the offices of the Queensland Agricul- 
 tural Department at Brisbane. 
 
 In selecting the sites for these rust experiments, spots said 
 to be "the rustiest in Queensland" were taken. The spraying 
 was made at different stages in the life of the plant, the last 
 being made after the ear had formed and the grain was in the 
 " dough " stage. 
 
 Professor Lowrie, of South Australia, speaking of spraying 
 when the corn plants are high, says, " Of course we had the 
 machine going, and the horse treading through the growing 
 crop. That will work some mischief, but it will be compara- 
 tively small, half a bushel to the acre, probably, which is 
 very little compared with the immense loss we have from 
 rust." 
 
 Experiments were made in 1890-1 at Childers, Gippsland, 
 Victoria, with sulphate of iron, at the rate of 6 Ibs. to 
 100 gallons of water. A plot was sprayed six times during its 
 
 C 2
 
 36 
 
 growth, with the result that the crops upon the plot were much 
 more free from rust than those untreated. 
 
 A further experiment performed by Mr. Whelan in Gipps- 
 land, confirms this. In his report, he says : " In addition to 
 preventing rust, a weak solution of ferrous sulphate will cure 
 the rust. I marked a rust-infected wheat plant and syringed it 
 with a solution of ferrous sulphate (one oz. to a gallon of 
 water), with the result that all the rust had disappeared in 
 twenty-four hours ; nor was the plant again attacked for 
 fourteen days." 
 
 It appears that this treatment keeps off rust for fourteen 
 days ; the period during which rust may be considered to 
 jeopardize the yield of grain is probably not more than one 
 month to six weeks, so that if during this period the crop 
 were to be sprayed three times with a dilute solution of 
 sulphate of iron, say 6 Ibs. to the acre, at intervals of a 
 fortnight, it is anticipated that it would effectually save the 
 crop. At this rate, the cost of material would be trifling, from 
 8d. to 15. per acre, and the cost of application from 2d. to 3^. 
 per acre, or is. 6d. at the outside. It would not need to be 
 applied every year, but only during rusty years. 
 
 Dr. Cobb, of New South Wales, at the Rust Conference held 
 in Sydney in June 1891, remarked "with regard to cura- 
 tive measures, the fact of the Strawsonizer being good or not, 
 was only a question of time. I have settled beyond doubt that 
 we are able to recommend a solution to be used with the 
 Strawsonizer which will kill the spores of rust. Wheat has a 
 bloom upon it which prevents anything but the finest spray 
 from having an effect upon it. This may be a good thing, 
 because the rust will wet more readily, and if we can wet the 
 rust without wetting the wheat, it will be all the better." Dr. 
 Cobb, it appeared, had not tried sulphate of iron, but sulphate 
 of copper, and he advised that molasses, or treacle, should be 
 mixed with it. 
 
 In 1892, at the Rust Conference held in Adelaide, Dr. Cobb 
 showed a figure of a piece of a wheat leaf that had been 
 sprayed with ammonia-carbonate of copper ; that is, carbonate 
 of copper dissolved in dilute ammonia. He said : " After a plant 
 has been sprayed with this solution, the diluted ammonia 
 evaporates and leaves the carbonate of copper in the shape of 
 an exceedingly fine powder. Consequently, when we examine 
 the surface of the sprayed plant with a microscope, we 
 instantly notice this deposit distributed .in patches. It is 
 clear that by spraying the wheat leaf we have dotted it with 
 tiny patches of poison. As long as the patches of poison 
 remain, they constitute a protection against the "infection that 
 occurs by means of the spores falling upon the sprayed leaf. 
 Even should a spore fall on a portion of the leaf where 
 there is no poison, growth may be prevented." In the 
 figure alluded to, spores are shown where germination had 
 been checked because their germ tubes had run against 
 and absorbed some of the poison. Dr. Cobb continued
 
 37 
 
 as follows : " At the last Conference, I was, perhaps, as 
 little sanguine as any member with regard to spraying ; 
 nevertheless, now I am perhaps the most sanguine. Next 
 year I shall carry out experiments on a large scale if I 
 have the opportunity, but I shall not be disappointed if the 
 results are not all I expect. I believe that sulphate of iron is 
 far the best of the fungicides I have tried." 
 
 Experiments were made with spraying at four different 
 stations in Victoria, in 1891-92. From these it is learned that 
 the spraying did apparently kill the rust with which it came in 
 contact, but the rust re-appeared, and in the end when the yields 
 came to be weighed the advantage of spraying did not become 
 apparent. As regards quantities, it was found that twelve pounds 
 of sulphate of iron to 100 gallons of water, put on at the rate of 
 thirty gallons per acre, formed the best dressing. There seemed 
 no advantage in putting on more than thirty gallons to the acre, 
 even on the heavy crops that were treated, which were very 
 dense and about 5 ft. 6 in. high. 
 
 It is stated that although the final outcome of these experi- 
 ments was not a success, it must not be considered that they 
 were failures ; they were not failures, they resulted in partial 
 success and the reports received at first were highly encouraging. 
 The reason why the experiments resulted in only a partial 
 success is attributed to the leaf and stem surface not having 
 been all covered. Where the fungicide fell the spores did not 
 germinate. If the whole surface were covered the fungus would 
 find no place to enter. 
 
 The Strawsonizer seemed to be more satisfactory in the early 
 stages of the corn crops, but not where they were high and heavy, 
 and complaints were made that the pipes got easily clogged. A 
 sprayer has been fashioned to be worked by steam, which, from 
 its results is said to be the sprayer of the future, not only for 
 field crops but also for orchards. This steam sprayer has, it is 
 said, an important advantage over the horse and hand sprayer, 
 namely, that it requires less water to cover a given area by 
 means of it. 
 
 Mr. Pearson, who conducted the above experiments, in 
 answer to questions during a discussion, said: "no value 
 could be placed on the yields, as they were exceedingly variable. 
 I think the best test that can be quoted is with regard to the 
 plots sprayed with the Bordeaux mixture. One was sprayed 
 with the sprayer directed above the crop, and the other with 
 the sprayer directed within the crop ; the latter was the most 
 effective. The spraying from within gave a yield of thirty-one 
 bushels ; while where the sprayer was directed above, this yield 
 was twenty-five and a half bushels. These two cases may be 
 taken as a tolerably fair index. If we had succeded in a thorough 
 spraying I have not the least doubt that thirty-one bushels would 
 have been increased to forty bushels." 
 
 On the other hand, experiments with spraying in Queensland, 
 conducted by Professor Shelton, failed to show any beneficial 
 results. Bordeaux mixture (bouillie bordelaise) and sulphate of 
 
 Jll 5874
 
 38 
 
 iron solution were used. Mr. Shelton makes the following 
 practical remarks, " So far as work in the wheat field is con- 
 cerned, this subject presents enormous difficulties, among which 
 may be mentioned the enormous extent of the fields, the 
 enormous mass of verdure (often four feet or five feet deep) 
 which marks the wheat growth, and the difficulty in getting 
 machinery over and through this dense vegetable growth 
 without doing great damage to the growing crop." 
 
 In their Report, the Conference of 1892 encourage the con- 
 tinuance of experiments, especially in the direction of spraying. 
 " The statements," they say, " made at the Sydney Conference 
 of 1891, concerning the fatal effect of various fungicides on the 
 germination of the rust spores have been confirmed during the 
 past season, but the difficulties attending the application of 
 fungicides to wheat crops have not been wholly overcome, 
 although progress has been made in this direction, and through 
 the action of the Conference an important addition has been 
 made to the machinery for applying sprays cheaply and on an 
 extensive scale." 
 
 During the last season a series of experiments, having in view 
 the preventioJi of rust in corn crops, were undertaken by the 
 United States Department of Agriculture, through the agency of 
 the Division of Vegetable Pathology, in Maryland and Kansas.* 
 There were no less than 700 plots of wheat, oats, rice, and othe r 
 grains under treatment. This work was to some extent preli- 
 minary, and the commencement of a series of careful investiga- 
 tions. It involved tests of soil, seed, manurings, together with 
 spraying trials at varying dates, and with various fungicides. 
 This will be published in the volume of Reports issued by the 
 United States Department of Agriculture for 1892. 
 
 The extremely successful result of an experiment of spraying 
 wheat in France to prevent rust is reported in the " Journal 
 d' Agriculture Pratique" of the 26th January 1893. This was 
 conducted by M. Leon Noirot, cultivator, at Veuxhaules 
 Cote d'Or, France, upon white wheat, ble blanc du pays, sown 
 on the 8th of November 1891, and sprayed on the 28th of May 
 1892. The plot was 80 perches in size. Of this 40 perches 
 were sprayed and 40 perches not sprayed. The solution used 
 for spraying consisted of 4 Ibs. 4 ozs. of sulphate of copper and 
 6 Ibs. 6 ozs. of sulphate of soda, dissolved in 1 7 pints of water. 
 M. Noirot states that the 40 perches that were sprayed yielded 
 8 bushels of wheat, weighing 64 Ibs. per bushel, while the 40 
 perches not sprayed gave only 5^ bushels, weighing only 58 Ibs. 
 per bushel. Upon the sprayed part of the plot the straw was 
 perfectly white ; but upon the unsprayed part it was rusty and 
 all black. Samples of the wheat and straw from both the 
 sprayed and unsprayed parts of this experimental plot can be 
 seen at the Exposition du Palais de 1' Industrie, Paris. 
 
 See Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, United States Department 
 of Agriculture, Washington, December 1892.
 
 39 
 
 RUST RESISTANT VARIETIES. 
 
 Jethro Tull* remarks that " the white cone wheat, which hath 
 its straw like a rush full of pith, is less subject to blight than 
 Lammas wheat, which ripens a week later." There does not 
 appear to be any special allusion to the rust-resisting powers of 
 varieties of wheat in the replies to the inquiry instituted by the 
 Board of Agriculture in 1804. Neither is there much informa- 
 tion afforded in the answers to the questions sent by the Royal 
 Agricultural Society in 1883, except that Rivett, Lenny's White, 
 Browick Stand-up, and Red Chaff White, were less affected 
 than other varieties, such as Scholey's Square Head, Golden 
 Drop, Nursery, etc.j 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that though Scholey's Square-head 
 is shown to be liable to mildew by the Royal Agricultural Society's 
 Report, it was found to resist it better than any other variety in 
 1891, in Germany, where it is largely cultivated, having super- 
 seded all German varieties. M. Georges Ville says of the 
 Square-head variety, " Two circumstances explain the favour 
 without parallel, I believe, in the history of wheat which 
 attaches to the Square-head. In the first place the resistance of 
 the straw to laying, and to the action of parasitic fungi, espe- 
 cially rust ; these qualities are inseparable. Everyone knows 
 the close relation which exists between the appearance of a 
 parasite and the texture of its host. The straw, which is bent 
 under the weight of the ear, is formed of a yielding succulent 
 tissue, which opposes but a slight obstacle to the penetration of 
 the mycelium of the parasite. The Square-head, bora under the 
 humid sky of Britain, possesses in the utmost degree the faculty 
 of consolidating its mechanical system under the influence of 
 the more variable climate of the Continent."^ 
 
 Most valuable researches have been made in Australia by Dr. 
 Cobb as to the causes of certain varieties of wheat being less 
 liable to rust than others. Dr. Cobb made a series of observa- 
 tions on the number and size of the stomata, or breathing pores, 
 because it was imagined that the structure of the stomata must 
 have an important bearing on the entrance of the promycelium 
 of rust. He found that the number of the stomata upon the 
 leaves of wheat varied from thirty-eight to seventy-five per 
 square millimetre. In general the stomata w r ere smaller and 
 more numerous, while on nearly all leaves the number of 
 stomata was fewer by abour 10 per cent, on the ; 'lower surlace 
 than the upper. Nevertheless the smallest stomata were 
 observed to be large enough to admit the entrance of the 
 promycelial thread of rust. Dr. Cobb saw enough to convince 
 him that rust had entered freely through the smallest stomata 
 observed. As many as fifty spores per square millimetre were 
 noticed on the upper surface of the leaves, and about twenty- 
 five per square millimetre on the lower surface. 
 
 c Horse-Hoeing Husbandry, by Jethro Tull, 17. 
 
 f Report on Wfieat Mildew, by W. C. Little, R. A.S.E. Journal,vol. xix., sec. ser. 
 
 j The Perplexed Farmer, by Georges Ville.
 
 It is shown, however, that the thickness of the cuticle of 
 wheat leaves affects their liability to rust. Out of several 
 experiments one may be selected, made upon an eminently 
 rust-resistant variety, Ward's Prolific, and an eminently 
 rust-liable wheat, Zimmerman. It was found that the cell 
 walls of the cuticle of the latter (Zimmerman), were less 
 than half as thick as those of the rust-resistant kind, Ward's 
 Prolific. This seemed to be a very general rule. Twelve 
 varieties of wheat were examined in this way, and Dr. Cobb 
 arrived at the conclusion that the structure of the leaf cuticle 
 in a variety of wheat has a most important influence in determin- 
 ing its liability to rust. 
 
 The rationale of this is, according to Dr. Cobb, as follows : 
 " First, the cuticle might be so constructed as to prevent the 
 entrance of rust ; secondly, it might be so constructed that 
 although it permitted the rust to enter it would not allow it to 
 get out again ; in other words, to fructify so as to disseminate 
 spores. A thick tough cuticle would doubtless enable a wheat 
 to act in this second way, and we have no longer any doubt that 
 many rust-resistant wheats are such, because of a tough cuticle 
 acting in this manner." 
 
 Not only had these rust-resistant wheats a thick cuticle, 
 but the leaves were tougher than the rust-liable sorts, as 
 was shown by the results of an elaborate series of ex- 
 periments made to test their relative tensile strength. This 
 toughness further tended to prevent the fungus from sending 
 out spores from within to form, in short, what are known 
 as teleutospores. Dr. Cobb concludes : " From these experi- 
 ments it will be seen that the wheats which we had selected as 
 most rust-liable, namely, Zimmerman, Steinweder, and King's 
 Jubilee, have a low tensile strength, while the resistant sorts have 
 the highest tensile strength." 
 
 Dr. Cobb made an interesting observation on an hitherto un- 
 known function of the waxy covering, so characteristic of certain 
 wheats, especially when they are young. " This wax, or bloom," 
 he says, " is intended to protect the plant from the injurious effect 
 of water. We discovered, however, that it had no small influ- 
 ence in keeping out the promycelium of rust. This waxy bloom, 
 when it occurs in abundance on the sheaths of wheat almost 
 completely covers the surface of the cuticle, being interrupted 
 only at the stomata. When one examines such a sheath under 
 the microscope, it is some little time before the stomata are seen, 
 so perfectly are they hidden ; their position is indicated only by 
 a very narrow crack in the wax, a crack so narrow that the 
 promycelial threads fail to enter it. We made this observation 
 repeatedly on a wheat known as Ble carre de Sicile rouge, a 
 particularly glaucous w r heat, especially when young. We took 
 sheaths of this wheat and germinated on them large numbers of 
 the spores of Puccinia graminis, but we failed after a long search 
 to find a single promycelial thread that had gained an entrance. 
 These observations explain in a remarkably clear manner why 
 the sheath and straw of glaucous wheats often remain quite free
 
 from rust, although the flag may be quite rusty. The flag, espe- 
 cially the upper surface, is usually less glaucous than the sheath. 
 It is noticeable that the resistant wheats, as a rule (there are 
 marked exceptions), are wheats possessing a glaucous character." 
 
 The principal conclusion arrived at by the Australasian Confer- 
 ence of 1892 was that manuring and treatment of the soil, 
 methods of cultivation, times of reaping, &c., have an influence 
 on the development of rust ; but that influence is, generally 
 speaking, trifling as compared with the influence of the variety 
 of wheat grown and the time of sowing. There are several 
 varieties of wheat which, except under very unusual circum- 
 stances, are never seriously attacked by rust, and it was recom- 
 mended that the sorts of wheat should be grown which local 
 experiences have shown to be rust-resisting or rust-escaping.* 
 
 Experiments will be made in Queensland, Victoria, New South 
 Wales, and South Australia in the coming season to discover 
 wheats that are rust resistant in various localities. 
 
 The freedom from rust of the variety known as " Windsor 
 Forest," instanced by Mr. Smith, of Rendlesham, and by Mr. 
 Watkins, of Gulpho Hall, Ipswich, corroborate the experience 
 of the Australian experts. It will be remembered that this 
 wheat was grown under the same conditions in the same field 
 with wheats of other varieties which were badly rusted. In 
 one case, the rusted variety, Kinver, was actually sown on the 
 headlands of the part of the field devoted to the rust -free 
 Windsor Forest. Examination with the microscope showed 
 certain slight differences in the arrangement of the cells and in 
 the numbers and arrangement of the stomata.f The straw, 
 however, when received, was ripe and hard, and therefore would 
 not probably show distinctions like those found by Dr. Cobb 
 in the green stalks of the varieties he examined. It is desirable 
 that experiments should be made in Great Britain to prove 
 whether there are varieties of wheats that are rust resistant 
 and less liable to be attacked than others. 
 
 Another great point insisted upon at these Conferences in 
 Australia was that of early sowing, as the general reports of 
 wheat growers in different parts of the four Colonies that were 
 represented, showed that early sown wheat was always the least 
 damaged, and in many cases escaped injury altogether by rust. 
 The reason of this is without doubt that early sown wheats get 
 established before adverse weather comes, and are, therefore, 
 stronger, healthier, and better able to resist the attacks of fungi. 
 It will be noticed that several of those who filled up the 
 
 The Hon. John D. Macansh, of Queensland, stated at the last Confer- 
 ence that the Canning Downs rust-proof wheat came originally from 
 India, and had been grown by him for eight consecutive years, and the 
 grains had never been damaged in the slightest degree by rust. It had been 
 grown in the same field, a furrow only dividing them, with wheat that was 
 worthless from rust. 
 
 f The report of an experienced microscopist upon samples of Kinver and 
 Windsor Forest straw was that in the former the vascular bundles were 
 rather wider apart than in the straw of Windsor Forest and the stomata more 
 abundant. 
 
 74690. D
 
 4 2 
 
 Schedule of questions of the Board of Agriculture in 1892 stated 
 that early sown wheats escaped rust more than those which were 
 put in lute. It would seem far more important to get wheat in 
 early in Great Britain, where climate is so mtich colder, and th< 
 winter far more severe than in Australasia. 
 
 SPRING-RUST AND MILDEW ("Puccinia rubigo 
 
 vera"). 
 
 There is much confusion, and most naturally, among culti- 
 vators in all countries where cereals are grown, concerning the 
 two kinds of rusts which attack these crops, especially wheat 
 and oats. It will be useful, therefore, having fully described the 
 summer-rust and mildew^/Z^do linear is, and its forms of Puccinia 
 graminis and JEcidium &. "beridis, to give a detailed account also 
 of the spring-rust, Urefa rubigo vera, and its mildew forms of 
 Puccinia rubigo vera. 
 
 The differences between these two rusts and mildews are 
 sharp and clear, and w r hen once noted they will be easily 
 remembered. In the first place, the spring-rust ( Uredo rubigo 
 vera} often appears as early as March, much earlier than the 
 the summer-rust (Uredo linear is}. The colour of the spring- 
 rust is more yellow and not so red, or orange-coloured, as that 
 of summer-rust. Its son ^r blotches, u L /on the blades- are not 
 quite so large nor so long, being more round in shape, as will be 
 seen by figures i, 2, and 3 of Plate IV.* By comparing the 
 figures of a spring rust sorus, and a section of a sorus highly 
 magnified, and of the spore germinating (Figs. 4 and 5, Plate IV.) 
 with those shown on Plate II. (Figs. 4 and 5) illustrating Puccina 
 graminis, in its uredo stage, a marked distinction will be noticed. 
 
 The sori, of Puccinia rubigo vera (Fig. 3, Plate IV ), are 
 full of spores of a yellow colour, somewhat oval in shape. 
 1 hese spores are constantly discharged i immense quantities 
 upon the plants near them, and carried by the wind in all direc- 
 tions upon corn plants and grasses. They germinate upon 
 suitable hosts by putting forth germ tubes (Fig. 5, Plate IV.). 
 These enter the stomata of the leaves and form new sori, so 
 that there is a continual succession of these uredo spores until 
 autumn approaches, and the corn plants begin to ripen. A 
 change then takes place ; the reddish-yello\v spots become dark- 
 coloured (Figs. 6 and 7, Plate IV.), just as in the case of 
 Puccinia graminis, and the uredo form is gradually merged into 
 the Puccinia or teleutospore form. The sori of the teleutospores 
 are considerably smaller than those of Puccinia graminis, and of 
 a rather lighter colour (Figs. 8 and 9, Plate I V.) . The spores from 
 these sori are also smaller and rather differently shaped, and 
 enveloped in coverings, paraphyses (Fig. i o, Plate IV.). In these 
 states they are actively injurious to the corn plants. Though it 
 
 * The figures of this Plate, as well as those of Plates I. and II., were 
 drawn by Mr. Worthington G. Smith.
 
 Spring Rust & Mildew of Corn 
 
 a 
 
 1M 
 
 o.MNrtlWL 
 
 3 ' m^ n w n * 
 
 MIM*i 
 
 K- 
 
 3 '\Z 
 
 w 
 
 Ms 
 
 
 6. 
 
 9 (x 100) 
 
 Puccinia Rubigo-Vera D.C.
 
 43 
 
 nas been said that the injury caused by spring rust and mildew 
 is inconsiderable, this is by no means borne out by facts. Com 
 plants badly infected by it have been carefully watched, and 
 have been found to yield poor crops of more or less shrivelled 
 grains. In some cases where wheat has been much covered with 
 the blotches of the fungus, the plant appeared to be quite checked 
 in its growth. 
 
 With respect to the hibernation of this fungus, Puccinia rubigo 
 vera, there is some doubt. De Bary has proved that the teleuto- 
 spores will germinate readily, and form ^Ecidia upon some 
 species of the Boraginacea, as Borago officinalis, common 
 borage, Anchusq officinalis, common alkanet, and other 
 species in the autumn, in this respect differing from those of 
 Puccinia graminis, which will not germinate until the spring. 
 De Bary first proved this, and termed this form JEcidium 
 asperifolii. He also found that the spores from this ^Ecidium 
 form germinate upon grasses and corn plants in the same way as 
 the spores from JEtidium berberidis* But De Bary shows that 
 the spring rust is reproduced year after year in frightful quantities 
 by the uredo spores only. These produce also millions of teleuto- 
 spores which germinate, but without result, because the sporidae 
 seldom meet with the conditions necessary for developing 
 aecidia. These certainly are developed if the conditions are 
 favourable ; but the instance shows that the species can multiply 
 abundantly without the interposition of aecidia.f 
 
 The fungus causing spring rust and mildew is continued 
 through the winter in the uredo form upon grasses and self- 
 sown corn plants, and probably upon winter wheat and winter 
 barley. Frank, confirming De Bary's statement as to the 
 fungus passing the winter in the uredo form upon self- 
 sown corn plants and grasses, says that it is most desirable 
 to eradicate wild grasses from the neighbourhood of corn fields, 
 and especially Bromus mo His, soft brome grass. He also 
 advises that all weeds of species of Boraginece should be 
 rooted up. J 
 
 Puccinia rubigo vera is most common in India. Mr. 
 Barclay remarks that " P. rubigo appears to be the most pre- 
 valent rust in the Simla region." The natives of India 
 recognise the distinction between Puccinia rubigo vera and 
 Puccinia graminis. They call the first " Rolli," and the other 
 " Rolla." 
 
 In America Puccinia rubigo vera is also quite common, 
 according to Mr. Galloway, Chief of the Section of Vegetable 
 Pathology of the United States Department of Agriculture. 
 
 In Australasia it is extraordinarily abundant. At the Rust 
 Conference in New South Wales, before alluded to, Dr. Cobb 
 
 e Monatsbericht der Akademie der Wissenschaften, zu Berlin, 1866. 
 f Comparative Morphology aiul Biology of the Fungi ; Mycetozoa and 
 Bacteria, by A. De Bary 1884. 
 
 t Die Krankheiten der Pjianzen. Von Dr. A. B. Frank. 
 
 Rust and Mildew in India. By the late A. Barclay, M.B., F.L.S.
 
 44 
 
 said, "as far as the experiments of last season (1890) went 
 there could not be the least doubt that nearly all the damage 
 was caused by spring rust, Piiccinia rubigp vera." Dr. Cobb 
 further said) " during the past two years it has been proved 
 that Piiccinia rubigo vera exists in the uredo stage all the year 
 round in Australia, either on self-sown wheats, oats, barley, 
 &c., or on certain grasses," and further on he remarks, " there 
 can be no excuse for permitting rust to pass the winter on 
 cereals, self-sown through careless farming, or on weeds."
 
 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 INSECTS AND FUNGI INJURIOUS 
 TO CROPS. 
 
 1892. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, 
 BY EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE, 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 
 
 And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from 
 
 EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE, EAST HARDING STREET, FLEET STREET, B.C. ; or 
 
 JOHN MENZIES & Co., 12, HANOVER STREET, RIHNBTJRGH, and 
 
 90, WEST NILE STREET, GLASGOW; or 
 HODGES, FIGGIS, & Co., LIMITED, 104, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN. 
 
 1893. 
 Price Two Shillings,
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 MEMORANDUM - 3 
 
 GENERAL KEMARKS UPON THE ATTACKS OF INSECTS AND FUNGI 
 
 ON CROPS DURING 1892 - 5 
 
 THE CURRANT MOTH, Incurvaria capitella - (Plate I.) 10 
 
 THE Y MOTH, Flusia gamma ( Do. ) 12 
 
 THE EASPBERRY MOTH, Lampronia rubiella * (Plate II.) 15 
 
 THE CABBAGE FLY, Anthomyia brassicce ( Do. ) 18 
 
 THE MANGEL WDRZEL FLY, Anthomyia betce - ( Do. ) 20 
 
 THE FRIT FLY, Oscinis Frit - (Plate III.) 23 
 
 THE GRAIN APHIS, Siphonophora granaria - (Plate IV.) 25 
 
 THE TURNIP APHIS, Aphis brassicce (Plate V.) 29 
 
 THE RASPBERRY BEETLE, Byturus tomentosus - (Plate VI.) 32 
 
 THE PEA AND BEAN WEEVIL, Sitones lineatus - ( Do. ) 34 
 
 THE RED SPIDER, Tetranychus telarius - - ( Do. ) 36 
 
 THE RASPBERRY MITE, Phytoptus rubi - - ( Do. ) 39 
 
 THE BLACK CURRANT MITE, Phytoptus ribis - (Plate VII.) 41 
 
 THE APPLE BLOSSOM WEEVIL, Anthonomus Pomorum (PI. VIII.) 44 
 
 CLUB ROOT, Plasmodiophora brassicce - - (Plate IX.) 49 
 
 BLACK MOULD IN CORN, Cladosporium herbarum (Plate X.) 55
 
 Heport upon Injurious Insects and Fungi. 
 
 1892. 
 
 MEMORANDUM. 
 
 The following report, with detailed notices of various insects 
 and fungi noted in 1892 as attacking the crops of the farm, 
 the orchard, or the garden, has been prepared by Mr. Charles 
 Whitehead, F.L.S., in his capacity of Technical Adviser to the 
 Intelligence Branch of the Board of Agriculture. The reports 
 upon injurious insects and fungi which have been hitherto issued 
 by this Department have contained block illustrations only ; 
 but, with the object of facilitating the identification of insect and 
 other pests, it has been deemed desirable on this occasion to 
 illustrate the descriptions given by means of carefully coloured 
 plates. The plates now included have been reproduced from 
 sketches placed at the disposal of the Board by Mr. Whitehead' 
 and it is believed they will materially enhance the usefulness of 
 the report. 
 
 The circumstances of the year under review necessitated the 
 issue of only three leaflets dealing with insect attacks. These 
 were respectively the Apple Blossom Weevil, the Raspberry Moth, 
 and the Mangel Wurzel Fly, the last named infection being 
 probably the most widespread of the pests of the season of 1892. 
 Accounts of the life history of each of these insects, and of eleven 
 others, are now given, together with such suggestions as ex- 
 perience has shown can be offered for the prevention or mitigation 
 of the attacks complained of. 
 
 The two cases of fungoid attacks, which are reported on, form 
 subjects of special interest. The notice of the Plasmodiophora 
 brassicce or Club Root suggests that there is room for further 
 research into the strange conditions of this plague, the recogni- 
 tion of which nevertheless dates back more than a hundred 
 years. 
 
 I 74144. 2500.-~2/93. Wt. 15842. A 2
 
 The last of the series of plates in this volume gives a graphic 
 illustration of the appearances 'presented by the so called Black 
 Mould in corn Cladosporium kerbarum). The serious harm 
 caused by this fungus both to Wheat and Barley plants rendered 
 it desirable that attention should be directed to this attack, and 
 that the distinction between this pest and the ordinary Wheat 
 Bust or Mildew (Puccinia graminis) pointed out. A special 
 inquiry has been conducted this year into various circumstances 
 attending the prevalence of Rust in Wheat, and it is intended to 
 issue as a separate , volume the information collected on this 
 point from various observers in this country, giving at the 
 same time some notice of the results, so far as they can be ob- 
 tained, of the recent researches which have been in progress 
 in other countries. 
 
 Board of Agriculture, 
 December 1892.
 
 GENERAL REPORT 
 
 UPON 
 
 INSECTS AND FUNGI INJURIOUS TO 
 CROPS IN 1892. 
 
 INSECTS. 
 
 During 1892 there was not any very serious attack of a 
 particular insect like that, for instance, of the Diamond-back 
 Moth upon the turnip crop in 1891, and of the Winter moth 
 upon apple trees and other fruit trees in 1889 and 1890. Still 
 there has been considerable harm done to certain crops in 
 some localities ; such as in parts of Cambridgeshire to mustard by 
 the mustard beetle, Phcedon betulce, whose ravages are most 
 difficult to check. The raspberry moth, Lampronia rubiella, 
 which formed the subject of a leaflet issued in May last, again 
 caused much mischief to raspberry canes in Kent, Surrey, 
 Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire, as well as the currant moth, 
 Incurvai*ia capitella, to red currant bushes in several places. 
 The red spider, Tetranychus telarius, was most troublesome to 
 gooseberry bushes in the spring in plantations and gardens 
 throughout the country. In some cases the leaves dropped off 
 the bushes, in others they turned yellow, and the fruit was 
 small in consequence. Later on these pests materially injured 
 damson, plum, and peach trees. In the last few years red 
 spiders have increased enormously and have attacked various 
 crops. Their work of destruction is frequently attributed to 
 influences of weather, or of soil, or to natural decay, as they are 
 so small that they can hardly be distinguished without a pocket 
 lens ; but when the leaves of trees and plants become rusty in the 
 summer they should be closely inspected for red spiders, and 
 treated in the manner prescribed in this report. 
 
 Apple producers complained much of the quantities of Apple 
 blossom weevils, Anthonomus pomorum, on the apple trees in 
 the early spring. It was therefore thought desirable by the 
 Board of Agriculture to publish a leaflet giving particulars of 
 successful methods of combating this insect adopted in France, 
 which has been reproduced in this report. The Codlin Moth, 
 (Garpocapsa pomonana) was unusually plentiful in some district?, 
 as is evidenced by the state of many stored apples.
 
 The appearance of the Diamond-back Moth in 1892, was 
 first reported on the sixth of June, by that close observer 
 Mr. Norman Berwick, of St. Andrews, Scotland. Two 
 or three other later reports came from England and Scotland, 
 but these spoke only of a few moths having been seen, and here 
 and there a few caterpillars were noticed. But, as anticipated, 
 the deluges of rain in August 1891 pretty well stamped out this 
 insect, and the showery and inclement character of the spring of 
 1892 prevented the few survivors from doing mischief this year. 
 The Hessian fly has, happily, also been nearly ousted from this 
 country by the inclement summer weather of late years. Only 
 three accounts of slight attacks came to hand, whose results 
 were of the most trifling consequence. It seems to be established 
 that this much-dreaded insect will not be able to affect British 
 corn crops in any material degree, except, perhaps, in cycles of 
 hot and dry summers. 
 
 There has been a remarkable and fortunate cessation of the 
 plague of Winter moths, Cheimatobia, trumata, whose cater- 
 pillars have in some previous seasons cleared the apple trees 
 and other fruit trees of leaves and blossoms in orchards, planta- 
 tions, and gardens throughout the country. This cessation is 
 without doubt due to the measures that have been taken against 
 them, in the shape of banding the trees to prevent the ascent of 
 the female moth, and syringing infested trees with unpleasant 
 and poisonous washes ; also, to some extent, to the heavy, cold 
 rains which have proved fatal to other species of Lepidoptera. 
 Fruit growers should not relax any precautions against the 
 Winter moth, and be careful to syringe their trees if only a few 
 caterpillars are found upon them in the springtime. 
 
 Pea Weevils, Sitones lineatus, were unusually destructive to 
 pea crops in a few localities. 
 
 Byturus tomentosus, the Raspberry beetle, literally swarmed 
 in many fruit plantations and gardens. 
 
 Probably, the most general visitation was that of the Mangel 
 fly, Anthomyia betce. In very many parts of England and 
 Scotland 'it was exceptional to find a field of mangel wurzel 
 plants free from it. In many fields a plant could hardly be 
 found without the unmistakable evidence of the maggots of 
 the fly within the tissues of its leaves. Early in June com- 
 plaints began to be made from Sussex, Kent, and other counties. 
 Where the plants had been manured properly and were kept 
 well horse-hoed they grew away from the attack ; they were 
 aided in this by the heavy showers that fell in the latter part 
 of June which were not congenial to the maggots ; but even in 
 these cases the yield of roots was clearly lessened. Upon land 
 indifferently manured and cultivated, the crop was decreased 
 somewhat considerably. 
 
 A leaflet was issued in June by the Board of Agriculture, 
 describing ^this insect, and reccommending remedies and modes 
 of prevention against it.
 
 An uncommon infestation of the pods of rape was communi- 
 cated by Mr. W. C. Little, of Stag's Holt, March, who forwarded 
 several rape pods on the llth of June, containing very small 
 white maggots with yellow streaks, on their bodies, which soon 
 pupated. On the 29th of June, tiny gnats came forth, proving 
 to be Cecidomyia brassicce (Winnertz). Schiner says of this 
 that its larvae are found in the seed pods of several species of 
 brassicse. 
 
 Very great injury was sustained by oat plants from the 
 minute larvae of the Frit fly, Oscinis Frit. Much of the work 
 of this insect, it is believed, was wrongly attributed to the lateness 
 of the sowing on account of the wet spring. The backward 
 state of the plants, and their slow growth, however, favoured 
 the action of this fly, and enabled it to increase and multiply in 
 an unprecedented ratio. 
 
 Among aphides the chief workers of mischief were the Corn, 
 Turnip, and Hop aphides. The first was very prevalent in most 
 parts of Great Britain, and reduced the quantity and deteriorated 
 the quality of wheat in a most unusual degree. Though the 
 Turnip aphis did comparatively small harm, the Hop aphis 
 was present in the hop grounds of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hants 
 almost throughout the season in great numbers, and the hop 
 crop, as a rule, was only saved by persistent costly washings of 
 the plants with quassia and soft soap solutions. These aphides 
 have been regular annual visitors in the hop plantations for several 
 years in succession, and " washing " the plants has become a part 
 of the ordinary routine of hop production. The Hop aphis 
 appeared two years since in the hop yards of Washington 
 Territory, Oregon, California, and other noted hop-producing 
 districts in the extreme west of the United States, much to 
 the dismay of American hop producers. 
 
 Among less important injuries to crops during the year, those 
 caused to ripening hops by a maggot in the stem of the cones 
 may be cited. From observation it seems that the plants upon 
 poor, dry, and high spots as well as the outsides of hop grounds, 
 are most subject to this infestation. Upon examination it is 
 found on picking a hop with indications of premature ripening, 
 that the stem is tunnelled and occupied by very small white 
 maggots, the cause of the evil. As late as the first week in 
 October, cones that were left upon young hop plants were found 
 with white maggots within their stems, which tends to show that 
 there is more than one brood of this insect. These maggots 
 when placed upon earth in a box quickly buried themselves in 
 it, and it is hoped that perfect insects may come from these and 
 be identified in the spring. 
 
 The Currant Mite, Phytoptus ribis is causing great injury to 
 black currant bushes, which becomes more serious each year. A 
 new species of Phytoptus has been discovered in the buds of 
 raspberry canes. This has been termed Phytoptus rubi.
 
 Beech trees in some places suffered from the onslaughts of the 
 large caterpillars of the " Buff tip " moth, Pygcera bucephala. 
 CJopper-leaf beeches were especially chosen by them, and their 
 leafage was stripped before the offenders were discovered. Some 
 :small trees were much injured by these caterpillars. 
 
 FUNGI. 
 
 Among the injuries to crops in the past year by fungi, those 
 caused to wheat by rust and mildew were most conspicuous. 
 In consequence of the extensive prevalence of these disorders a 
 circular with a schedule of questions was issued by the Board 
 of Agriculture in the summer to agriculturists in the chief corn- 
 growing districts inviting a statement their experiences upon 
 the subject. As a full report on ru&t and mildew, embodying 
 the information thus received, will be forthcoming in the begin- 
 ning of 1893, it is not necessary to deal now with this subject. 
 
 In addition to the very extensive attack of mildew, caused 
 by this fungus, Puccinia graminis, the wheat plants in many 
 districts suffered from the action of another fungus upon their 
 straw, chaff, and corn, which had evidently hindered the 
 full and perfect development of the grain. This fungus was 
 identified as Cladosporium herbarum, a spore-bearing form of 
 Sphceria herbarum,, and is described at length in this report. 
 Barley plants were also infested by this fungus in some localities, 
 which it appears had not been previously noticed as affecting 
 Taarley. 
 
 Cases of clover, both of Red Clover, TrifoHum pratense and 
 Tnfolium incarnatum, affected by the fungus Polythrincium 
 trifolii (Kunze) were reported late in November. As a remedy 
 it was recommended to apply 40 or 50 Ibs. of powdered sulphur 
 with a sulphurator on the first fine day : the effect of this has not 
 yet been reported. 
 
 The destructive hop fungus, Podosphaera castagnei, has done 
 comparatively little harm to this year's hop crop, and the potato 
 fungus, Phytophthora infestans, on which further experiments 
 have been made this season with Bouillie bordelaise, was happily 
 far less dangerous than usual. 
 
 Plasmodiophora brassicce, the curious slime fungus, having 
 some of the characteristics of low animal organisms, was 
 extremely destructive to turnips of all kinds during the summer 
 and autumn, causing the distortions and malformations upon 
 their roots known as Club-root, Club-foot, Finger-and-toe, and 
 Anbury in this country ; Vingerziekt in Belgium, Kohl-hernie in 
 Germany, Botch in Australia, and Maladie digitoire in France. An 
 account of this fungus is given in this report, together with 
 recommendations for the prevention of the evil. 
 
 Apple branches and twigs were received from various 
 quarters showing abnormal conditions due in some cases mani- 
 festly to the fungus belonging to the group Ascomycetes, termed
 
 Nectria ditissima. These conditions were those of the affection 
 commonly known as " canker," displayed by the dying away of 
 the ends of leading shoots, as well as of branches and twigs, 
 from wounds or fissures in the rind extending deeply into the 
 woody tissue. The vermilion perithecia of the fungus Nectria 
 ditissima were clearly seen in some of these fissures, evidently 
 showing the fungoid nature of the attack. But in others 
 there were no traces of the fungus, though the symptoms were 
 precisely the same. Canker is attributed by Hartig and 
 some other botanists to this fungus, Nectria ditissima. Fruit 
 growers and gardeners generally consider it to be due to the 
 action of frost when the trees are full of sap, or to other 
 weather influences, also to the land being too wet or too dry. It 
 is, however, believed that Nectria ditissima is the main cause of 
 canker proper, and as a remedy syringing the trees with solutions 
 of sulphate of copper in the form of Bouillie bordelaise, as used 
 for the potato disease, has been recommended, especially for young 
 trees. This should of course be done in the winter. 
 
 Besides the communications received concerning the insects 
 and fungi mentioned above, many others have been made with 
 reference to minor attacks, all of which have received immediate 
 attention, and suggestions have been made as to remedying or 
 preventing mischief as far as possible. The interest taken 
 by cultivators of all kinds in injurious insects and fungi, and 
 the desire for information regarding them and the methods of 
 dealing with them increase year by year.
 
 10 
 
 The Currant Moth. (Incurvaria capitella). 
 
 (PLATE I. Fig. 1.) 
 
 This is a comparatively new pest in red currant plantations in 
 this country, and it appears that it is not particularly trouble- 
 some in other countries, though it is mentioned by Kaltenberg as 
 one of the insects attacking currant bushes. 
 
 The caterpillars attack the buds in the early spring, living 
 upon them and preventing them from developing leaves and 
 blossoms. Later on, the second generation of caterpillars 
 feed upon the inside of the ripening currants and do some 
 injury in this way. 
 
 About the tenth of April specimens of infested currant buds 
 were first sent from fruit plantations in Gloucestershire, Kent, and 
 Worcestershire. They were fastened together by a kind of web. 
 The little caterpillars were found within the buds, feeding upon 
 their contents. Afterwards several complaints were made from 
 various places of similar attacks. 
 
 LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 Some of the caterpillars in currant buds sent during April 
 were placed in breeding cages. The first moth appeared on the 
 15th of May. Observation showed that the pupal state continued 
 from 9 to 11 days. The term of caterpillar existence could not 
 be accurately noted as the buds naturally withered and the food 
 supply was cut off. 
 
 The moth (Fig. 1 a and b) has awing expanse of from 7| to 8 
 lines, or close upon three-fourths of an inch. Its body is three lines 
 in length, or the fourth of an inch. The fore wings are brown with 
 a slight purple tinge. Mr. Stainton says : " A pale yellow fascia- 
 form spot lies on the inner margin before the middle, and beyond 
 the middle are two large pale yellow opposite spots." The head 
 is dark yellow. The antennae are dark and the legs yellowish. 
 
 Its mode of oviposition is remarkable. This was first noticed 
 by Dr. Chapman, and was confirmed afterwards by my own 
 observations. The moth selects a currant, and with the help of a 
 long ovipositor places eggs in it close to the seeds within their 
 pulpy surroundings. I did not see more than two eggs placed in 
 the same currant. The eggs are ovoid and almost colourlesss, with 
 a small knot at one end. The moth is provided with a very 
 long apparatus for this process, almost half as long as its body. 
 Dr. Chapman terms it a double " instrument, dorsal and ventral, 
 eachwith two long rods for working it." The caterpilar ( Fig. I.d.) 
 is hatched in five or six days and feeds for a while upon the 
 pulp of the fruit, and leaves by a small opening which it makes 
 in the currant, and gets under the bark or, more properly,
 
 The Currant Moth (Incurvaria capitella. 
 
 Moth. ruiuL. size. b & c. Mffifo: magnified/. d. LOTVCL nat. size. & 
 e.. Pupa-: not. size & mat/nvfieci . 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 The Y Moth. (Plusia gamma.) 
 
 Moth: ncub svz&. b. Lourvcu: not,, si-te.
 
 11 
 
 the skin, of? the stem below the buds. Dr. Chapman has 
 carried this point farther, as he found the caterpillar " in firm 
 little cocoons under the scales of the buds for next year clearly 
 in a hibernating condition." And, as seen just when they had 
 left the currant, and as seen later on by Dr. Chapman in their 
 cocoons, these caterpillars had not arrived at their full growth, 
 as they were only about the eighth of an inch in length, whereas 
 in the spring, as found in the currant buds, they are nearly 
 double this length when full grown. 
 
 In its early stages the caterpillar is reddish. After feeding in 
 the currant buds it becomes green with a tinge of yellow. It has 
 a black head and blackish marks on the second segment, and an 
 orange-coloured mark between the seventh and ninth segments. 
 The prolegs are black. The figure of the caterpillar (Fig. 1. d} 
 represents it when near pupation. 
 
 The pupa is of a greenish colour with a brown shade. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 Picking off the infested buds has been practised in some 
 plantations, but this is obviously a tedious and costly process, 
 and can hardly be recommended upon a large scale. Where 
 infestation is considerable and the bushes have been seriously 
 injured by the caterpillars it would be well to cut the bushes 
 hard in order to remove the infested branches as much as pos- 
 sible. Or, the bushes, after they have been well pruned, might be 
 brushed over with soft soap and paraffin, or syringed just before 
 the buds burst forth, with a mixture of soft soap and paraffin, 
 or a strong solution of quassia with soft soap. All cuttings 
 should be burnt at once, and not left on the ground.
 
 12 
 
 The Y. Moth. (Plusia Gamma.) 
 
 (Pti.TE I. Fig. 2.) 
 
 In some seasons the large prettily-marked caterpillars of this 
 moth appear in great numbers and clear off whole fields of clover 
 chiefly the second cuts. They also devour peas, rape, turnips, 
 and cabbage. According to Taschenberg and Hitzema Bos, they 
 attack sugar-beet plants in France and Germany, and Nordlinger 
 says that in France in 1735 they ruined the crops of peas, beans, 
 hemp, flax, and vegetables in wide-spreading districts. In 1828, 
 in parts of East Prussia, many fields of beans, peas, flax, cabbage, 
 and potatoes, were stripped of all but the stalks of the plants. 
 Most serious damage has been caused to sugar-beet in more recent 
 seasons in Saxony and other parts of Germany. In the summer 
 of 1879 there was a great invasion of this insect in the whole of 
 Western Europe, and much harm was caused to many crops. 
 
 In 1881 these caterpillars were abundant in several parts of 
 Kent, and appeared again though in somewhat diminished 
 numbers in 1892. Complaints of much injury done by cater- 
 pillars to clover were received on July 8th 1892, from the neigh- 
 bourhood of Rochester, Kent. ' Again, on the 13th of July, 
 another correspondent wrote, "I send you some caterpillars. 
 This pest has eaten a piece of second-cut clover, near Gravesend, 
 40 acres in extent, till there is hardly a green leaf to be seen. 
 I notice they eat turnips, lettuces, thistles, when what appears 
 to be their natural food is finished, but they seem to favour 
 thistles, though I have found them eating potatoes. They have 
 now almost disappeared, having been eaten by rooks, starlings, 
 and other birds." 
 
 Another observer, writing on the llth of July, from North 
 Kent, said : " When the clovers were cut, the fields were swarming 
 with caterpillars, which have eaten up the undergrowth so 
 completely that the fields are perfectly brown, and it is very 
 doubtful whether we shall get any second cut at all. They 
 have a'so invaded the cottage gardens adjoining." Upon the 
 18th of July a note was received from the same observer to the 
 effect that " the caterpillars have apparently left the clover fields, 
 or have been destroyed by the rooks and starlings. I am 
 afraid the cottage gardens, where the birds cannot get at them 
 so well, have suffered a good deal." 
 
 Upon carefully examining these caterpillars it was found that 
 they had the appearance of Plusia gamma caterpillars, but 
 some were darker in colour than these usually are. There 
 were great differences, however, in their colour.
 
 13 
 
 Not being quite clear as to whether they were Plusia gamma 
 caterpillars, at Mr. Stainton's suggestion Mr. G. P. Porritt was 
 asked to give his valuable opinion. Mr. Porritt at first had some 
 doubts upon the subject, but after having received some moths 
 from myself bred from the caterpillars, he came to the conclusion 
 that they were Plusia gamma caterpillars notwithstanding some- 
 what essential differences. 
 
 The moths bred in confinement from the caterpillars sent from 
 Rochester were undoubtedly Plusia gamma, though very small, 
 This was due in all probability to their unnatural surroundings. 
 In fact, only a small proportion of the caterpillars sent to me 
 assumed the cocoon stage, and not all of the cocoons produced 
 moths. 
 
 Mr. Porritt, in a communication to the Entomologists' Monthly 
 Magazine for September 1892, on this subject says: "On 
 August 4th Mr. Whitehead sent me two moths he had just bred 
 from some of the larvae, and on the 6th he forwarded another ; 
 while in the meantime I also had bred a good specimen, the 
 only one which emerged from my larvae. All the moths were 
 exceedingly small, less than half the size of a number of 
 ordinary gamma, which I netted for comparison on the 
 Lancashire coast, where the species was flying in thousands 
 towards the end of August. But apart from size and the tone 
 of colour I could find nothing to distinguish them from Plusia 
 gamma." 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The Y moth is about three-quarters of an inch long with a 
 wing expanse of from 1| to 1 inches. The head and thorax 
 are brown, with a purple tinge, and the fore wings are silvery 
 gray, with brownish markings. Upon each wing there is a 
 silvery mark placed obliquely, resembling the Greek letter y or 
 an English Y. Its hind wings are grayish brown with dark 
 margins. (Fig. 2 a.) 
 
 The ordinary caterpillar is light green, with pale yellow or 
 whitish lines down its back, and a darker yellow streak along 
 the side, with somewhat sparse hairs upon the body. (Fig. 2 6.) It 
 has only twelve feet, and moves with a modified " loop." The 
 caterpillar spins its cocoon under the leaves of plants and changes 
 to a black chrysalis. There are successions of broods. The 
 moths may be seen flying about from June till October, and 
 hibernation is passed in the moth stage and in the chrysalis 
 form, as well as in the larval state, as small caterpillars have 
 been found in the winter. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 When the caterpillars are noticed on clover, rolling with a 
 heavy roller has been found beneficial. This can only be done in 
 the early stages of the growth of the plants, after the first crop has
 
 14 
 
 been carried. The caterpillars being green it is difficult to detect 
 them, therefore careful observation is requisite from May to 
 ascertain whether caterpillars are present in the clover crops. 
 If they are present in formidable numbers the clover should be 
 cut as soon as possible to prevent the chrysalids from turning 
 into moths. A correspondent wrote that he believed the attack 
 upon one large clover field was stopped by this means, the 
 chrysalids being taken up with the hay and killed by the heat 
 of the rick. 
 
 Lime, and lime and soot mixed, applied in damp weather 
 have been found to be most unpleasant to the caterpillars. 
 Where they are present on turnips and other plants in drills 
 they may be dislodged by bunches of furze, birch, or green 
 broom fastened on each side of a horse hoe. This should be 
 immediately followed by another horse hoe to bury them, or kill 
 them. 
 
 These caterpillars are very fond of thistles and nettles. 
 Several correspondents remarked that they appeared to like the 
 thistles in clover fields just as well as the clover. These weeds 
 should be kept down, as they serve as food for the caterpillars 
 before the clovers and other cultivated plants are ready. 
 
 In Germany they push long troughs of lath and sacking upon 
 two light wheels through the young clover, flax, and beet, before 
 the plants are too high, to catch the caterpillars. 
 
 Many correspondents wrote of the inestimable value of rooks, 
 starlings, and other birds in clearing off these caterpillars, during 
 the late attack. Rooks and starlings seem to be particularly 
 fond of them, as they are smooth.
 
 I 
 
 Fig I 
 Raspberry Moth. (Lampronia rubiella.) 
 
 CL Moth-: line slic\ving na,t size, fc. Larva,: not. size & mcuanvfie-cL. 
 o Pupa-: nat. size & magnified.. 
 
 > / 
 
 Fig. 2 
 Cabbage Fly (Anthomyia brassicae.) 
 
 a. Fly.- Ivnes slwvnjig riot size. b. Larva-, runt. siz& &. 
 c. Pupa.- not. size- 
 
 ffl 
 
 ,'1K b. 
 
 Fig. 3. * 
 
 Mangel Fly. i Anthomyia betae. j 
 
 a-. Male. rutt. si,z& & inaqm,fLe,ci la. FemaJ^e nat. size- &- magrufve-d. 
 c. Larva: TMt. size- &. magnified., d- Pupa-. TMt svze
 
 15 
 
 Raspberry Moth. (Lampronia rubiella). 
 
 (PLATE II. Fig. 1.) 
 
 The small red caterpillars of this moth have been most 
 destructive to raspberry canes in the last five seasons. The 
 culture of raspberries has increased enormously during the past 
 10 years, as they have proved to be a profitable crop, and the 
 canes come quickly into bearing. In 1891 very great loss 
 was caused by these caterpillars, and in the past season in some 
 districts the crop was almost a failure in consequence of their 
 attacks. In 1891, upon several large fruit farms in Kent, nearly 
 half of the buds of the raspberry canes were destroyed, and in 
 1892 the injury caused by the caterpillars was even worse in 
 some localities. The attack of the previous season appeared also 
 to have affected the health and vigour of the stock, as the new 
 shoots were weak and small, and produced but little fruit. 
 Many of the two years' shoots also were bare of leaves. 
 
 Upon close examination of canes infested with this caterpillar 
 it was seen that the soft juicy whorls at the base of the buds 
 had been eaten away so that foliage and blossoms could not be 
 put forth. In some cases almost every bud contained a cater- 
 pillar, or had been destroyed by one which had left it and gone 
 to another bud. 
 
 LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The Raspberry Moth (Lampronia nibiella) belongs to the 
 family Tineidce of the group Tineina. It is a very pretty little 
 moth, of a light brown colour " shining brown," Mr. Stainton 
 terms it having a series of spots, as of burnished gold upon its 
 fore wings.* The hinder wings are rather lighter coloured with 
 
 di fringes. It is barely half an inch across the wings and its 
 y is not quite the fourth of an inch in length. (Fig. 1 a.) The 
 moths may be seen towards the end of May and the beginning of 
 June flying round the raspberry canes, and laying eggs upon their 
 flowers. As to this process Dr. Chapman says : " the moth selects 
 a fully open flower, and without any prolonged examination 
 insinuates her terminal segment in the angle formed at the base 
 of the stamens outside, between them and the calyx, seating 
 herself on the stamens. The spear with which the ovipositor is 
 armed pierces the substance of the receptacle in this angle, and 
 the egg is placed in the substance of the receptacle at a depth 
 from the surface about equal to its own diameter." The egg is 
 
 * Delta, in the Entomological Magazine, describes this moth as Maculis insiynis et
 
 16 
 
 somewhat round. In about five days the caterpillar comes from 
 the egg and works its way into the raised white receptacle upon 
 which the fruit, or, more correctly, the collection of little fruits 
 comprising the raspberry, is formed The caterpillar does not 
 injure the fruit, nor does it feed at all at this time. Mr. St dnton 
 says that it hibernates without feeding, and no traces of feeding 
 could be found either in the fruit or the receptacle in which it is 
 ensconced. It soon leaves the receptacle through a hole which it 
 makes at its base, and goes down into the ground where it 
 remains in larval form in a small cocoon during the winter. 
 Upon the approach of spring it crawls up the canes and gets 
 into a bud and feeds on it, remaining in this condition about 15 
 days, when it scoops out a hole at the base of the bud, and turns 
 therein to a chrysalis. This last state continues from 12 to 14 
 days. 
 
 From observations noted this year it seems that a caterpillar 
 is not satisfied with one bud, but feeds upon one and moves 011 
 to another when it has exhausted it, or finds it not pleasant to its 
 taste. 
 
 The caterpillar is the fourth of an inch long, in colour reddish, 
 or pinky red, varying in individuals, but becoming a pronounced 
 red later on. (Fig. 1 b.) It has a black head, black marks on the 
 segment next the head, three pairs of black feet on the thoracic 
 segments, four pairs of fore legs, and a pair of anal feet. The 
 chrysalis is exactly a quarter of an inch long and tapers some- 
 what unusually at its lower end (Fig. 1 c.) 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 The caterpillars pass the winter in the earth and rubbish 
 around and among the stocks of the raspberry canes, staying there 
 from about Midsummer until some time in March, early or late 
 according to the season. After an attack it would be well to dig 
 the earth deeply round and between the stocks with a digging 
 fork, or spud, or to hoe around the stocks deeply with a three- 
 pronged hoe, to destroy some, and bury some so that they could 
 not get out of the ground. Soot and lime, mixed in the propor- 
 tion of one bushel of lime to three bushels of soot, might 
 advantageously be dug or hoed into the ground, or lime ashes 
 might be used where these are procurable. 
 
 Raspberry canes in field culture are pruned very closely, so 
 that there are but a few canes, or stems, from each stock. It 
 would not be difficult, therefore, to put a little thick soft soap, 
 mixed with carbolic acid or paraffin oil, or other offensive sticky 
 stuff, upon the lower part of each cane with a large paint brush. 
 This would, it is thought, prevent the caterpillars from crawling 
 up. They are so small that the least obstruction of a sticky and 
 disagreeable nature would stay their progress. Cartgrease with 
 a little tar in it would keep them best.
 
 17 
 
 Cutting off and burning infested canes would be the means of 
 preventing further mischief. It would not injure next year's 
 crop, as plenty of shoots are always thrown up from the stocks 
 to take the place of those cut away. A badly infested cane would 
 probably die if allowed to remain on the stock, so that nothing 
 would be lost by cutting it away while the caterpillars are in 
 its buds.
 
 The Cabbage Ply. (Anthomyia brassicce.) 
 
 (PLATE II., Fig. 2.) 
 
 Complaints of injury to cabbages, broccoli, cauliflowers and 
 other species of brassicse were sent in during the last summer. 
 Some of these came from market gardeners in Bedfordshire, 
 Essex, Lancashire, and Surrey, who spoke of considerable 
 mischief having been caused by whitish maggots in the roots 
 of the plants which prevented them from forming heads and 
 hearts properly. One correspondent styled this an extraordin- 
 ary attack on the cabbage plants throughout the locality. In 
 other cases farmers reported that the Drumhead varieties of 
 cabbage were much injured. Swedes also were affected to 
 some extent. It was said that there was a dirty white grub 
 of a cylindrical shape in the roots, and that the plants thus 
 infested turned yellow and flagged, or in some cases died. This 
 is by no means a new pest. Curtis described it and spoke of 
 losses occasioned by it in certain years. French, German, and 
 American entomologists write of it as quite common in parts of 
 France, Germany, and America. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The fly is rather larger than a house fly, and the female 
 differs rather materially from the male, as is the case in most 
 of the Antkomyidce. Unfortunately females only came from 
 the larvae sent, so that a figure of a male from life cannot be 
 given here. 
 
 The female is of a light grey colour with sparse hairs 
 on the body, and legs also grey. Its head is clear grey and 
 the eyes very wide apart with a red coloured space between them, 
 having black hairs upon it. It has translucent wings, slightly 
 yellow at their bases. The male is ash-grey, covered with black 
 hairs. Its thorax is dark grey having three longitudinal black 
 stripes. The abdomen is lighter in colour with a rather narrower 
 black stripe down it. and three transverse black lines, so that 
 eight black spots, or patches, are formed. The wings and legs 
 closely resemble those of the female. 
 
 These flies may be seen throughout the summer. In the spring 
 the females begin to place eggs upon the roots, as deeply below 
 the junction of the leaves and roots as they can reach. Larvae 
 come forth in about 10 days and make their way at once through 
 the cuticle of the roots, and scrape out passages within them, living 
 upon their juices and thereby checking their growth. Besides, 
 they cause decay in the roots, and young plants soon succumb 
 to this attack,
 
 19 
 
 The larva is dirty white in colour without hairs, cylin drical 
 cut square at the tail end, with a pointed head furnished with 
 two hooks, and is rather more than the third of an inch long. 
 (Fig. 2 6.) 
 
 It continues from 24 to28 days in a larval state, and changes to 
 a chestnut coloured pupa in the ground, and sometimes in 
 the holes of the roots. This is about the fourth of an inch long, 
 barrel shaped, with two thick projections at its lower extremity. 
 (Fig. 2 c.) Pupation continues in the summer season for about 1 16 
 days. There are continuous broods from spring to autumn. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 Ammoniacal liquor, which may be had as refuse from gaa 
 works at a low price, has been found to be remedial in some 
 instances. It must be mixed with water at the rate of from 2 
 to 2 1 parts of water to one of the liquor, and poured carefully 
 round the plants so as to get at the roots. 
 
 Ordinary lime water has also been found useful, but the diffi- 
 culty obviously is to get these solutions to the roots. 
 
 Nitrate of soda, soot, and guano put on close round the plants 
 have also been found valuable, as if they fail to act remedial ly 
 they at least stimulate the plant's growth and help it along out 
 of the way of the larvae. 
 
 Badly infested plants should be pulled up and burnt at once, 
 and the soil from which they are taken well limed or gas- 
 limed and dug very deeply. In America strong brine is used 
 occasionally to destroy the larvas in the ground. 
 
 Before plants are put in they should be dipped in solutions of 
 soft soap and quassia, composed of 7 Ibs. of soft soap, 12 Ibs. of 
 quassia, to 100 gallons of water ; or of 7 Ibs. of soft soap and 
 6 to 7 quarts of carbolic acid. 
 
 Hellebore powder has been used for this with some success in 
 the United States, mixed at the rate of a quarter of a pound to 
 10 quarts of water. 
 
 In the United States, according to Professor Lintner, it is 
 dangerous to use fresh farmyard manure for cabbage ground. 
 
 If possible it would be well to avoid taking successive crops of 
 plants of the cabbage tribe on infested land, at least until it has 
 been deeply dug two spits deep, and limed or gas limed.
 
 The Mangel Wurzel Fly. (Anthomyia beta. Curtis.) 
 
 (PLATE II., Fig. 3.) 
 
 Many notes were received in the first week oi June from various 
 parts of the country, of much harm caused to mangel wurzel 
 plants by the larvae, or maggots, of this fly, and the agricultural 
 journals from time to time during the summer recorded 
 accounts of the injury occasioned by them. In some cases the 
 plants were killed by the action of the maggots upon the leaves. 
 In others their growth was retarded and the crop was con- 
 sequently diminished. 
 
 A field of mangels, ten acres in extent, was inspected on the 
 8th of June, and it was found that 65 per cent, at least of the 
 plants had eggs and maggots of the fly upon them. Some of the 
 leaves were brown, and it seemed as if the greater part of them 
 would be destroyed. Upon examination from 5 to 15 maggots 
 were discovered in many of the leaves, whose surfaces were 
 blotched, or blistered. They were within the tissues of the leaves, 
 in which they had made long mines, or passages, and upon which 
 they were feeding, exhausting their juices and extracting the 
 chlorophyll, or green colouring. There were also quantities of 
 eggs upon a great number of the leaves, from which maggots 
 were being constantly hatched. As the land was full of manure, 
 and nitrate of soda was added soon after the presence of the 
 insects was discovered, the plants grew 8 way from them even- 
 ually and yielded a good crop of roots, but their traces were 
 plainly visible throughout the summer, and the crop was reduced. 
 Fine growing showers also helped the plants considerably. If 
 the land had been poor and the weather diy, it is believed that 
 the plants could not have got over the attack. 
 
 This is not by any means a new mangel wurzel pest. Curtis 
 describes the male, and mentions this insect a,s affecting the crop 
 in 1847.* The first serious mischief resulting from this fly was in 
 1876. Again in 1880 much harm was done by it. Also in 1881) 
 there were complaints of serious losses from its action in 
 many counties. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The fly belongs to the family Muscidcv. It is about the size 
 of a common house fly which it resembles in appearance. In 
 colour it is grey of a somewhat ashy shade. The legs of the 
 
 * Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Vol. viii., 1 ser., p. 413,
 
 21 
 
 male are black, with parts slightly tawny. Those of the 
 female are testaceous. In the male the body is long and 
 narrow with longitudinal spots on the back, and the eyes nearly 
 meet ; while the body of the female is much broader, the spots 
 or lines, on the back are indistinct, and the eyes are far apart, with 
 a white border around them (Fig 3 a.). The flies appear first 
 in March. There are several broods of flies during the spring and 
 summer, the number depending upon the weather and the state of 
 the plants. Eggs, white, oval, with pretty markings which can 
 be seen with a good pocket lens, rather more than half a milli- 
 metre in length, are laid in groups of from two to seven on the 
 under surfaces of the leaves. As many as forty eggs were found 
 on one leaf in July last. Larvae, or maggots, come from the eggs 
 in about eight days, and immediately bore into the leaf, getting 
 out of sight as quickly as possible. The maggot (Fig 3 c.) is about 
 the third of an inch in length, without feet, yellowish white, but 
 with green colour in the intestinal canal showing plainly through 
 the skin after it is a few days old. It is cut square at the tail end, 
 but its he id is sharply pointed, being furnished, as Westwood 
 describes it, " with a corneous instrument in the shape of S, 
 " which moves round a small fixed point, enabling them to scrape 
 " up the soft parenchyma of the leaf." If the maggot is watched 
 under a strong glass its head will be seen to move with a rapid cir- 
 cular motion, scooping out the leaf tissues, and feeding with won- 
 derful voracity. It took a full-sized maggot just five minutes to 
 bury itself completely in a fresh leaf upon which it was placed, 
 For about 28 days the larva feeds, and then pupates either in the 
 ground or upon the leaves. Many pupae were found on the leaves 
 in July and August last. The pupa is of a reddish colour, and 
 about the fourth of an inch long (Fig. 3 d). From pupae I kept 
 in a glass case flies came in 1 1 days, but they did not lay eggs 
 in confinement, though fresh leaves were constantly supplied. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 Syringing the plants with solutions of soft soap and quassia 
 directly the first signs of the attack are visible, makes the 
 leaves unpleasant for the maggots, and prevents them from 
 getting in to the tissues, just as syringing hop plants with this 
 mixture either prevents the winged aphis from remaining on the 
 leaves and depositing her young, or the young aphides from 
 feeding on them. From five to six pounds of soft soap and the 
 extract of nine to ten pounds of quassia should be used to 100 
 gallons of water and put on well under the leaves by means of a 
 " Knapsack " machine, or a Strawsonizer. 
 
 Carbolic acid, or paraffin, may be used with soft soap instead 
 of quassia, in the proportion of three to four quarts to 100 
 gallons of water. This mixture should be prepared with very hoi 
 water and kept well stirred It should be understood that the 
 soft soap is mainly useful in fixing the unpleasant materials 
 upon the leaves.
 
 22 
 
 It is desirable to keep the land well moved between the 
 plants, and to push their growth on quickly with nitrate of 
 soda. It is in the earlier stages of growth that the maggots do 
 most harm. 
 
 The land should be deeply ploughed after a crop of mangels 
 that have been infested, and a corn crop taken so that the soil 
 may not be ploughed again until after the succeeding summer. 
 All leaves and decayed leaves should be spread on the land and 
 ploughed in, or raked together after the roots are tapped and 
 burnt or buried deeply. 
 
 Curtis remarks of this insect that parasites no doubt keep it 
 under,* and that we may trust to them for assistance. This is the 
 fact, as four Ichneumon flies came from the 20 pupa3 in my glass 
 
 * Farm Insects, by J. Curtis, page 397.
 
 I 
 
 Frit Fly. f Oscmis frit.) 
 
 Larva.: not stze &. 
 c. Fly-, -nfjub 
 
 6. b. Pupa-: natsize* magiufied, 
 size, &- manified' x. 6 ci. Oat-; infested.
 
 23 
 
 The Frit Fly. (Oscinisfrit*) 
 
 (PLATE III.) 
 
 Though this fly has been known in this country for many 
 years, it had not caused much injury until 1888, or, at least 
 serious injury had not been traced to it. Curtis describes it in 
 " Farm Insects," evidently, under the name Oscinis vasfator, and 
 as injuring wheat plants. He does not speak of it as attacking 
 oat plants. In 1888 the Frit Fly was most destructive to oat 
 plants in many parts of England, and since then it has been 
 more or less troublesome. This year, very great harm has 
 been done to the oat crop by its action, which was materially 
 helped by the weather. During the last few years it has not been 
 noticed to have injured wheat or barley plants in this country, 
 though Schiner says it attacks barley plants, and gives Musca 
 hordei as one of its synonyms, f In Sweden also it is most 
 destructive to barley, and chiefly, as it appears, from the larvae 
 living upon the grains of barley before they harden. 
 
 The spring of 1892 was very backward, and where farmers 
 missed the few opportunities of getting in oats that were afforded 
 them in February and the first part of March, this crop was sown 
 unusually late. Indeed, many of the oats were " cuckoo " oats, and 
 as is well known to practical men, late sown oats never grow 
 away rapidly, but linger, and are apt to " die away in May." 
 This gave opportunities to the larvae of the Frit FJy to feed 
 fully upon the soft part of the plant, in the bulb or crown, just 
 above the ground, and the insects increased and multiplied 
 enormously, and followed the plants throughout their stages. 
 Larvae were found in the bulbs, then in the nascent ears, and 
 lastly on the grains themselves. Some large fields of oats were 
 closely watched throughout the spring and summer, and this 
 progress of the mischief was clearly traced. By many the 
 sickly appearance of the oat plants and their slow growth were 
 attributed to the late sowing and the dryness of the early part 
 of the summer, whereas the larvae were really the cause. In 
 most instances there was no suspicion of the real origin of 
 their unhealthy state, as the larvas are so minute that they 
 would not be noticed by unobservant persons. 
 
 Many of the plants attacked by this insect did not form any 
 panicles, but were stunted and abortive, and for the most part 
 exactly like the plant shown at d., Plate III. Upon examination 
 it was seen that the bulb, or centre, had been riddled by the 
 larvae. A proportion formed grain, but the panicles remained 
 enveloped in the sheaths, the plants not having strength, 
 apparently, to force them out. Traces of the action of the larvae 
 were noticed all up the stems, and pupae were found among the 
 panicles still in their sheaths. In many cases where the plants 
 
 * It is so named because " frit " is used in Sweden, -where the fly is very 
 destructive, to designate thin " tail " corn. 
 
 f Fauna Au.itriaca. Die Flieyen. Von. J. Rudolph Schiner.
 
 24 
 
 were fully developed, larvae were feeding upon the ripening 
 grains, and later on, when the oats were fit to carry, there 
 were quantities of pupa?- imbedded in the grains. 
 
 Larva? of the Frit Fly have also been found in the late 
 autumn upon winter oats and rye, so that the insect is at its 
 work of mischief during the greater part of the year. As late as 
 the end of November in self-sown oats in fields that were badly 
 infested this summer they were seen to be abundantly present. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The fly is very small (Plate III. c). It is shiny black 
 with black legs, arid the feet, or tarsi, are yellowish to brownish 
 yellow. The wings are translucent, with brown shades. 
 Taschenberg says that the eggs are reddish, and laid singly on 
 the underside of the leaf. The larva (Plate III. a) is first noticed 
 in the bulb, or crown, upon whose juices it feeds. It is yellowish 
 white, not quite the eighth of an inch long, and without legs. Its 
 head is furnished with formidable hooks, and its tail end with two 
 spiracles. The pupa is reddish brown, somewhat shining, having 
 at its extremity two curious knobs. (Plate III. 6.) It seems, 
 from the fact that larvae were found in the spring in the bulbs, in 
 the joints in the summer, in the oat grains later on, and in young 
 winter oats and rye plants in the autumn, that there is a con- 
 stant succession of broods depending upon the state of the food 
 plants and the weather. Many pupse are can-led into the ricks, 
 and may be taken into the yards and fields in the oat straw, 
 and in the cleanings from the threshing machines. Some of the 
 pupae fall to the ground, and either remain there during the winter 
 or change to flies, which lay eggs on winter oat and rye plants. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 No direct remedy can be devised for this attack. The larvae 
 cannot be reached by liquid or powder applications. When it 
 is noticed that oat plants turn red in their early stages, and 
 have a stunted appearance, they should be manured with nitrate 
 of soda or sulphate of ammonia, to force them along rapidly. 
 This should be done in dry seasons especially, when oat plants 
 are usually inclined to stand still in May even when there is 
 no attack of insects. 
 
 To prevent this attack it would be desirable to plough infested 
 oat stubbles soon and deeply after harvest, and not to sow 
 winter oats and rye near infested fields. When threshing oats 
 from infested fields it would be desirable to burn the chaff, 
 cavings, and cleanings. 
 
 PARASITIC FLIES. 
 
 Parasitic flies of two distinct species came from pupae of the 
 Frit Fly placed in a glass-capped case. Five of these came from 
 20 pupa?.
 
 The Grain Aphis 
 [Siphonophora granaria.) 
 
 a Apterous vhifntrciLS female,, nat. size 
 b. a" d d magnified. 
 
 c Wbufed oviparous female, magnified, 
 d Part of an, ear of wheat- studded -Kith aphides 
 struck by OJL Epl<-
 
 25 
 
 The Grain Aphis. (Siphonophora Granaria*) 
 
 (PLATE IV.) 
 
 There has rarely, if ever, been a more general and severe 
 attack of this aphis than in the last season. Complaints 
 came from all quarters, and wheat ears were sent in swarming 
 with aphides in all stages. In going through the country 
 in August their presence could be plainly seen by the colour of the 
 wheat. Rust and mildew were very prevalent also, but in some 
 fields there was a peculiar appearance, principally due to aphides. 
 It was found, upon examination of the ears of wheat infested with 
 aphides, that many of the grains were shrivelled, and not fully 
 developed ; also, that in a great number of the ears there were 
 no grains in the chaff near their bases. Some growers assessed 
 the injury at from 5 to 15 per cent., others, at from 15 to 20 per 
 cent. . It was, however, most difficult to make correct estimates 
 of the loss from this cause ; but it is obvious that the continuous 
 suckings of quantities of aphides round the forming grain, and 
 until just before it ripened, must have materially affected its 
 quantity, weight, and quality. 
 
 From inquiries made as to cultivation and previous cropping, 
 it appeared that no circumstances of this kind affected the 
 attack. Wheat plants on all kinds of soil and in every des- 
 cription of situation alike suffered. Nor does it seem that the 
 weather influences had much to do with the number and 
 persistency of the aphides. The season was not very wet and 
 not very dry. In former attacks it had been considered that 
 dry weather and east wind caused, or at least, intensified 
 them. Professor Riley, of the United States Department of 
 Agriculture writing of a kindred insect, " The Grain Louse, 
 Aphis avence," says : " That it may always be expected in a 
 tolerably wet year that was preceded by a dry one." It might be 
 " said that 1892 was a tolerably wet year," but 1891 was certainly 
 not dry. 
 
 It was observed that plants near the outsides of wheat fields 
 were attacked worse than those some distance in, and that small 
 enclosed fields were worse than large extents of wheat land. 
 Some reports showed that foul land was worse than land free 
 from weeds, also that wheat after clover ley was the most 
 injured. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The wingless female (Plate IV. a and &),. which brings forth 
 living aphides is greenish or brownish green. The colour varies 
 very much between green and brown, so that it would sometimes 
 
 * Mr. Hovdler Buckton, F.R.S., has courteously allowed Plates IV. and V. to 
 be copied from his valuable work A Monoyraph of British Aphides.
 
 almost appear that some belonged to a different species. It has a 
 short rostrum, or beak, red eyes, blackish legs, and long brown 
 cornicles. 
 
 The winged egg-laying female is not developed until late 
 in the season, or when the food supply fails. It is not 
 known where the eggs are placed, but probably upon grasses 
 in the neighbourhood of the infested wheat fields. Although 
 this insect cannot fly far, or strongly, proprio motu, it 
 may be carried long distances by the wind. There seems to be 
 no doubt that, as in the case of many other aphides, the 
 viviparous larvre hibernate and bring forth broods of larva) 
 directly the weather is favourable. American entomologists 
 have found the larvae of the Aphis avence, a closely allied 
 insect, at the roots of wheat plants during the winter. But, as 
 Mr. Buckton says, " Up to the present time no satisfactory 
 answer has been given as to what becomes of the Wheat 
 aphis in the winter months, neither do we know where the 
 female deposits her eggs." It is suggested that it places 
 them in the autumn upon grasses as cocksfoot, couch grass, the 
 Poas, Holcus lanatus, Bromus mollis, and others, specified by 
 Kaltenbach as being infested by this insect. 
 
 In the early stages of the wheat plant the aphis is found 
 near the stems of the growing plants, from which it sucks up 
 the sap. At this time the numbers are few, and the harm 
 caused is comparatively small, but when the ear appears, its 
 sweet juices cause the aphides to increase with marvellous 
 rapidity after the manner of their kind. In many of the 
 infested wheat fields the ears were literally swarming with 
 aphides in all stages, and it seemed almost impossible that they 
 could produce grain of the slightest value. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 When the wheat ears are out, and that is thn time when the 
 presence of the aphides is generally first discovered, it is 
 obviously too late to adopt any remedies. Where observation 
 in the winter, or spring, has shown that aphides are present 
 upon the blades of the wheat plants, dressings of soot, lime, 
 soot and lime mixed, or guano, might check their progress. 
 If there are quantities of the insects present it might answer 
 to dress the plants with a soft soap and quassia mixture, of 
 5 or 6 Ibs. of soft soap, and the extract of 7 or 8 Ibs. of quassia, 
 to 100 gallons of water, put on with a Strawsonizer. Harrowing 
 and rolling with a ring roller before the wheat plant was too 
 high would interfere materially with the aphides. Feeding off 
 with sheep would be remedial, where the state of the plants and 
 the condition and nature of the land allowed this to be done. 
 
 After an attack of aphides the wheat stubble should be scari- 
 fied or cultivated, and the rubbish burnt, or the land should at 
 once be deeply ploughed. If the succeeding crop is to be tares, 
 trifolium, potatoes, turnips, or mangels, thorough cleaning and 
 destruction of couch and other grasses would be sufficient. A
 
 27 
 
 succeeding white straw crop should be avoided after a bad 
 attack. 
 
 Care should be taken to keep fields clear of couch grass and 
 other grasses, and to clear away grassy outsides as much as 
 possible. 
 
 PARASITES. 
 
 Upon wheat ears infested with aphides observers would 
 have noticed many brown bodies, evidently of dead larvae 
 (Plate IV. d). These are larvae in which parasitic flies have laid 
 their eggs, and the maggots from these eggs have fed upon the 
 contents of their bodies. From infested wheat ears placed under 
 glass several flies, of two distinct species, came from these brown 
 bodies, and soon commenced to search actively for living larva 
 in which to place eggs. 
 
 One of these flies was Aphidius avence. This parasite comes 
 from the lower part of the body of its victim. It is a pretty 
 insect with black, shiny body, long antennae, and bright wings, 
 whose expanse is just a quarter of an inch, and the body about 
 the eighth of an inch ; altogether much larger than the Aphis 
 granaria. Curtis, in Farm Insects, describes the process of egg 
 deposition in the body of the aphis larva, as witnessed by 
 Mr. Halliday. " This is done by bending her body under her 
 breast, and by lengthening her tail, the ovipositor is conducted 
 under the aphis, and an egg is instantly inserted in the body 
 under the tail. She then searches for another victim, passing 
 by those that have been inoculated."t This description is most 
 accurate, as the process \vas noticed several times in the last 
 season, as well as the mode of egg-laying of the other species of 
 parasite fly alluded to above, which, however, was not present in 
 such numbers as Aphidius avence. 
 
 This other fly corresponds exactly with that called by Curtis 
 Ephedrus plagiator. It is smaller than Aphidius avence. Its 
 antennae are more curved and much shorter. Its body has an 
 ochreous tinge, and is pointed at the end, and its legs are 
 yellowish ; those of Aphidius avence being blacker. The eggs 
 of this fly were inserted in the backs of the aphides. 
 
 At least 25 per cent, of the aphides on the ears, taken indis- 
 criminately, were infested by one or other of these parasites, and 
 there appeared to be a continuous birth of flies, which at once 
 laid eggs in the aphides near them. The winged aphides were 
 avoided ; only the viviparous larvae were chosen. From the ex- 
 periences of this season it is clear that this action of these 
 parasitic flies must decrease the number of aphides in a very 
 important degree. 
 
 Not many lady-birds, Coccinellidce, whose larvae are wholesale 
 devourers of aphides, were noticed in infested wheat-fields, but 
 
 * A Monograph of British Aphides, by J. Bowdler Buckton, F.E.S. 
 f Farm Insects, by J. Curtis, p. 292.
 
 there were considerable numbers of curiously-shaped larvae of 
 two distinct species of Syrphus found actively at work in the 
 ears. These are the larvae of large, handsome flies, more than 
 half an inch long, with a wing expanse of slightly over an inch, 
 with bands of yellow on their bodies, known respectively as 
 Syrphus balteatus and Syrphus pyrastri. The latter fly is 
 rather larger than the former and of somewhat stouter build. 
 
 One of the larvae, that of Syrphus pyrastri, which eventually 
 changed to a brownish cocoon, shaped like a soda- water bottle, and 
 after 15 days to a wasp-like fly, was of a greenish colour, three- 
 fourths of an inch long, with its body tapering to a point at its 
 mouth end, which, as Mr. Walker says, " is armed with a trident, or 
 " three points, on which they trans tix their prey, and then raise 
 " it in the air, and devour it."* This curious flourish in the 
 air was always made when fresh aphides were seized. Though 
 without eyes, the larva seemed to know instinctively the pro- 
 pinquity of aphides, and made, from time to time, sweeping 
 movements with the head and nearly all the body in every 
 direction. Three of these in a glass-topped box were supplied 
 with aphides daily for 8 days. They were insatiable ; the 
 quantity of aphides whose contents they sucked up was extra- 
 ordinary. One would have cleared a wheat ear in a few 
 minutes. No species of aphis that could be procured was rejected 
 by them. 
 
 These larvae are frequently found upon aphis-infested hop 
 plants and rose trees. They should be protected as carefully as 
 ladybirds are in hop growing districts. A hop grower sent a 
 larva of Syrphus pyrastri, suggesting that it was another of the 
 numerous enemies of the hop plant. 
 
 * " This peculiar action was invariable." Insecta Brittanica, by Francis Walker, 
 F.L.S.
 
 The Turnip Aphis. 
 (Aphis brassicaej 
 
 a Wingless viviparous female,, covered with a mwly coat.. 
 
 b. Vfyigl&ss \iviparcuff f&njale, not. siz& & magnified/. 
 
 c. Winged viviparous fernaLe. se<esi- in profile.
 
 29 
 
 The Turnip Aphis. (Aphis brassicce.) 
 
 (PLATE V.) 
 
 Injury to a considerable extent was caused to turnip and 
 swede plants during last summer by the turnip aphis. Cabbages 
 of all kinds were also attacked in some places. Several speci- 
 mens of infested plants of turnips and cabbages were sent for 
 the identification of their affection. Cattle cabbages suffered 
 somewhat seriously from these aphides, which penetrated even 
 to their innermost leaves ; and cauliflowers also were damaged, 
 and their appearance spoilt for market. 
 
 The aphides congregate on the under surface of the leaves of 
 swedes and turnips, where they increase with wonderful rapidity, 
 and suck up the juices of the plants with their beaks, or rostra. 
 Added to which, their filth and " honey dew " fall on the lower 
 leaves, stopping up their stomata, and hindering respiration. 
 After a short time the larvaa change colour. The growth of the 
 roots is stayed, the stalks, or shanks, of the plants are elongated 
 unnaturally, and finally the crop is ruined, or the weight of 
 roots is materially lessened, and the leafage made untit for food. 
 
 As a rule, these aphides are not seen on turnips and cabbages 
 very early in the season as other aphides, those of the hop, 
 lime, rose, for example. At least, they have not been noticed 
 until the plants have attained a fair size. The first 
 generations are bred on cruciferous weeds, as charlock, wild mus- 
 tard, penny cress and others ; and winged viviparous females fly 
 from these, or are borne by the wind, to cultivated plants. 
 Mr. Buckton says : " This species feeds on a variety of plants, 
 such as Rapharviis salivus, Capsella bursa pastoris, Sinapis 
 arvensis, jind the garden cabbage, Brassica oleracea, both 
 the upper and under sides of the foliage of which last plant 
 it often crowds with such numbers that the leaves become 
 hidden by the living mass. Indeed, sometimes, weight for 
 weight, there is more animal than vegetable substance present. 
 The leaves then become putrid, offensive in odour, and quite 
 disgusting to the eye."* 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The winged viviparous female (Plate V. c) has a black head and 
 thorax, with a green or yellowish-green abdomen, and very dark 
 yellow legs. The antennae are brown ; the legs dark brown. The 
 cornicles are also brown. The wings are rather short, with dark 
 stigmata. Upon settling down on plants whose food supply is 
 
 * A Monograph of British Aphides, by G. Bowdler Buckton, F.R.S., vol. 2, 
 p. 34.
 
 30 
 
 grateful to them, these females produce larvae, or " lice," which, after 
 the manner of aphides, bring forth many generations like themselves. 
 
 These wingless viviparous females (Plate V. a and 1} have oval 
 bodies, and are covered with a whitish, powdery substance after 
 they are a few days old, which hides their natural green colour. 
 When first born they are yellow, shining, and have no powdery 
 material upon them. In course of time egg-laying females are 
 evolved. It is not known where the eggs are placed, but pro- 
 bably upon cruciferous weeds in hedgerows, clover leys, and 
 other places. And, as in the case of other species of aphis, at 
 the end of the season, or when the supplies of food fail, or 
 become unsuitable, winged egg-laying females are generated 
 which fly, or are wafted through the air, to plants suitable for their 
 purpose. 
 
 It is certain that continuity of existence is not preserved 
 upon the turnip and cabbage crops, except perhaps upon autumn 
 planted cabbages, as they are consumed or carried away, and 
 the ground is ploughed up at once to be sown with corn. There- 
 fore, it must be assumed that the eggs are put by migratory 
 females upon wild cruciferous plants. And, without doubt, 
 some of the wingless viviparous females may be left upon wild 
 cruciferge, and hibernate at their roots. No amount of cold 
 appears to affect them, as they have been seen upon plants and 
 producing young in February after the coldest weather. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 It has been proved, without the least doubt, that solutions of 
 quassia and soft soap, if applied in due time and properly, soon 
 clear away hop aphides, whose habits resemble those of the 
 turnip aphides. The soft soap causes the bitter principle of the 
 quassia to stick to the leaves and make them unpalatable ; while 
 the aphides themselves are most unpleasantly affected by the 
 wash which adheres to them. 
 
 From 7 to 8 Ibs. of soft soap and the extract of from 8 to 9 Ibs. 
 of quassia chips are the best proportions for 100 gallons of water, 
 and are those of which " hop wash " is ordinarily composed. 
 
 For this aphis two or three, or eVen four, quarts of carbolic 
 acid, or paraffin oil, may be used, instead of quassia, upon swedes 
 and turnips. 
 
 These washes may be put on with large garden engines having 
 strong pumps and two lengths of indiarubber hose, with spray 
 jets somewhat curved that they may be got under the leaves, 
 for distribution. Hop-washing engines, which are stronger, 
 would also be useful for washing turnips and cabbages. Both 
 these and the garden engines must be set on high wheels in order 
 to go over the rows of plants. Narrow, long-bodied engines 
 might be constructed to go between the drills. 
 
 The wash may also be put on by the Strawsonizer, as adapted 
 to throw the liquid up under the turnip leaves. On small
 
 31 
 
 holdings the Eclair, or other similar Knapsack machines, may 
 be used. 
 
 In the case of large cabbages, among which it would be diffi- 
 cult to move a machine, Knapsack machines would be more 
 convenient. It would be necessary to apply the wash all over 
 these plants. 
 
 Powdered applications have not been found so efficacious as 
 washes, and rather, perhaps, that it has been difficult to throw them 
 up under the turnip leaves, where the aphides congregate. But 
 the Strawsonizer, as was proved in the Diamond-back moth 
 experiments carried out by the Board of Agriculture in 1891, 
 has been arranged so as to thoroughly cover every particle of 
 the under surfaces with dry substances. Soot and lime, mixed 
 in the proportion of one part of lime to three of soot form the 
 best remedy of this nature. Very small quantities can be put on by 
 the adapted Strawsonizer, and such were found sufficient to rout 
 the caterpillars of the Diamond-back moth, as they were blown 
 up with great force. 
 
 It is clear that the main attack of these aphides comes 
 from cruciferous weeds, which retain the eggs during the winter, 
 or harbour the wingless viviparous females and furnish them 
 with food in the early spring, nourishing them until the culti- 
 vated plants are ready for them. Therefore, charlock, penny 
 cress, the wild radish, shepherd's purse, and 'other cruciferous 
 weeds, should be kept from fields and their outsides as much as 
 possible. Charlock and other weeds of this order are frequently 
 found in clover leys. They are dangerous sources of mischief, 
 and should be brushed off close in the autumn. It must be 
 remembered that- a few females can blight whole districts. 
 Reaumur has calculated that one aphis can be the progenetrix 
 of 5,904,900,000 aphides during its life. 
 
 There are several enemies of the Aphis brassicce, which, in 
 some seasons, greatly diminish its numbers. Among these are 
 Lady-birds, Coccinellce, whose black larvse, known as " niggers " 
 in the hop districts, clear them off by wholesale. The voracious 
 larvae of at least two species of Syrphus flies devour quantities 
 in incredibly quick time ; and parasitic flies of three species lay 
 eggs in the bodies of the aphis larva?, to their utter destruction. 
 Chief among these is an Ichneumon fly, named Trionyx rapcv, a 
 pretty dark brown insect, with yellow rings round the lower part 
 of its body. It has a wing expanse of nearly the fourth of an 
 inch, and its body is not quite the sixth of an inch long.
 
 The Raspberry Beetle. (Byturus tomentosus.) 
 
 (PLATE VI., Fig. 1.) 
 
 The attacks of this beetle upon raspberry canes are becoming 
 more frequent and serious, and are more generally distributed in 
 fruit-growing districts. It was to be found last season in almost 
 every raspberry plantation, and it was seen in June in nearly 
 every garden in the flowers of the raspberry, feeding upon the 
 pollen and the juicy stamens, and hindering fructification and 
 the proper development of fruit. Later on its larvse were 
 noticed within the receptacles, the white fleshy cones upon which 
 the fruit is formed. The larvae bore into and eat away the 
 receptacles, and by their action cause the fruit to decay. It is 
 affirmed that the larvae feed upon the fruit, but there is no 
 direct evidence of this. After watching infested raspberry canes 
 closely during the time the fruit was ripening, the conclusion 
 was arrived at that the centre of attraction for the larvae was 
 not the fruit, but the receptacle. They appeared to make for 
 this directly they came from the eggs. Upon pulling out the 
 receptacle of an infested raspberry, the larva was invariably 
 within its soft fleshy part, and the fruity parts showed no signs 
 of having been eaten away, though decay was present caused by 
 the injury to the receptacle. It was quite exceptional to find 
 more than one larva in each raspberry, and that one in any 
 other part than the receptacle. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The Byturus tomentosus, as may be seen from the figure, 
 is yellowish brown in colour, with a thick down, or 
 pubescence, upon it, from which it is called tomentosus. The 
 male is rather smaller than the female, and differs slightly in 
 colour, having 'a shade of green. The legs are yellowish, with 
 a red tinge, and the antennae are of the same colour, terminating 
 in a club with three joints. It has large wings, but when 
 disturbed upon the raspberry canes it prefers to lie still, and 
 sometimes to curl up and feign death, rather than fly, both on 
 sunny and cloudy days. 
 
 Early in June the beetles are to be seen on and in the flowers 
 of raspberry canes, as well as on blackberry bushes, wild and 
 cultivated, feeding upon the pollen and the succulent filaments of 
 the stamens. They pair in the flowers generally, and their eggs 
 are placed singly among the stamens close to the receptacle. 
 To effect this, and to get the egg between the stamens, the 
 female uses her extremely long ovipositor, which is a most 
 elaborate instrument. The process of egg laying takes some 
 time, and is most interesting to witness. Constant searehings
 
 Fig- 1 
 Raspbeny Beetle. [Byturus tomsntosus.) 
 
 a,. Ncut size. b. Magnified 
 
 Fig 2. 
 Pea & B ean Weevil . (Sitones lineatu s . 
 
 OL. Nat sue. b. Magnified. 
 
 The Red Spider. (Tetranychus telarius.) 
 
 OL. Nat- size b Magrjfwd, x 60. 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 The Raspberry Mite. (Phytoptus rubi 
 
 HigliLy magnified x 25G.
 
 are made to tind a suitable place for the egg, and the ovipositor 
 sweeps round and round many times before the right spot is hit 
 upon. It seems that the egg, whicli is white and rather narrow, 
 is fastened to the receptacle with a viscous fluid. 
 
 In about seven days the larva is hatched. It is yellowish brown 
 at tirst, with a brown head, and not quite a quarter of an inch 
 long. As it grows it gets darker. The hinder extremity, 
 or tail end, is rather narrower than the head end, and is 
 furnished with a pair of crooked spines on the upper part, and 
 a proleg underneath to help progression. There are three 
 pairs of short feet, not much more important than sucker feet. 
 It lives from 14 to 17 days within the white receptacle, upon 
 which it feeds. When this is reduced to a pulp, and is becoming 
 black and decaying, the larva leaves it, and getting under 
 the loose skin of the raspberry canes or in crannies in the 
 supports, if there are any, or other hiding places, changes to a 
 pupa, assuming a slight cocoon, in which state it remains 
 until the following spring. It is probable that pupation also 
 takes place on the canes close to the ground, and in the stocks, 
 and ev en in the ground. 
 
 METHODS or PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 It is clearly impossible that applications to the canes to make 
 the beetle's food distasteful could be of any efficiency. 
 
 Some beetles might be caught by holding tarred hoards under 
 infested canes, which should be violently shaken, but, as noted 
 above, they try to hide themselves, and when in the flowers they 
 could not easily be dislodged. 
 
 All the old canes should be cut Jiway, close down to the stock, 
 and all the wood and rubbish burnt. Young canes, that is those 
 of the year's growth, would not have any loose skin under which 
 the larvae could pupate. 
 
 The ground round the stocks should be dug deeply, and 
 rubbish cleared away from the stocks, and either dug well in or 
 burnt. 
 
 I 74144.
 
 34 
 
 The Pea and Bean Weevil. (Sitones lineatus.) 
 
 (PLATE VI., Fig. 2.) 
 
 This weevil feeds upon several leguminous plants, and 
 especially upon clover, peas, and beans. It often seriously 
 injures red clover in its early stages, when the plants are 
 struggling along in dry seasons. Its larvae, small white maggots, 
 spoil "second cuts " of clover by eating the roots of the plants, 
 and stopping their growth. Some roots of clover were 
 forwarded this summer, whose tops were dying away, as it was 
 suggested, from clover sickness. Upon examination, the larvse 
 of Sitones lineatus were found in these. It was stated that the 
 crop was reduced by at least one half in consequence of this 
 attack. 
 
 Trifolium suffers considerably from this weevil, particularly in 
 its early stages. The injury which it causes to tritblium, 
 however, is generally attributed to slugs and other insects. 
 
 Peas and beans, too, are very subject to the onslaughts of this 
 insect, and in this case also slugs are usually accused, because -the 
 Sitones are riot by any means easily seen, being very shy, and of 
 a dull colour, and falling to the ground on the least alarm. This 
 weevil eats the leaves and young shoots of the pea and bean plants, 
 and its larvae devour their roots. In the spring of this year 
 complaints were made from many places of damage done to peas, 
 and especially to early peas, by the weevils. Amongst others, 
 Mr. Charles Howard found in a piece of early peas, Sangster's 
 No. 1, which had been drilled on February llth, that the Sitones 
 were eating the plants as fast as they grew, so that a very poor 
 yield was obtained. Other complaints were received from 
 Bedfordshire, Essex, Kent, and Surrey pea growers and market 
 gardeners, as to losses from this cause. In some cases the crops 
 of peas were entirely cleared off, especially upon land that had 
 been stale ploughed. Mr. Howard reported that upon land 
 after barley which had been ploughed before Christmas, only a 
 very few peas were grown, on account of the weevils, while 
 adjoiniug land ploughed in February was comparatively free 
 from them. 
 
 The Sitones were most troublesome in gardens and allotment 
 grounds throughout the summer, and reduced the crops of peas 
 and beans. It was noticed that they attacked sweet peas also. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The weevil is a quarter of an inch long. Its ground 
 colour is dark, but the body is covered with greyish scales, which 
 in some specimens are of a slightly greenish shade. There are 
 three lines of this grey, or grey-green, hue on the thorax, and 
 many lines on the wing cases. The antennse are of a red colour, 
 very slender, with club terminations. The legs are ferruginous. 
 As Canon Fowler says, " the tibise of the male are curved, and
 
 35 
 
 armed with a small hook."* It is not known where the eggs are 
 placed. Egg-laying begins in tlie early spring. The larvae, 
 or maggots, which are white, legless, nearly a quarter of an inch 
 long, and somewhat curved, live in the roots of clover, peas, 
 beans, and other leguminous plants, and change there to pupae. 
 
 It is certain that some of the weevils pass the winter in 
 weevil form. Probably in other cases hibernation takes place 
 in the pupal state, though this is not definitely known. 
 Nordlinger observes that many weevils come from the pupae at 
 the end of August, and without doubt hibernate in weevil 
 shape. f From observation, it is plain that these insects 
 hibernate in the perfect, as well as in the pupge state. Larvae 
 have also been found at all seasons of the year, among the 
 roots of clover. A favourite resort of the hibernating weevils 
 is in the straws of stubble. They are also carried in quantities 
 with peas and beans into ricks and barns. These weevils feed by 
 night as well as by day. 
 
 METHODS OF PEEVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 Lime, soot, and lime and soot mixed, may be advantageously 
 distributed over infested plants while the dew is upon them, or 
 after rain. Guano also may be used in this way. 
 
 Fine powdery materials can be easily applied, and well 
 distributed with " Knapsack " machines like the Torpille, and 
 others of similar principle. 
 
 When peas and beans are attacked, it would be desirable to 
 press the earth tightly and firmly close round the plants, in 
 order to prevent the beetles from coming up from the earth. 
 This might be done by men and boys walking with a foot on 
 either side of each row of plants. 
 
 Summer fallowing land after an attack would be very 
 desirable. Wheat after clover ley is often infested by swarms 
 of weevils. In this case it would be dangerous to sow trifolium 
 at all.J If it is sown, the land should be " broadshared," or 
 cultivated and ploughed. The stubble should be burnt. This 
 practice of burning stubble, weeds, roots, and rubbish, is 
 comparatively seldom adopted in these days. It is believed that 
 this is one cause of the more frequent and more destructive 
 visitations of insects injurious to crops. 
 
 Infested clover leys should be deeply ploughed, with a " skim " 
 coulter on the plough, and thoroughly well pressed. Roots on 
 the top should be got off, and burnt, not carted to the outsides 
 and left in lumps. 
 
 * The Coleoptera of the British Islands, by the Key. Canon Fowler, F.L.S. 
 
 f Die Kleinen Feinde der Landwirthschaft, von Dr. H. Nordlinger. 
 
 The failure of trifolium is generally attributed to weather influences, bad seed, 
 or unsuitable cultivating, but in most cases it is due to the agency of insects, such as 
 this weevil, which delight in its tender leaves ; also to two or three kinds of fungi. 
 
 c 2
 
 The Red Spider. (Tetranychus telarius.} 
 
 VI., Fig. 3.) 
 
 This little creature is most destructive to many of the 
 crops of the farmer, gardener, and fruit-grower. Its mischief is 
 frequently attributed to other causes, as it is so small that it 
 escapes observation. Thus, its action upon hop plants, causing 
 the leaves to turn yellow and to drop prematurely, was formerly 
 supposed to be due to hot dry weather, and was termed " fire- 
 blast." In Germany this is called kupfer -brand copper- 
 burn because the hop leaves become copper-coloured, arid, us 
 in England, is commonly held to be caused principally by hot 
 sunshine. It is true that this affection of hop plants is always 
 much worse in hot seasons, and rarely shows itself in any other ; 
 but this is because heat and drought are essentially favourable 
 to the red spider. In 1868, 1872, and 1885, there were many 
 acres of hops quite ruined by the red spider. The leaves fell off 
 from the bines, and not a hop was picked. During the last few 
 years damson trees have suffered severely from its attack. The 
 leaves have turned yellow in July and August, and the fruit has 
 not been able to develop and ripen properly. This has caused 
 great losses in Kent where damsons are extensively cultivated. 
 Gooseberry bushes have also been similarly affected by red spiders 
 in the last few years. Their leaves have suddenly turned yellow 
 and have fallen to the great detriment of the fruit and the bushes 
 themselves. Great complaints of this attack upon gooseberry 
 bushes were made by growers in Kent, Cambridgeshire, Worcester- 
 shire, and other fruit-producing centres. A large grower, 
 writing on April 22nd, said : " already at this early date the 
 leaves of many of my gooseberry trees are covered with red 
 spiders. This is the third year o f the attack, and most of 
 my trees are in their prime, and must, I think, be ruined 
 unless I can do something to stop it. I am really quite 
 disheartened, the trees are full of young gooseberries, and 
 continually have every care and attention." 
 
 It is well known that red spiders are equally destructive to 
 vines out of doors, as well as in hothouses, also to French and 
 scarlet runner beans. A species of Tetranychus, closely re- 
 sembling Tetranychus telarius, attacks lime trees. This summer 
 lime trees in many parts of this country were attacked by it. 
 The leaves turned yellow in August and many of them had 
 fallen quite early in September. 
 
 The red spider is becoming a common pest in fruit plantations 
 in England. It has spread rapidly in late years, being con- 
 veyed with young trees, suckers, and cuttings from plantation 
 to plantation and from country to country. Mr. Cooke, the well- 
 known entomologist, and late chief Executive Horticultural Officer 
 of California, wrote as follows concerning this : " The red mite 
 commonly called the ' red spider,' may be said to be a universal
 
 37 
 
 pest of the orchard, garden, and hot-house, and has been allowed 
 to spread to an alarming extent in orchards in this State." 
 
 Upon a considerable acreage of land planted with damson 
 trees, red spiders were so numerous that the leaves were 
 completely bronzed and the fruit dropped. The under sides of 
 the leaves were swarming with these mites in all stages, which 
 were sucking out their juices. Fine webs covered the whole. 
 
 Peach trees suffer much from red spiders, and the already 
 most precarious crops of this fruit are frequently seriously 
 affected by it. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The red spider, a species of the spinning mites, Trombidiince, 
 is only just perceptible with the naked eye. (Fig. 3, Plate VI.) It 
 is not always red. In some stages of its life, and especially upon 
 some kind of food, it is greenish with brown marks upon it, or 
 sometimes it is dark red or bright red. In its perfect form the 
 mite has eight legs whose claws are furnished with hairs, or 
 bristles, surmounted by a globular tip, said to be for the purpose 
 of web-spinning. It has an elaborate barbed sucking apparatus. 
 When the mites come first from the eggs they have only six 
 legs. After a time a change, or moult, takes place, and the 
 mite acquires the full complement of eight legs. Perfect insects, 
 male and female, imperfect six- legged mites, together with eggs, 
 can 'be seen collected beneath the webs. The eggs are colourless 
 and ova'. 
 
 Reproduction goes on throughout the summer and the mites 
 spread from leaf to leaf. They hibernate as perfect mites in 
 the folds and rings of the rind, in the chinks of the bark, and 
 under the smallest mossy and lichenous growths, as well as under 
 the dead rind, upon leaves and in the cracks of stakes used for 
 supports. They may be found in quantities during the winter 
 by close and careful examination under the skin of gooseberry 
 bushes, and upon damson trees that have been infested in the 
 previous summer. 
 
 It has been remarked by some observers that these mites 
 hibernate also under stones and clods. This, no doubt, occurs 
 in certain circumstances, as, for instance, in the case of infested 
 hop plants which, as is well known, are cut down close to the 
 ground by the middle of September, so that the mites cannot 
 be continued and carried on throughout the winter upon the 
 plants. They probably escape into the earth from the withered 
 leaves upon the bines which are not collected from the hop 
 gardens until October or November. 
 
 This would seem not to be a safe and sure harbour of refuge, 
 especially in wet winters, and red spiders object entirely to 
 moisture, for it is found that hop plants are not continuously 
 attacked like gooseberry bushes and damson trees, and several 
 seasons frequently elapse without a sign of injury from this 
 cause.
 
 Bed spiders may possibly hibernate in the cracks of the hop 
 poles, but these are taken down and put up again each season, 
 and are removed generally before the leaves have become quite 
 withered. 
 
 Fruit plantations and hop grounds should be kept clear of 
 chickweed, SteUaria media, and other weeds which live through 
 ordinary winter weather, and serve as harbours for red spiders. 
 
 In sheltered places and gardens where plants, as violets, for 
 example, preserve their leaves throughout the winter, red 
 spiders may be found upon them in the most severe weather. 
 They ought to be banished from the neighbourhood of peach 
 trees and all other fruit trees. 
 
 METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 For gooseberry bushes attacked by red spiders, the most 
 efficacious remedy has been proved to be a solution of soft soap 
 and extract of quassia chips syringed upon the stems and 
 branches. From 10 to 12 Ibs. of soft soap and the extract of 
 from 7 to 9 Ibs. of quassia to 100 gallons of water has been 
 found a good solution. This may be put on with " Knapsack " 
 machines, the Eclair, or the Antipest, or others of a similar 
 make, or by a largo garden engine, or a hop washer where there 
 is room to get it about between the bushes. Every part of the 
 stem, branches, and leaves should be thoroughly covered. 
 
 In the winter, and after the bushes have been pruned, those 
 that have been badly attacked may be dressed over with a thick 
 solution of soft soap and quassia put on with a brush and 
 worked well in. Or, carbolic acid or paraffin oil may be 
 substituted for quassia. 
 
 Damson trees have been treated with much advantage with 
 syringings of soft soap and quassia solution, mixed in the same 
 way as for gooseberry bushes. Garden engines, or hand hop- 
 washing engines, are the best for this application to dam son 
 trees, whose stems and branches should also be dressed with the 
 soft soap and carbolic acid, or paraffin mixture, during the winter 
 months. 
 
 Hop plants may be syringed with the solution used with such 
 good results for checking the attacks of the hop aphis. The 
 unfortunate necessity for the frequent application of this remedy 
 for hop aphides has, without doubt, considerably diminished 
 the danger to be apprehended from red spiders. 
 
 All the cuttings from infested gooseberry bushes should be 
 burnt at once, and after an attack in hop gardens the bines 
 should be made up and carried away to be stacked at once, or 
 burnt. Lime should be dug in hot in the early winter months 
 where hop gardens have been infested.
 
 The Raspberry Mite. (Phytoptua rubi.) 
 
 (PLATE VI., Fig. 4.) 
 
 A new pest has been discovered, which has already caused 
 much loss to growers of raspberries, and threatens to affect 
 their production most seriously. It will be reme'mbered that 
 in the last two seasons, and especially that of 1892, many 
 canes have died away. This was attributed in some cases to 
 frost and to the raspberry moth, Lampronia rubiella. But upon 
 careful examination of the canes in the spring, no traces of the 
 caterpillar of this moth could be found. In October last, while 
 examining some shoots of raspberry canes for Byturus pupae, 
 it was noticed that the buds in the axils of the falling leaves 
 were brown at their tips, and that the autumnal or sheathing 
 embryonic leaves, or scales, were brown. As seen with an 
 ordinary pocket magnifying glass, they appeared to be injured 
 by frost. Under the microscope, moving mites were seen in 
 these sheathing leaves or scales, and in the inner layers of 
 leaves ; they resembled the black currant mite, Phytoptus ribis, 
 but under a lens of high power they proved to be of a somewhat 
 pinkish colour, and differed in other respects, from that species. 
 
 These mites, like the mites of the black currant, feed upon 
 the juices of the tender leaf- and blossom-buds of the raspberry 
 canes all the winter, and prevent them from putting forth 
 leaves and flowers. It appears that the lower buds are 
 attacked first, and the mites move on up the stems of the canes 
 from bud to bud. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 This mite is an undescribed, and, it is believed, a hitherto 
 undiscovered species of the Phytoptidse, or gall mites. It is 
 quite invisible to the naked eye, and seems only as a mere speck 
 of dust with a pocket magnifier.. It is of a light pink hue, with 
 four legs having six joints. (Fig. 4, Plate VI.) The end joint 
 terminates in a sort of claw, which is furnished with branching 
 arms looking like feathers. There are three long hairs on each 
 side of the body, and one pair of very long hairs at the extreme 
 end. There are bristles, also, at the tail-end of the body, 
 placed between the long hairs, which appear in some way to be 
 connected with the locomotion of the mite. In moving, its tail end 
 is bent round from side to side, apparently to help it along. 
 Specimens of the mite under observation traversed the field of 
 the microscope in less than one minute. 
 
 Eggs were seen upon the scales and leaves of the buds, 
 glistening specks, more of a round than oval shape. Mites of 
 all stages of growth, as well as cast skins of mites, were also 
 noticed among the colonies between the scales and leaves.
 
 As pointed out previously, the lower buds had been first 
 attacked, and it would seem that the mites move on from bud 
 to bud. Having exhausted one, they go to another. Some 
 infested buds were placed on glass, and after a few days, when 
 they were becoming shrivelled, it was found that the mites had 
 left them, and were straying over the glass. 
 
 JHODES OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 It is almost hopeless to attempt any remedial measures. One 
 mode of prevention is to sacrifice the fruiting canes which 
 should bear raspberries the next summer, and cut every stem 
 of cane close down to the ground, and to clear away every 
 particle of growth from the stocks. All this should be taken 
 awa}- and burnt immediately, before the mites have time to 
 escape. The stocks should then be brushed over or syringed 
 over with a strong mixture of soft soap and carbolic acid or 
 paraffin. 
 
 Canes for planting should be carefully examined, and rejected 
 if they show signs of infestation. This may be detected by the 
 buds being brown or blackened at their tips in an unusual 
 manner. 
 
 Care must be taken to stamp out this pest, if possible. It is 
 far more widespread than is imagined, and bids fair to be as 
 destructive as the mite peculiar to black currant trees, 
 Phytoptus ribis, which has been allowed to spread in a disastrous 
 manner in many plantations.
 
 ig of Black, Currant, inf&sted/. 
 
 Twig of Blcuck' Currant, ) 
 
 Fig 1. PhytOptUS nbis. magnified, WO tones 
 Fig 2. Galls and' mites.
 
 41 
 
 The Black Currant Mite. (Phytoptus ribis.) 
 
 (PLATE VII. 1 ) 
 
 Complaints of the prevalence of this mite in the black 
 currant plantations have come from many parts of the country 
 during the last twelve months. It has increased rapidly in the 
 past four years, having been transmitted from one place to 
 another with cuttings and young black currant bushes. In 
 some plantations this infestation has spread so fast that at least 
 50 per cent, of the buds are full of mites. A black currant 
 plantation of 20 acres in extent in Kent was visited in January 
 of this year, and it was found that almost every bud was 
 distorted from the action of the mites within it. The mites 
 were feeding upon the contents of the buds, as was seen plainly 
 when a section was placed under the lens of a microscope. The 
 effect of this will be that these buds will be abortive, or at 
 least fruitless. Stunted leaves may be put forth which will 
 in all probability fall off in the early summer, but no blossoms 
 can be formed from these infested buds. There were no eggs 
 in the infested buds that were examined in January. Examina- 
 tions iuade in the spring of last year showed that there were 
 many eggs in the infested buds, and mites in. different stages of 
 growth. Mites were also detected in the act of travelling from 
 one bud to another. At least they were upon the spaces of the 
 shoots between the buds, so that it may be inferred that they 
 were moving on in search of food. They have remarkable 
 locomotive power considering their minuteness, and get across 
 the field of the microscope so quickly that it is difficult to 
 examine them while alive. 
 
 LIFE HISTORY. 
 
 The Phytoptus ribis belongs to the sub-family Phytoptidre, 
 gall mites, "of the order Acarina, according to Andrew Murray's 
 classification, as given in his useful work on the Aptera written 
 in 1877. There are many species of these gall mites. One 
 attacks lime trees; another much injures the pear crop. The 
 apple, hornbeam, ye\v, alder, willow, maple, plum, birch, 
 peach, and other trees have their respective species. The vine 
 also is injured by one species, and it has been recently discovered 
 that the raspberry is attacked by one of these creatures, which 
 has been styled Phytoptus rubi. 
 
 The Phytoptus ribis, like all the species of Phytoptidre, has 
 only four legs. These are six-jointed and furnished with
 
 bristles upon their last joints, and are prolonged into a pointed 
 claw having underneath slightly toothed hooks. The mite has 
 a snout for sucking the juices of the buds. At the tail is a pair 
 of long stout bristles, and there are three other pairs of shorter 
 bristles upon its body, one pair near the long tail bristles, and 
 two pairs near the head. These seem to help locomotion or to 
 steady the creature in its movements, which are wonderfully 
 rapid. In colour it is light grey. Its body is thickly covered 
 with spots or strise. It is indistinguishable with the naked 
 eye, and nothing can be made of it with the strongest pocket 
 lens. 
 
 Eggs arei'ound in the buds during the spring. They have been 
 noticed as early as the 10th of February. They are rather 
 more round than ovoid in their early stages, and are colourless 
 and abundant. It is not known when egg laying ceases, but 
 probably as soon as the buds have expanded, or in cases of 
 bad infestation, when the buds have shrivelled up and the mites 
 are ousted from their homes. They stray about upon the leaves 
 and the shoots, and as they make their peculiar gold-coloured 
 galls (Fig. 2) upon the young and tender twigs, as well as upon 
 the sheathing scales, or embryonic leaves of the buds, it its 
 believed that they live upon these, if not upon the leaves also 
 until the buds are again formed. In January many deserted 
 galls were noticed upon young shoots and less frequently upon 
 older shoots ; they still retained their golden hue in some cases, 
 though many had become blackened. 
 
 Some infested buds were examined in November, 1892, and 
 the mites were found under the first sheathing scales. During 
 the hard frost of the first week in January, ] 893, the mites 
 were found either under the third sheathing scale, or quite 
 within the centre of the whorl. Though the thermometer 
 registered from 20 to 29 degrees (Fahr.) of frost during the 
 week, the mites were most active and feeding, as taken from 
 buds hard frozen. 
 
 MODES OF PREVENTION AND REMEDIES. 
 
 When black currant bushes are planted they should be care- 
 fully examined for the Phytoptus. If there are any signs of un- 
 naturally swollen buds the young trees should not be planted. 
 In taking cuttings in the late autumn those from infested bushes 
 must be rejected absolutely. Infestation is easily seen then by 
 the abnormal buds. 
 
 Infested bushes should be cut very hard, and every particle 
 of cutting carried away and burnt. In the spring the bushes 
 should be syringed well all over with a solution composed of 
 
 1 ounce of Paris Green to from 11 to 12 gallons of water, with 
 
 2 ounces of fine wheat flour added, or 2 ounces of soft soap, 
 to make the solution adhere better.
 
 43 
 
 The Eclair " Knapsack " pump may be employed for this, and 
 it must be impressed upon the labourers to direct the spray over 
 every part of the currant bushes. 
 
 Another solution for spraying, to be used in a similar manner 
 may be composed of 5 to 6 Ibs. of soft soap, mixed with the 
 extract of 8 or 9 Ibs. of quassia chips, to 100 gallons of water, 
 3 quarts of carbolic acid might be substituted for the quassia. 
 
 Spraying with these solutions should be repeated in the 
 autumn before the weather becomes cold, and just after the 
 leaves have fallen, if possible. This will economise liquid and 
 labour, and will affect the mites before they get into the buds. 
 
 Directly the leaves have fallen it would be desirable to put 
 hot lime round the stocks and dig it in at once, so as to bury 
 the leaves with any mites that may be upon them, and thus 
 prevent any chance of their getting up the stems. 
 
 In very bad cases it would pay to cut the bushes close to the 
 ground, and in the autumn and early spring to syringe the 
 stocks with the Paris Green solution or the carbolic acid solution. 
 This would entail the loss of one year's crop only.
 
 The Apple Blossom Weevil. (Anthonomue Pomorum.) 
 
 (PLATE VIII.) 
 
 This insect frequently causes much harm to apple and pear 
 trees. In the last four or five years its injuries have much 
 increased in fruit-producing districts, and in some instances 
 they have been attributed to the caterpillars of the Winter 
 Moth. Close examination of the blossoms has, however, shown 
 that the larvae, or maggots, of the beetle were in the centres of 
 the flowers, destroying their powers of fructification, though at 
 the same time caterpillars were feeding upon the blossoms and 
 leaves. The action of this beetle upon the fruit-blossoms of 
 apple and pear trees is also often taken for the effects of white 
 frosts, when the petals have become brown or rusty coloured ; 
 but if they are closely examined, either the pupa of the weevil 
 will be found within them, or the little round hole in the side 
 of the withered flower-bud will be noticed, showing that the 
 perfected weevil has cut its way out of its cradle. 
 
 The blossoms of pear trees are attacked in a similar manner 
 by this weevil, and great mischief is sometimes caused, especially 
 in orchards where pear and apple trees are planted together. 
 
 In France this weevil has lately occasioned incredible damage 
 in the orchards of Brittany and Normandy. So great have the 
 losses been in the Department of Morbihan that a syndicate of 
 defence against it (Syndicat de defense centre 1'Anthonome) has 
 been formed at Pontivy, consisting of a committee in each 
 Commune, to carry out a series of operations calculated to 
 destroy this enemy of apple -growers. It is only by unity of 
 action among cultivators that injurious insects of this and many 
 other kinds can be stamped out, and their baneful effects upon 
 crops materially decreased. 
 
 Description of the Weevil. 
 
 The apple blossom weevil is a very small creature, only about 
 one-fourth of an inch long, and not the eighth of an inch across its 
 body. It is reddish, or chestnut brown, with down, or pubescence, 
 of a greyish hue upon it. Some specimens are almost piceous in 
 colour. The wing-cases have pale marks upon them below the 
 middle. There is a conspicuous white mark, or scutellum, at 
 the base of the wing-cases. The legs are reddish ; the thighs of 
 the anterior, or first, pair are large and furnished with a 
 formidable tooth on each ; and the feet, or tarsi, are darker 
 coloured. Its rostrum, or snout, is the most remarkable feature, 
 being half as long as its body, slightly curved, with antennfe 
 near its extremity, furnished with oval clubs having four joints. 
 
 Like many other weevils it falls down when disturbed, tucks 
 in its snout and legs, and remains motionless, feigning death 
 until the danger has passed.
 
 
 I "77 
 
 '> 
 
 Apple Blossom Weevil. 
 
 (Antiiononms pctnorum) 
 
 I. Pupa. Nat size. la Pupa. x6 
 
 2 Larva. --,, _ 2a Larva x,8 
 
 3. Weeyfl...,, .. 3a Wewlx.7 
 
 4r HeaWtjrAppLe "bLossom. 5.
 
 45 
 
 Its Life History. 
 
 In the first warm days of spring the weevil issues from its 
 winter retreat under the bark of trees, among lichens and mosses 
 upon their branches, or under stones, grass, leaves, and rubbish 
 under them. Curtis and Schmidberger considered that the 
 females seldom use their wings, but that the males fly freely. 
 Dr. Henneguy, to whom a special mission was entrusted by the 
 French Minister of Agriculture to fully investigate the habits 
 of this insect in Brittany, states that both sexes fly easily, and 
 with equal frequency.* 
 
 Either by flying, or by crawling, the female finds its way 
 to the blossom buds of apple and pear trees, and boring a hole 
 with its snout, places one egg within each bud, and carefully 
 closes up the aperture. This is the mode of oviposition 
 described by Curtis and other economic entomologists. M. Petit, 
 Departmental Professor of Agriculture in Morbihan, who has 
 studied this insect, states, however, that the female does not 
 perforate the flower-buds with its snout for egg deposition, but 
 with a stylet placed in the extreme end of its body, like a bee's 
 sting. f M. Petit remarks that by pressing the body of a female 
 weevil this stylet is protruded, and can be seen with a glass. 
 " It is hard to admit," he adds " that the insect should execute 
 a complicated manoauvre obliging it, after having pierced the 
 bud with its snout, to turn round and place the egg in an 
 invisible hole, smaller than the egg." 
 
 A female lays from 15 to 20 eggs, but places one only in each 
 flower-bud. The process of laying one egg takes about three- 
 quarters of an hour. The egg is yellowish white, and oval. 
 Authorities agree that the period of egg laying in an individual 
 female may be continued for at least a fortnight. The eggs 
 are hatched in from five to nine days, according to the conditions 
 of the temperature. 
 
 The larva, or maggot, is without feet, about 4 lines long 
 the third of an inch when full grown. It is wrinkled, and 
 white at first, gradually becoming of a yellowish hue, having a 
 brown head with two little brown spots on the first segment. 
 It lies in the bud in a curved form, and attacks the stamens 
 and pistils, but, it rarely touches the ovary. It soon causes 
 the petals to wither ; the flower-bud changes to a rusty hue, 
 and decays. 
 
 Then the larva turns into a pupa, close upon a quarter of an 
 inch long, yellowish white, with its long rostrum, or snout, and 
 feet folded on the under side of its body. It remains in pupal 
 state for about 10 days, when it assumes weevil form and 
 bores a hole through the petals and emerges. 
 
 * Rapport sur I'histoire naturelle de Vanthonome du pommier, et stir les moyens 
 proposes pour so, destruction, par le Dr. F. Henneguy. Bulletin du Miniitere de 
 1'Agriculture. France, dixieme annee So. 8, December 1891. 
 
 f Guerre a. I'Anthonome. par P. Zipcy, Professeur a TEcole d'Agriculture du 
 Morbihan. Journal d'Agriculture Pratique, 1892. Tome I., No. 1. 7 Janvier.
 
 46 
 
 Most practical entomologists have held that the weevils 
 live during the summer feeding upon the leaves of apple 
 trees. Dr. Henneguy, from close observation, has come to the 
 conclusion that they do not feed at all, but derive sustentation 
 from a reserve of fat, corps grassieux, stored up in their bodies 
 during the pupal state. Towards the end of September the 
 weevils can no longer be seen. They retire for hibernation to 
 chinks in the bark of apple and pear trees, also in the lichenous 
 and mossy growths upon their branches, as well as under stones 
 and rubbish beneath and around the trees, and possibly in many 
 other refuges. They also pass the winter under the bark of other 
 trees than apple trees, as they have been found upon oaks 
 during the summer. 
 
 Circumstances of the Attack. 
 
 According to the natural and unfailing instinct of insects, the 
 weevils do not appear until the weather is mild and the flower 
 buds have begun to swell. If the season is, and continues, 
 warm and growing, the effects of the attack are usually of a 
 comparatively slight character. But should the weather be 
 cold and changeable, as is so often the case in Great Britain 
 and in the north and western parts of France, the flower buds 
 are slowly developed, and the weevils consequently have time 
 to lay their full complement of eggs, whose period of hatching 
 is accomplished before the buds have become full flowers. 
 
 The varieties of apple trees which blossom very early and 
 very late are more likely to escape the attacks of the weevil 
 than those of the main crop whose blossom comes late in May 
 in ordinary seasons. In 1888, some varieties resisted the attack 
 in France, especially one known as Douce du Jarrell, a very free 
 blossoming sort, three parts of whose buds produced flowers 
 from the 14th to the 29th of May, and another variety named 
 la Goupilliere, which blossomed from the 1 7th to the 31st of 
 May without having a bud invaded by the weevil. 
 
 Remedies and Methods of Prevention. 
 
 A method of prevention adopted in France and strongly 
 recommended by M. Petit, who has been before referred to, is 
 to spray the limbs and branches of apple trees between October 
 and February with a solution of sulphate of iron, in order to 
 destroy the lichens and mosses which serve as harbours for the 
 weevils and other insects.* M. Petit's receipt for this solution is 
 one pound of sulphate of iron to one gallon of water. This 
 can be sent up among the branches by means of a strong garden 
 engine with a powerful pump. 
 
 A most excellent way of killing lichens and mosses on fruit 
 trees, adopted in Kent, is to throw freshly slaked powdered lime 
 
 * This treatment with sulphate of iron would materially benefit the trees by 
 clearing them of lichenous and mossy growths.
 
 47 
 
 over the branches in foggy weather in winter. This is done by 
 men having scoops like flour scoops fastened to poles. 
 
 It is advised that all long grass, leaves, and rubbish, should be 
 cleared away underneath fruit trees on grass land, and on 
 cultivated land it would be well to dig round the trees and 
 apply lime or lime ashes, or soot and lime mixed. 
 
 The tarred, or greased, bands put round fruit trees to prevent 
 the ascent of the female winter moths would hinder the female 
 weevils from ascending, assuming that Curtis, Schmidberger, 
 and others, are correct in their opinion that the female weevils 
 do not care to fly. 
 
 In Brittany, some apple growers scrape the bark of the 
 trunks and large branches of the apple trees with a scraper, and 
 brush every part with a stiff carpet brush, having placed a 
 cloth round the tree to catch the pieces of bark and the beetles 
 that are dislodged. These are collected and burnt. Some 
 limewash the trunks and limbs after this process. Others 
 apply a composition of lime and napthaline, but it is said this 
 is not quite effectual in keeping away the weevils. 
 
 In Great Britain it has been found that limewashing trees is 
 not effective against insects unless the bark is thoroughly 
 cleared off and the wash worked well into every cranny while 
 it is fresh and hot. 
 
 Insecticides have been tried in France at the time of flowering, 
 but without good results. Sulphur is burnt in a vessel at the 
 end of a pole and applied close under the branches of the trees. 
 It takes, it is said, about a quarter of an hour to treat one tree, 
 at a cost of about od. According to some who have tried this 
 it has answered, but experiments made at Rouen and Saint 
 Ouen de Thouberville proved far from encouraging. 
 
 It is most difficult to employ insecticides with advantage, as 
 compositions strong enough to kill, or drive away the weevils 
 would probably injure the tender buds, and after the larva is 
 in the bud it is hopeless to attempt to reach it. 
 
 A mode of decreasing the number of these weevils adopted 
 in parts of France and recommended by several who have 
 practised it, is to shake the branches of the trees to make the 
 insects fall on to a cloth spread below. The cloth, an old rick- 
 cloth being best, is cut and arranged so as to fit close round the 
 trunk of the trees. A labourer gets up into the tree and shakes 
 the branches violently, while two others, having long poles with 
 hooks at the ends, also shake the branches within their reach. 
 Other labourers sweep the cloth with stiff carpet brooms, and 
 shovel up the ddbris together with the weevils into a sack. 
 This must be done rapidly, and before the weevils can fly away. 
 It is stated that four men and two boys treated 110 trees in a 
 day in this way. 
 
 Experiments proved that it is necessary to perform this 
 operation two or three times on each tree, as the weevils are 
 not all shaken off at first. From a tree, for instance, which at
 
 48 
 
 the first shaking nearly 1,000 weevils had fallen, 385 were 
 shaken off five hours later, and 145 the next day. In the 
 orchard of the Eole pratique d'Agriculture des Trois Croix, near 
 Rennes, with 347 apple trees on 8 acres, the cost of treatment 
 which occupied three days, was only ll. Nearly 450,000 weevils, 
 were destroyed, and there was a satisfactory crop of apples. 
 
 This operation must be carried out before the weevils lay 
 eggs, arid in order to accomplish this it is necessary to watch 
 closely for their first appearance, and to begin with the earliest 
 varieties of trees. 
 
 It is, of course, most desirable that the apple growers in a 
 district should combine and arrange to wage war in this fashion 
 simultaneously, and with the same cafe and energy. 
 
 This mode of destroying the apple blossom weevils might 
 advantageously be practised in Great Britain. It would also 
 be useful in the case of the attacks of other insects, as the 
 Winter Moth caterpillars, for example. 
 
 There are several parasitic Hymenoptera which destroy the 
 larvae, and some kinds of birds devour both larvae and weevils, 
 as the robin, tomtit, and chaffinch, and some species of linnets. 
 It is believed that the tomtit and chaffinch extract the larvae 
 from the buds.
 
 Club Root. 
 Plasm odiophora brassicas Wor. 
 
 Explanation of Plate IX. 
 
 Figs 12.3. Seed&sng Tivrnips attached, by Plasmodiophora 
 at' B.C.D.E &K. 
 
 Fig 4*. Cellular tissue, frarrv point A spiral tissue 
 
 at J. 
 
 x 3OO. 
 
 Fig. 5. Cellular tissue from B, wvtfo early condition, 
 
 of Plasmodioplwra> in/ cells. 
 x 300. 
 
 Fig. 6 Ceitalar tissue wMv Plasmodiophora in, 
 
 mature or sporifvrous 
 
 x WOO. 
 
 Fig. 7. Spores x WOO. 
 
 Fig 8. Spores perfectly ripe & emitting Amccba- - like 
 
 Zoospores. 
 
 x WOO.
 
 Piasmodiophora Brassicae WOT.
 
 49 
 
 Club Root. (Plasmodiophora brassicce.) 
 
 (PLATE IX.) 
 
 The excrescences and malformations of turnips and cabbages 
 are well known to all cultivators. In some cases the roots are 
 twisted in the most fantastical manner ; in others, there are 
 merely warts, or knobs, upon them. It is not only that the 
 roots are malformed, but their growth is hindered ;. and as the 
 plants are usually attacked in their early stages, the crop is 
 frequently almost entirely ruined. Specimens of distorted 
 young white turnip plants were sent in July last from a field 
 in which all the plants were similarly affected. The state of 
 these plants is accurately described by the Figures 1, 2, and 3, 
 delineated by Mr. Worthington G. Smith ; and it will be seen 
 from these that it would be almost impossible for plants thus 
 infected to yield a crop of any value. Other specimens came 
 to hand of much older plants, whose roots were forked and 
 twisted, and covered with protuberances. Some had large 
 cavities in them, in which were decaying matter, moulds, and 
 millepedes. Though there was a certain amount of food, there 
 was a very great deficiency in its quantity, and apparently in 
 its quality, though the late Dr. Voelcker, in a paper upon 
 " Anbury," in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 
 found that, " compared with sound turnips, the diseased roots 
 are much richer in nitrogen. The root which was most 
 affected by Anbury contained nearly the same proportion of 
 nitrogen which was found in the finger and toe excrescences 
 of the second root. This is more than double the quantity of 
 nitrogen which is contained in sound roots." * 
 
 Cabbage plants attacked by this slime-fungus have gall- 
 like lumps also upon their roots, which prevent them from 
 properly developing leaves and forming hearts. In the case 
 of affected cauliflowers and broccoli, the heads are small and 
 misshapen, and sometimes only stunted leaves are produced. 
 
 Rape, mustard, and kohl rabi are liable to be infested by 
 this slime-fungus, as well as charlock and probably other 
 cruciferous weeds. Sorauer states that in Germany it has 
 been found in Iberis umbellata, common candytuft, and 
 Matihiola incana, hoaiy shrubby stock, f Woronin, who has 
 written the most important treatise upon this slime-fungus, 
 puts the loss caused by it in 1876, in the neighbourhood of 
 St. Petersburg, at 50,OOOZ. 
 
 * Journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xx., 1st series, 
 t Handbuch der Pflanzenkrankheiten, vou Dr. Paul Sorauer. 
 I 74144 D
 
 50 
 
 It was first known in Scotland in 1780, but caused 
 inconsiderable harm until 1820, but of late years it has seriously 
 injured swedes and turnips in that country. Marshall speaks 
 of it as being known in Norfolk, in his Rural Economy of Norfolk, 
 written in 1790. 
 
 In Australia, in the market gardens around Melbourne and 
 Brighton, club root is very prevalent.* In the United States 
 it is most destructive, and is considered one of the most dan- 
 gerous enemies of market gardeners, especially in Connecticut, 
 New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, and the southern parts of 
 New York and Pennsylvania. 
 
 Professor Eycleshymer, in a recent paper in the Journal of 
 Mycology, published by the United States Department of 
 Agriculture, says : " Among cabbages and, indeed, all members 
 of the genus Brassica, there seems to be no variety exempt 
 from attack. Many varieties were sown in the same soil, 
 under similar conditions, and, so far as could be determined, 
 no differences were present. From correspondence the same 
 conclusion is reached. It is claimed that the Rutabaga 
 (Swede turnip) is less liable to attack than the common 
 variety, and when sown in alternate drills with ' purple top ' 
 they produce a fair crop, while the latter is much affected." 
 
 It was considered, and is even now considered by some, that 
 club root is caused by insects. Curtis, writing in 1841, remarks : 
 " That these malformations are occasioned by insects, I very 
 much doubt ; yet it is unquestionable that the bulk of the 
 turnips, when thus affected, are inhabited by multitudes of 
 beetles, maggots, &c. ... I therefore consider insects to 
 be, not the cause, but the effect of anbury, though their united 
 efforts combine in no small degree to the more speedy 
 dissolution of the bulbs." f 
 
 There are larva? of several flies and beetles that infest the 
 roots of cultivated brassica?, but the injury done by them is 
 totally distinct from that of the Plasmodiopltora bmssicce. 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY. 
 
 The Plasmodiophora brassicce, which causes " Club Root," 
 belongs to the group of fungus-like organisms, known a~, 
 Myxomycetes, or Slime-Fungi. Plasmodiophora means the 
 bearer of Plasmodia, which are masses, or congregations, of 
 protoplasm, with amseboid, that is to say, creeping, life-like 
 movement. From these plasmodia, spores (Fig. 7) are evolved 
 from which, in favourable conditions of moisture and tem- 
 perature, minute independent portions of i>rotoplasm esc-ipe. 
 These are able to move about by means of the cilia, or thread- 
 like appendages shown in Fig. 8. It is presumed that these 
 
 * Bulletin of Ihe Department of Agriculture, U.S.A., No. 14, December 1891. 
 f Journal of the Hoyal Agricultural Society of England, vol. iv., 1st series.
 
 51 
 
 atoms at first derive sustenance from the rain-water washed 
 into the soil. After a short time these atoms, called zoospores 
 by some, myxamsebse by others, and swarm cells by De Bary, 
 unite together, and form plasmodia growths, either in the 
 soil, or in their host some cruciferous plant. The swarm cell 
 enters the young plant by the root hairs, according to some 
 writers. Zopf, in his Pilztkiere oder Schleimpilze, pays that 
 entry is made by the root hairs, or through the cuticle of the 
 young plant, and Sorauer agrees with this.* De Bary holds 
 that " the swarm cell with cilia penetrates without undergoing 
 division into the epidermis of the young root, and from thence 
 into the parenchymatous tissue."f Dr. Comes, the Professor 
 of Botany at the Royal Agricultural School at Pcrtici, accepts 
 De Bary's view of this entry, in his useful work, entitled 
 Crittogamia agraria. Mr. Worthington Smith, in his Diseases 
 of Field and Garden Crops, states that the plasmodia are 
 absorbed into the young plants by their rootlets. Further 
 experience has shown him that the plasmodia may also enter 
 through the first formed stomata of seedlings. Professor 
 Eycleshymer writes, that " the organism is supposed to penetrate 
 the root' hairs and thus gain access to the deeper parts of the 
 cortex. Repeated endeavours were made by means of slime 
 cultures to observe the penetration of these swarm cells, but 
 without success. This is a point that needs observation. The 
 penetration has never been .observed, and it is possible that it 
 is through ruptures in the tissue caused by insects and worms, 
 and other forms which are constantly present in the soil."J 
 
 When the swarm cells have gained possession of a turnip 
 plant they form aggregations of plasmodia of a slightly yellow 
 colour, mobile, and increasing in volume as the cells of the root 
 tissue are broken down and their contents absorbed by the 
 invading slime fungus. All the food supplies of the plant are 
 concentrated upon these affected parts, which causes hypertrophy, 
 or unnatural enlargement, resulting in the swellings and de- 
 formities known as " Club-rcot." In these circumstances the 
 plants cannot grow properly and finally die, or become mere 
 distortions. 
 
 The plasmodia in the roots of these infected plants may be 
 washed from them by rains, or they may move from them into 
 the ground with their peculiar streaming movement, and remain 
 centres of infection of future crops of brassicse. This power of 
 movement is remarkable, and is evidently used for the purpose 
 of seeking food supplies. Mr. Arthur Lister, in his most 
 interesting account of the plasmodium of Badhamia utricularis 
 and Brefeldia maxima, slime fungi, parasitic upon various 
 
 * Handbuch der Pflanzenkrankheiten, Zweiter Theil, von Dr. Sorauer. 
 
 t Comparative Morphology and Biology of the Fungi, Mycetozoa, and Bacteria, 
 by C. de Bary. 
 
 J Club Root in the United States, by Professor Eycleshymer, in The Journal 
 of Mycology, published by the United States Department of Agriculture. 
 
 D 2
 
 52 
 
 fungi, states that, for twelve months, Badhamia utricularis was 
 under daily notice, and that during this time there was no 
 break in the " constant rythmk: motion " of the organism. 
 Mr. Lister says that his investigations " offered no clue to the 
 mystery of the rythmic streaming motion, any more than they 
 explain why, at uncertain intervals of hours or days, the 
 plasmodium will rouse up, without provocation, from a 
 quiescent condition and flow over a glass shade, and then 
 return to its former state. We may suppose that it is search- 
 ing for food, but this is far from accounting for the unity of 
 action that appears to pervade this creature."* 
 
 Though De Bary classifies Plasmodiophora brassicce among 
 the " doubtful mycetozoa," it is clear, at least, that it possesses 
 the "rythmic streaming," and most of the other attributes 
 common to the undoubted forms of this group of myxomycetes. 
 
 Woronin was the first to discover that Plasmodiophora 
 brassicce is the cause of Club Root. He sowed cabbage seed in 
 soil in which were clubbed roots, with the result that the 
 plants from these seeds were almost invariably clubbed. 
 Cabbage plants from seed sown in soil free from clubbed roots, 
 and watered with sterilized water, were free from disease. 
 Many similar experiments, made by other persons, have 
 confirmed Woronin's experiences. 
 
 REMEDIES AND MODES OF PREVENTION. 
 
 From the nature of this infection it would appear that 
 remedial measures can hardly be of efficacy, as the slime 
 fungus invades the plants in their early stages. It would, 
 however, be desirable to apply a good dressing of lime when the 
 first symptoms of the infection are noticed, and work it into 
 the soil with horse hoes, and round the plants with hand hoes. 
 
 Lime has been proved frequently to be a preventive of Club 
 root. Mr. Clare Sewell Read, in his " Farming of Oxfordshire,"f 
 written in 1854, points o.ut that, on the Green Sand in that 
 county, " lime is principally applied as a dressing to cure ' Club 
 root' in turnips. Some land requires 10 quarters of lime every 
 8 or 12 years before roots can be grown with any certainty. 
 Not only do turnips suffer, but even mustard and rape. While 
 hot, the lime is applied to the land ; a man follows the plough, 
 sowing the lime from a seed-cot at the bottom of the furrow, 
 which is covered over by the next turn of the plough to the 
 depth of three or four inches. If applied in this manner it is 
 a certain cure for this disease, and has never been known to 
 fail. Stone lime is much more powerful than that made from 
 chalk. If chalk lime is used the dressing must be repeated 
 every four, or at the most, eight years." 
 
 * Notes on the Plasmodium of Badhamia utricularis and Brefeldia maxima, by 
 Arthur Lister, Annals of Botany, vol, ii., No. T., June 1888. 
 
 f Jouinal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xv., ser. 1, p. 195.
 
 53 
 
 It was considered that soils having calcareous constituents 
 escaped this affection, but Dr. Voelcker wrote, in 1859, that " it 
 must not be supposed that the absence or deficiency of lime is 
 always the cause of the fingers and toes in turnips, and that 
 liming is a, universal preventive of the disease. I have seen 
 fingers and toes in roots grown on calcareous soils, probably 
 containing from 30 to 40 per cent, of lime."* In a field badly 
 attacked by club root Dr. Voelcker found that, upon a small 
 spot, the turnips were free from the disease, and he found that a 
 load of gas lime had been spread there the year before. 
 Dr. Voelcker therefore recommended gas lime as a preventive of 
 this disorder. 
 
 Writing in 1876, Dr. Voelcker says : " My attention has been 
 directed to the investigation of the cause of Anbury, or finder 
 and toe, which did much damage in certain districts in the past 
 season, and I have traced the disease, in a soil sent from 
 Westmoreland, to the deficiency of the available potash and 
 lime in the land upon which the turnip crop was much affected 
 by this disease."t There is no doubt that gas lime, ploughed 
 into the land in the manner described by Mr. Sewell Read, at 
 the rate of two to four tons per acre, would be more efficacious 
 than ordinary lime. It is believed that it is not the absence 
 of lime in the soil constituents that causes Ciub root, since this 
 is found in all soils ; but that lime and gas lime applied hot 
 actually destroy the slime-fungus or their fine particles affect 
 its progress. 
 
 As a means of preventing the slime fungus, Sorauer suggests 
 that plants infected with it should be pulled up and burnt at 
 once, before the plasmodia escape into the soil.J 
 
 It is also very important not to take crops of cruciferous 
 plants, as turnips, cabbage, rape, kohl rabi, and mustard, for some 
 time after an infected crop. Where it is difficult to avoid this, 
 as, for instance, in the case of market gardens, the land should 
 be ploughed deeply, or dug two spits deep, and lime, or gas lime, 
 put on in considerable quantities. Cruciferous weeds should be 
 rooted out from turnip and cabbage land. Charlock is especially 
 subject to the attack of the Plasmodiophora brassica. 
 
 Mr. Jamieson has frequently stated in the reports of the Agri- 
 cultural Research Association that sulphur in the form of manures, 
 acted on by sulphuric acid, increased club root in turnips. 
 He says, " Chief among the predisposing causes seems to be the 
 acidity introduced by manures soaked with sulphuric acid 
 (Superphosphate, dissolved bones, and turnip manure mixtures 
 generally.) This point, which was brought out first by the 
 Aberdeenshire experiments, seems to have been confirmed beyond 
 doubt by Professor Ward in a paper read before the Royal 
 Society. It had also been borne out by the experience of 
 
 * Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. ix., ser. 1, p. 108. 
 f Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. iii., ger. 2, p. 299. 
 j Handbuch der Pflanzenkranhheiten. Von Paul Sorauer.
 
 54 
 
 farmers in practice, but a difficulty in the way of complete 
 acceptance of the idea was the inability to explain how sulphur 
 or sulphuric acid would have this action. An explanation is 
 now, however, afforded, Professor Webb, of Aspatria, having 
 found that the fungus requires an acid medium for proper 
 development and the point now seems not only proved, but 
 explained."* 
 
 It has been noticed that this affection is worse upon wet soils, 
 and upon heavy soils undrained. This has been proved in 
 Victoria, as shown by the following passage in the Report of the 
 Victorian Department of Agriculture. " Where the soil was of a 
 deep and somewhat moist black, sandy nature, and free from 
 st agiiant water, there was generally no club, but in heavy, shallow 
 soil, with a clay bottom and stagnant water allowed to remain, 
 there the club was yery prevalent." 
 
 * Annual Report of Agricultural Eesearch Asssociation for the North-eastern 
 Counties of Scotland, 1891.
 
 Black Mould of Corn 
 Cladospormm Herbarum Lk. 
 
 Explanation of Plate X 
 
 Fig. 1 Ear of barley, impoverished, before maturity, 
 
 the injury starting from/ the attack of the> 
 Cladosporuim/ upon/ the stamens. 
 Natural size. 
 
 Fig. 2. Inner & side view of grain of barley showing 
 the attacked/ stamens &, th fungus spreading 
 over the grains. 
 
 Enlarged 4- diameters. 
 
 Fig. 3. Ear of wheat' attacked/ by Cladosporutm, Herb- 
 arium, Zfa. 
 
 Natural site. 
 
 Cladcsporiu4n> Herbarum^ LJc-. Olive brown in/ 
 colour, as seen/ as a/ transparent object under 
 the microscope. 
 
 Enlarged 500 diameters 
 
 Jiidd, & C I^Ii^t..-
 
 Black Mould of 
 
 uorn 
 
 Cladosporium Herbarum Lk.
 
 55 
 
 Black Mould in Corn. (Cladosporium Herbarum. Link.) 
 
 (PLATE X.) 
 
 This fungus is termed " common " by Mr. Cooke in his " Hand- 
 Look of British Fungi," and it was certainly common enough in 
 the season of 1892 in many corn-growing districts. In some 
 of these it caused serious harm to wheat, almost as much as 
 the ordinary mildew, Puccinia graminis. The Cladosporium 
 kerbarum, or " black mould in corn," as Mr. W. G. Smith well 
 describes it, was especially prevalent in the Eastern Counties. Mr. 
 Plowright says that " no district has probably suffered more from 
 than it the Eastern Counties." It was very injurious, however, 
 in Kent, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Hampshire, and, it 
 is believed, was very frequently taken for the ordinary wheat 
 mildew, Puccinia graminis. Badly blighted wheat fields were 
 examined, in which there were but few signs of Puccinia 
 graminis, the harm having been occasioned by the Cladosporium 
 herbarum, whose peculiar olive-brown conidiophores were easily 
 identified. The straw was infected by this fungus, and the ears 
 and the grains were especially attacked. In some cases the grains 
 were more shrivelled than those upon plants infested by Puccinia 
 graminis, and the Cladosporium was found in considerable 
 quantity upon the grains at the apex, or upper end, among the 
 fine hairs, or down, upon them. The ears had an unnatural 
 colour, so that one passing by infected fields could see at a glance 
 that the wheat plants were in an unhealthy state ; while observers 
 noted that the state and colour were not like those of wheat 
 plants infected with the ordinary mildew (Fig. 3.). There was 
 much brownish dust upon the plants, causing the labourers* 
 engaged in cutting the wheat with hooks, in the old-fashioned 
 way, to be, as a newspaper correspondent said, of the " colour of 
 Red Indians," and this dust was very annoying to the men with 
 the thrashing machines when the wheat was thrashed. Wheat 
 with downy chaff seemed to be especially affected. A field of 
 " velvet-eared white " in Kent was noted as being far more 
 affected and injured than smooth-chaffed varieties. 
 
 Barley was also attacked by the Cladosporium herbarum. 
 Among the most striking illustrations of this novel attack were 
 specimens of infected ears of barley, taken from several fields in 
 Hertfordshire, forwarded by Mr. James Forbes, of Old Trinity 
 House, 4, Water Lane, Mark Lane, on the 26th of August. In 
 these ears the fungus had established itself on the apex, or upper 
 part, of the grain, at ti;e base of the long, bristling awns ; and, 
 as it appeared, upon the withered remains of the stamens. It 
 was most exceptional to find a grain without the fungus upon it 
 in the position shown by Fig. 1. Now and then a grain was
 
 56 
 
 infected, as seen in Fig. 2, and the infection was spreading within 
 the folds and tissues of the pericarp. There had not, however, 
 been much harm occasioned to the barley at that time. The 
 rows were fairly well filled on the whole. There were blanks 
 here and there, and abortive grains in some cases both at the top 
 and the bottom of the rows. The Oladosporium was found upon 
 the straw of these barley ears, but not by any means extensively. 
 
 Barley plants came from East Kent a few days later whose 
 straw was much infected and discoloured by the Cladosporium. 
 The rows were not well filled ; the upper and lower grains were 
 either very small, or had aborted. Here also the fungus was 
 upon the stamineous end of each grain at the base of the awn, 
 and had spread considerably into the pericarp on both sides of 
 the grains (Fig. 2). Upon the sheathing leaves and straw 
 of these plants the fungus was so abundant as to materially 
 spoil the straw as fodder for stock. 
 
 At the meeting of the Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
 Society, on the 13th of October, it was reported that Mr. 
 Plowright bad sent specimens of wheat showing Cladosporium 
 upon it. Mr. Plowright remarked that " such a development of 
 parasitic life cannot but be detrimental to the wheat affected 
 by it, and it is probable that the Cladosporium has much to 
 do with the poor yield so many agriculturists complain of this 
 year." 
 
 Mr. Plowright also mentioned that it had been considered that 
 Cladosporium on rye in Sweden produced diarrhoea, vomiting, 
 and derangement of nerve centres, causing dizziness and a stagger- 
 ing gait, like that of a drunken man, in persons who partook of 
 bread made from grain thus infected. Last year Professor 
 Woronin, the well known mycologist, was called in by the 
 Russian Government to investigate a series of cases in which 
 these same disorders were occasioned by rye-grains infected by 
 Cladosporium herbarium, at Vladovosky, on the coast of the Sea 
 of Japan, in the extreme east of the Russian Empire, and found, 
 from careful experiments, that though Cladosporium herbarum 
 was present, the extraordinary symptoms caused in men and 
 animals from eating the infected grains were not due to it, but 
 to another fungus, Fusarium roseum, al-^o present upon them.* 
 Professor Woronin gave an account in the Botanike Zeitung, 
 1891, No. 6, of the experiments made as to this curious affection, 
 termed Oer-rag in Sweden, and Taumel Getreide, or intoxicating 
 corn, in Germany. He attributes this entirely to the Fusarium 
 roseum, though he points out that Cladosporium herbarum was 
 found in abundance upon the sheathing leaves and straw as well 
 as on the chaff and grains, whose upper parts it had injured 
 the most. It should be noted here how accurately this descrip- 
 tion of the position of Cladosporium herbarum, as given by 
 Professor Woronin, corresponds with the experiences recorded 
 
 * The inhabitants of the Corea and the parts of China near also suffer from the 
 same fungoid affection of the corn.
 
 57 
 
 above in respect of wheat and barley this year. Dr. Lopriore 
 records experiments made upon a horse, rabbits, rats, dogs, and 
 chickens with Cladosporium herbarum, and[states that no injury 
 or discomfort was occasioned to them from taking it in quantities.* 
 
 Cladosporium herbarium was supposed to be wholly sapro- 
 phytic, living only upon dead, that is, decaying matter. 
 Mr. Cooke says it is found "on all sorts of decaying sub- 
 stacces."f Mr. Plowright, in the communication above 
 referred to says, that "until recently the Cladosporium 
 was regarded as a saprophyte, but recent investigations 
 show me that it can also exist as a true parasite." Sorauer 
 states that it destroys and feeds on plant tissues, that it 
 is, in fact, parasitic as well as saprophytic. He adds it is 
 mostly saprophytic and is seec- upon withered and withering 
 parts of plants; also that it is probable that the fungus is 
 first of all supported as a saprophyte, independently of the 
 living plant, before it is in a position to attack it and live 
 upon it. J This is precisely the case of the Cladosporium 
 herbarum upon the barley grains. First, it is supported on the 
 withered and withering stamens, and then on the living tissues. 
 Sorauer adds, that after a long period of existence upon dead 
 substances, when it comes in contact with living organisms, it 
 rapidly penetrates and destroys them. This is exactly the action 
 of the tomato fungus Cladosporium lycopersici, which is first 
 seen upon the withering and decaying pistils, being then sapro- 
 phytic, and afterwards is parasitic on and most destructive to 
 the tomato fruit. 
 
 The life history of Cladosporium herbarum is somewhat 
 intricate. De Bary groups it with the family Ascomycetes, 
 though he says " there are forms which strongly resemble the 
 members of the development of some well-known species, 
 some even exhibiting the same comparatively minute dis- 
 tinctions, but in which the formation of an ascocarp such as 
 belongs to the particular development, has never been 
 observed, while at the same time there is no reason for 
 considering that they belong to any group outside the 
 Ascomycetes. We are compelled by this condition of our 
 knowledge to regard these isolated forms as homologous with 
 those which are like them, and the positions of which are 
 known in the course of development of other species, and to 
 call them accordingly spermogonia, conidiophores, pycnidia, 
 or the like." De Bary gives a list of these forms, among 
 which is Cladosporium, adding: "These forms are for the 
 present arranged with the Ascomycetes because from what 
 we know of them they appear to have more connexion with 
 
 * Deutsche Landwirtschaftliche Presse, xix. Jahrgang, No. 89. 
 t Cooke'* Handbook of British Fungi, p. 582. 
 
 I Die Schaden der einheimischen Kulturpflanzen, von Dr. Paul Sorauer, 1888. 
 Comparative Morphology and Biology of the Fungi, Mycetoioa, and Bacteria, 
 by A. de Bary, pp. 252-3. 
 
 I 74144. E
 
 58 
 
 that division than with other fungi ; but they are known 
 only to us under one form, which may be considered to be 
 that in which they produce conidia." De Bary instances 
 the common " Cladosporium herbarum, Lk. as among the 
 forms which never produce anything but mycelium with 
 serially abjointed conidia. Sorauer terms these chain-like, 
 kettenartig.* 
 
 Cladosporium herbarum Link, synonymous with Dematium 
 herbarum, is the conidiophore stage of Sphwria herbarum 
 whose synonym according to Tulasne is Pleospora herbarum.^ 
 
 Other forms or stages of 8pho3ria, or Pleospora herbarum, 
 are Macrosporium sarcinula, Berkeley, and what is termed by 
 De Bary the Alternaria form, which consists of " conically pear- 
 shaped pluricellular compound spores, having a smooth light 
 brown membrane, and arising at the extremity of the hyphce 
 in long branched rows." 
 
 Though at some risk of creating confusion, it is important to 
 deal with the various forms of this fungus, and to endeavour to 
 identify them and their host plants, in order, if possible, to 
 discover means to prevent its spread in the stage dangerous 
 to corn. A Macrosporium, called Macrosporium commune, 
 (Rabenhorst) on leaves of beet, is said by Berkeley to be probably 
 a condition of Sphoeria 'herbarum ; and Macrosporium brassiccv, 
 upon the leaves of decaying cab bages and of other cruciferous 
 plants, is said by Cooke in his handbook of British Fungi to be 
 intermixed with Cladosporium herbarum, " of which it is pro- 
 bably a condition." Dr. Comes, Professor of- Botany at the 
 Royal School of Agriculture at Portici, says, that Clados- 
 poriwm> herlarum has been found on the leaves of turnips, 
 and in favourable circumstances reproduces Pleospora her- 
 barum.\ Trumen also reports the same of some experiments in 
 Bohemia. 
 
 Mr. Carruthers, however, believes the fungus which did so 
 much harm to wheat and barley this year in Norfolk and else- 
 where is identical with Scolicotrichum graminis, which has 
 been placed by some botanists in the species Cladosporium, 
 herbarum. 
 
 Dr. Lopriore has recently recorded a series of most interesting 
 experiments with Cladosporium herbarum. Among these 
 were three, in order to ascertain : 
 
 1st. Whether artificial infection of sound corn plants with the 
 
 fungus produces destructive results. 
 
 2nd. Whether corn plants attacked by the fungus are 
 contagious. 
 
 * Op. Cit., p. 231. 
 
 t De Bary remarks: "Even if Tulasne's view that the Cladosporium herbarum 
 " belongs to Pleospora herbarum is not confirmed, its connection with one of the 
 " allied Spkceriacea is more than probable." Op. cit., p. 67. 
 
 J Crittogamia agraria, par Dr. O. Comes, 189J.. 
 
 Deutsche Landwirtschaftliche Presse, No. 86.
 
 59 
 
 3rd. What is the parasitic action of the fungus in favourable 
 circumstances. 
 
 In the first experiment Dr. Lopriore found that young wheat 
 plants artificially infected with Cladosporium spores obtained from 
 the shotted chaff of wheat, and put with the fungus in some drops 
 of sterilized water upon their blades, were much checked in 
 growth, and only attained to a height of from 20 to 24 inches, 
 and produced but few grains, which, however, showed no traces 
 of fungus infection. 
 
 In the second experiment, wheat grains free from the attack of 
 the fungus, and some that were attacked by it, were sown in 
 two flower pots filled with earth the affected grains in the 
 middle of the pots, those unaffected near the edges. The result 
 was, that the foots of the sound grains were penetrated by 
 mycelial filaments. The stems showed no traces of infection, but 
 the ears and grains at ripening time were seriously affected by 
 the fungus. 
 
 For the third experiment, wheat grains with the fungus 
 upon them were sown in two flower-pots filled with earth, which 
 were put in a hot-house in a light situation. The fungus in 
 the warmth and dampness of the surroundings soon destroyed 
 these plants. The further investigations as to the course of the 
 fungus showed that it either attacked the wheat plants in a 
 young state, so as to quickly destroy them, and to develop 
 itself abundantly in the lower part of the stem in the usual 
 form of conidia; or it attacked the plants in other and less 
 serious ways, and finally reached the ears without breaking 
 through the framework of the plant. Dr. Lopriore's conclusion 
 is that all the pathological circumstances, from the germination 
 to the full ripening of the ears, indicate that the fungus has a 
 very clear and defined progress in its host plant, and that there 
 can hardly be a question as to accidental infection. The power 
 of the spores to propagate from year to year, and the formation of 
 sclerotia, and of chlamydospores in the stalk, solve the question 
 of the destructive nature of the fungus, and show that it is able, 
 by many modes, to maintain itself and to spread. 
 
 Dr. Lopriore warns cultivators against sowing corn infected 
 by Cladosporium herba/ru/m, and to take care to steep the seed, 
 and to be careful concerning changes of seed. In Sweden, 
 barley is steeped in weak sulphuric acid, a solution of from 
 1 to 1| per cent, Dr. Loptiore adds that there is no doubt that 
 steeping seed corn in this solution does destroy the spores of the 
 fungus. 
 
 Mr. Worthington Smith, who has furnished the admirable 
 illustrations of Cladosporium herbarum for this report, states 
 that the mycelium of this fungus will do well in the ground, and 
 that he has seen it growing on and in the ground often, also 
 growing on wood, and even on painted wood, and this being the 
 case it is reasonable enough to believe that the Cladosporium 
 would grow with the corn from sowing time until harvest.
 
 60 
 
 It is quite evident, from examination of wheat and barley 
 grains taken from fields infected by the Cladosporium herbarum, 
 that the fungus is upon them among the hairs, and on and under 
 the pericarp. Dr. Lopriore has showed that infected grains 
 reproduce the fungus, therefore it is most desirable to steep 
 infected grains most thoroughly, as wheat is steeped to prevent 
 the spread of smut, either in sulphate of copper solutions, which 
 have been proved over and over again to be fatal to the spores 
 of fungi, or with sulphuric acid solutions, as adopted by 
 Swedish barley growers. 
 
 It may also be that infection is caused by the other forms of 
 the Sphceria herbarum. which are found upon beet, mangels, and 
 cruciferous plants. The leaves of these plants, when infected, 
 should therefore not be left on the ground, but be collected or 
 ploughed deeply in. Infected straw and chaff should be all passed 
 through well heated mixens.
 
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