Dr. Shortt, of Chingleput, in a recent report on the growth and production of Indian Cotton, remarks that the plants are subject to the attacks of a kind of mildew. He writes:—“They appear in the form of rounded fibres or thallus, shooting up in the air, having the lamina of the leaf as a base, and feeling villous to the touch. The small fibrillæ that form the nap appear shooting up as sharp projections when seen by the naked eye; under the microscope they are found to consist of pointed tubes, interspersed here and there with minute granular cells. It first attacks either the upper surface of the petioles, or the margins of the leaf, gradually extending over the lamina, and matting together the whole leaf into a greyish-white, felty mass. At first it attacks the young shoots and tender leaves, preventing them from expanding. The extension of the parasite deprives the plant of its juices, and eventually either destroys or renders it sterile. The spores seem to be derived from the atmosphere, and finding the plant in a state fit to receive them, from either the results of excessive cultivation, or from the effects of heat and want of moisture rendering it unhealthy, and thus favouring the reception of the spores of the fungi. Another variety speckles the leaves with whitish dots. These remain separate, but the lamina is covered with them, and in time the leaf changes colour, becomes yellowish, and eventually dies away. This is evidently the disease called _Bunt_, or some variety of it, as it is seated beneath the epidermis, and eventually the spores escape. Under the microscope they seem to consist of small dark cells or spots attached to a thread-like mycelium.” The writer seems certainly to have made a mistake in its affinities, and on the faith of the above quotation we should be more disposed to regard it as an _Erysiphe_. It is to be hoped that specimens of the affected leaves will be forwarded to this country for examination. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XIII. _SUGGESTIONS._ IF, in offering a few practical suggestions, we either repeat ourselves, or communicate common-place hints, those who may know already all we shall essay to tell them will please to pardon and pass on. All the information essential under this head relates to collecting, examining, and preserving microscopic fungi.