measure would be necessary, save in
cases of an exceptional abundance of the insect.

THE ASPARAGUS MINER

(_Agromyza simplex_)

In a recent bulletin from the New York Experiment Station, Prof. F. A.
Sirrine describes a comparatively new and injurious insect on asparagus.
It was discovered on Long Island, and injures the young plants by mining
just underneath the outside surface. The habits of this creature are
such that there is little chance of applying remedies for its
destruction. Cultural and preventive measures seem to be the most
practical, and are suggested. The parent insect is a small fly, which
deposits its eggs for the first brood early in June, and no doubt much
can be done toward keeping the pest under control by not allowing small
shoots to grow during the cutting season. Professor Sirrine is of the
opinion that where young beds are put out yearly the pest can be kept in
check by pulling and burning the old stalks. He points out the fact that
the stalk should be pulled in the fall rather than in the spring, as it
is difficult to pull them early in the season, and in many cases the
dormant stage of the insect is left in the ground.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Condensed from an official report by J. H. Chittenden of the United
States Department of Agriculture.

XV

FUNGUS DISEASES

Asparagus is subject to the attacks of a number of fungi, the most
widespread and destructive being the "rust," the cause of which is a
fungus described by De Candolle as _Puccinia asparagi_ in the year 1805.
From this it is seen that the rust upon the asparagus has been known to
scientists for nearly a hundred years, and it is but reasonable to
suppose that more or less of this fungus has existed beyond the history
of man.

The first mention of asparagus rust in the United States was by Dr.
Harkness, who claimed to have observed it on the Pacific Coast in 1880,
although it is doubtful whether the genuine asparagus rust was ever
found there. The first mention of it in the Eastern States was in the
fall of 1896, and since then its range has been widening each year. Dr.
Byron D. Halsted, of the New Jersey Experiment Station, was the first to
call attention to it, and made it the subject of careful study. The
results and conclusions derived from his experiments were published in a
special bulletin, and from this the greater part of the following has
been condensed.

RECOGNITION OF THE RUST

[Illustration: FIG. 46--A