The Root-Knot Disease of the Peach, Orange and other Plants in Florida, due to the work of Anguillula. By J. C. Neal. Pp.31. XXI P/ates, mostly colored. The root-knot disease of many plants, particularly in the south, has become serious and wide-spread. The difficulty is not a new one, for Dr. Neal tells us that it has been known "since the earliest settlement of the South Atlantic and Gulf States." "About 1874 this disease sprang into prominence owing to the influx of immigrants, the development of early market gardens, and the sudden rage for orchards of peaches, figs and oranges." Many plants are attacked by the nematodes, and as some pernicious weeds are among the number, the danger of infection is increased wherever cultivation is slack. The cultivated plants which are attacked embrace "the greater part of our most valuable food plants, fruit trees, and many of the choicest flowers." The knot is caused by a minute true worm, to which Dr. Neal gives the name Anguillula arenaria; but the animal was long ago described and named, and it is properly known as Heterodera radiciola. The worm lives in the soft tissue of the young or herbaceous roots, causing a swelling or knot to form.

This knot takes characteristic forms in different plants.

Dr. Neal concludes that "the disease is unknown beyond any point in the interior 150 miles from the coast" of the southern states. This, however, is a mistake. It is well known in many northern gardens, particularly upon tomatoes, the clematis and other herbaceous or soft-rooted plants. The disease is worst in moist or wet sandy soils, and upon young trees. If trees become thoroughly established, little injury need be apprehended. In the way of remedies, Dr. Neal advises the following : drainage: exposure to frost; heating the soil by burning brush or weeds on it; filing the hole in which trees are set with uninfested soil; disuse of land for a time, in order to starve the worms ; the encouragement of a "small, blackish-brown ant," which feeds upon the worms and which prefers dry soils; the use of various alkalis upon the soil; the planting of non-infected stocks. The bulletin is designed as a practical discussion of the subject, rather than a scientific contribution.