68 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



an amazing numbL-r of spores are produced of so small 

 a size that millions would be required to cover a square 

 inch. When a spore germinates, its contents escape 

 throug'h a small aperture in its wall and begins moving 

 about of its own accord by means of a microscopic hair 

 which wriggles about like the tail of a tadpole. It is 

 one of those organisms which form a connecting link 

 between the animal and the vegetable kingdoms. Unlike 

 the potato disease, or at least the oldest and most preva- 

 lent one of the several diseases atTecting this tuber, which 

 spreads from plant to plant through the atmosphere, 

 the fungus causing club-root remains in the soil at all 

 its stages and can only spread through that medium. 

 Nothing can be done to control this or any other pests 

 affecting roots by spraying, which renders it the more 

 imperative to rotate crops of this kind. 



\\'hile it has not come into my own personal expe- 

 rience, cases have been heard of where an entire garden 

 has become infected with club-root. It is to a great ex- 

 tent preventable by heavy dressings of quick-lime worked 

 into the surface of the ground soni_e time before setting 

 out the plants : and in any case cabbage and cauliflowers 

 require more lime as actual food than any other crops. 

 It is possible to bring this disease in by purchased 

 plants, and plants with any swellings upon their roots 

 should be di-carded and burnt, whether purchased or 

 grown one's self. Sometimes a swelling upon the roots, 

 similar in outward ai>pearance, is caused bv an insect. 

 While this is not so harmful as the fungus, it always 

 has the effect of checking growth. In the latter case 

 a legless maggot will be found inside the swelling, while 

 the interior of the enlargement caused by club-root will 

 be more or less decayed. In the latter, insects will, after 

 a time, find their wav into this, but they are only a secon- 

 dary feature of the trouble. As an additional preventa- 

 ti\e the stumps and roots should always be burned. 



While the potato disease which is the principal cause 

 of potatoes rotting, attacks the tops first, and can be pre- 

 vented by frequent spraying, it is advisable to have the 

 interval between growing this crop upon the same ground 

 as long as possible. 



There are undoubtedly several species of fungi which 

 cause potato tubers to rot and some of these may infect 

 the tuber in the soil without appearing upon the haulm, 

 and certainly the newer wart disease is a soil fungus. 

 These are additional reasons for not planting potatoes 

 more often upon the same ground than is absolutely 

 necessary. With these also, and with all other diseased 

 vegetable matter, burning the haulm and other remains 

 is advisable: if burning is impracticable, then a hole can 

 be made in which the refuse may lie placed and thor- 

 ou.ghlv mixed with quick-lime. 



.SOME GROINS TH.\T C.\N BE .ALTERNATED ANXU.\LLV 



\\'hile for the reasons stated it should be considered 

 imperative to stfictly rbtate the Cabbage family, m which 

 turnips may be included, potatoes, and other things w hich 

 are liable to diseases attacking their roots : and while it 

 is better to rotate other vegetables as much as possible, 

 still more or less elasticity may be introduced into the 

 rotation, so far as pests are concerned, of those things 

 whose troubles come from those which only attack the 

 parts of the plants whicb are above ground, so as to 

 fit the rotation to other considerations. 



For instance, one may have a plot in their garden 

 which is exceptionally suited for early work by reason 

 of its being sheltered by a well, building, etc., and so 

 placed that" it gets full sun. In this situation the frost 

 will be out of the ground sooner than elsewhere, and 

 it will therefore give opportunities for early sowing and 

 for securing a crop a week or two earlier than would 

 be the case in other parts of the garden. As peas and 



spinach are always the first things to be sown and to 

 be gathered from the open ground, there is no reason 

 why a border of this kind should not be devoted to 

 these every year without the crops deteriorating at all, 

 provided the ground is kept rich, sweet and light, and 

 at the same time otherwise handling along the lines pre- 

 viously mentioned in these columns. If the border is 

 large enough to carry the first crops of both peas and 

 sj)inach, the portion upon which one is grown this year 

 could be devoted to the other next year, in this way a 

 nitrogen-producing, could alternate with a nitrogen-con- 

 suming crop. This latter point should have considera- 

 tion in cropping the entire garden so that as far as 

 possible crops which obtain their nitrogen from the air, 

 like peas and beans, should alternate with those like 

 corn, cabbage, etc., which require a sufficiency of nitro- 

 gen to be present in the soil. 



Apart from the above necessity of allowing at least 

 a few years interval if possible between some crops, a 

 certain amount of rotation is easily obtained in the or- 

 dinary course of things. As the earliest crops mature 

 they are succeeded by others, and these are followed 

 in the autumn by a cover crop for turning under just be- 

 fore Winter. So that along these lines the entire garden 

 which is under annual cropjjing gets a certain amount of 

 change in sjjccies, thereby avoiding waste of, while at 

 the same lim;- conserving, plant food. 



ROSE COLUMBIA 



T"" HE Executive Committee of the American Rose So- 





ciety at a recent meeting voted to award to the hybrid 



tea rose Columbia, registered in 1917 by E. G. Hill of 

 Richmond, Indiana, the Gertrude M. Hubbard gold medal 

 for the best rose of American origin introduced during 

 the last five years. 



This reward was made possible by the generosity of 

 Mrs. Gertrude M. Hubbard of Twin Oaks, Washington, 

 D. C.. and has been awarded but once when, in 1914, it 

 was given to M. H. Walsh of Woods Hole, Massachu- 

 setts, for the introduction of the climbing rose E.xcelsa. 



The honor which goes to Air. Hill is distinctive. It is 

 the highest honor which the American Rose Society can 

 confer on a hybridizer, and it is a recognition, not only of 

 a variety of merit but of the valued work of a pioneer in 

 rose breeding — one who has devoted half a century of 

 real service in the advancement of the rose, through 

 breeding a type admirably suited for .\merican condi- 

 tions. — E. A. White, Secretary. 



The rose, Columbia, is proving to be a decided favorite 

 and is now regarded as one of the finest out-door, pink 

 roses ever introduced. Strong, sturdy in growth with 

 handsome foliage, flowers of a glowing pink color. 



DECAY OF PUBLIC PARKS 



■"THE broad fact in connection with the decay of pub- 

 lie parks which may be seen in nearly all our 

 American cities is that we Americans are better at 

 starting things than we are at taking care of thetn 

 afterwards. We employ our Olmsteds and our Vaux 

 to create beautiful parks, and then leave them to the 

 tender mercies of men w-ithout education in the pro- 

 found art and science of the making and care of pleas- 

 ure grounds. There is no art or science which de- 

 mands a deeper or broader education than this. And 

 the difference between expert knowledge and utter 

 neglect in such a matter can be noted fully in a single 

 day bv comparing the appearance of the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum with that of Central Park in New York or 

 l"r;inklin T;ivk in P.oston. — Baslou Traiiscri[>l. 



