30 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



that having laboured hard to form a rooterj', the best thing he can now do 

 with it is to take it to pieces again. A\Tiat we described hist month 

 was no more than what we have seen, and if fuithcr testimony Avere 

 wanted, evidence could be adduced in abundance, from all parts of the 

 country, to shoA\' that the mycelium of fungi, choosing dead wood as its 

 nidus, does frequently commit vast havoc, and is occasionally the unseen 

 cause of the decline of orchards and plantations. To the writer of that 

 article the fact had been known for years, but never in its full prac- 

 tical shape until the occurrence of the event there recorded, namely, the 

 taking up of an ancient fence. This Avas a bit of experience dearly paid for, 

 and it was to guard our readers against obtaining experience in a similarly 

 expensive way that we seized the opportunity, before the planting season 

 passed, of referring to it in detail. Bj reference, it will be noticed that 

 no general condemnation of rotten wood was intended by the writer. He 

 says, " dead wood is often the cause," etc. ; and " damp soils" are specially 

 referred to as the most likely to give rise to the production of the pest. 

 " In open districts, on a sandy bottom, dead sticks and rotten timber make 

 a first-rate ingredient for composts," says the writer, remembering to have 

 used such materials largely in the making of artificial peat, and in 

 preparing composts for the pot-cultiire of flowers, etc. Our readers must 

 bear these exceptional matters in mind, and where wood is known to rot 

 quickly and cleanlj-, no danger need be apprehended. Dead wood is one of 

 Nature's own manures; the upper stratum of the soil in all forests consists 

 chiefly of sticks and leaves thoroughly decayed, but there the process of 

 cremacausis is so rapid, that the fibre becomes dust before fungi have time 

 to difiiise through it. There are two other points of great moment, 

 namely, that when decaying wood has passed a certain stage, the fungus 

 . can feed upon it no longer ; hence wood thoroughly rotten cannot produce 

 it ; it is during the process of decay that it riots amongst the lignin, and if 

 it touches any living root, speedily brings that into a process of decay also. 

 Club-rooted roses are, nine cases out of ten, aff'ected with it ; hence make 

 few and feeble roots, and, by their miserable growth, distract the cultivator 

 who limits his endeavours to improve them to the parts above ground only. 

 Another point to be noted is, that the mjTelium cannot long exist exposed 

 to the air ; it is an under-ffround production, and here we may comfort our 

 friend, Avho is in a momentary perplexity about his rootery. If the roots 

 have been tumbled about in the weather in the process of taking up, 

 stacking, and finally ai'ranging them, they are not liltely, now that they 

 are to remain above ground, to breed the pestilence ; perhaps in his district 

 such a pest is unknown, and never to be apprehended. The mycelium is 

 a local eA'il, damp soils are most likely to produce it ; it is at work in many 

 a garden, insidiously destroying stock that cost money to piu-chase 

 and patience to tend, and, like the voice of slander, damaging in secret 

 what it cannot attack openly. In close-walled and close-fenced gardens, it 

 is more likely to appear than iu the open country ; and all who are located 

 in the suburbs of towns should take heed of our Avarning, which we here 

 repeat is no idle one ; experience suggested it, and the knowledge that others 

 have had similar experience to ourselves, increases our anxiety to put our 

 readers on their guard. Clean rotten wood inAntes healthy roots to run 

 amongst it just as clean peat docs, but one thread of mycelium will speedily 

 ramify thi-ough a heap of compost, or an entire bank of soil, and kill every 

 root Avith which it comes in contact. 



