For October, 1C22 



297 



checked by the more careful confcirmalidn to natural laws on the 

 part of the gardener. 



Take the case of that common disease among young seedlings 

 known as "damping off." Millions of tiny plants are lost an- 

 nual. y on account of this virulent fungus pest. But I believe, and 

 most gardeners will be ready to admit, that in ninety-nine cases 

 out of a hundred the attacks might be averted by adopting com- 

 mon-sense methods of culture. The disease is primarily one 

 which attacks plants grown under artificial conditions, ."^s every 

 garde/.er knows, it attacks seedlings under glass and is caused 

 either by overcrowding, excessive moisture, or a close, vitiated 

 atmosphere. Another cause not always recognized by gardeners 

 is that of sowing seeds in soil which has previously contained 

 diseased seedlings. The preventive precautions in regard to the 

 first-named causes are obvious, while the importance of sterilizing 

 affected soil is equally evident. The above is a concrete case of a 

 more or less preventable disease, but it is typical of a host of 

 others. The matter of contagion is one which is very often too 

 little considered by gardeners. A single plant in a greenhouse 

 which is attacked by green-fly is capable of ruining a houseful 

 of plants and is too often allowed to do so. One mi'dewed plant 

 is equally capable of inflicting damage, and frequently docs so. 

 These remarks seem so obviously true that it appears foolish to 

 make them, but it is surprising what a large number of people 

 will not take the necessary steps to isolate infected plants. The 

 negligent gardener who fails to treat promptly the diseases which 

 attact the fruit trees and crops in his garden is a menace to his 

 neighbors. No conscientious grower, on however small a scale, 

 will knowingly disregard the importance of checking diseases 

 which might cause havoc to other people's crops. To take im- 

 media'e steps for the eradication of injurious pes's is a duty 

 which be'ongs to every citi'en. The matter of prevention is 

 equally in^portant, and the keynote of success may be briefly 

 summed up in the words "good cultivation." 



.'^part from the more or less preventable causes of disease in 

 cultivated plants, there are those which are probably due to what 

 may be called "unnatural, common horticultural practices." In 

 making a conscientious inquiry into the reasons for increased dis- 

 ease amo'is plants, we cannot honestly shirk investigation into 

 this side of the question. The practice of unduly forcing plants 

 to produce flowers and fruit before the normal seasoi is possibly 

 respo 'sible for the weakened constitution of many plants. This 

 impaired vigor undoubtedly makes plants more susceptible to 

 attack. Then, again, the continued propagation of plants by cut- 

 tings or buds may be another cause. Is it reasonable to supnose 

 that the prolonged perpetuation of the same stock has anything 

 to do with increased susceptibility to disease? The Potato is sub- 

 ject to some*hing like seventeen different diseases, and few plants 

 iiave been so subjected to vegetative reproduction. 



Finally, it may not be amiss to inquire how far excessive plant 

 breeding is responsible for increased plant sickness. I believe it 

 is more or less allowed by most gardeners that those plants which 

 have been the most subject to the work of the hybridist are the 

 ones most prone to disease. It is a matter for speculation whether 

 the hieh types of perfection seen in the so-called floris's' flowers 

 are to be paid for by an increased susceptibility to disease. The 

 reckless crossing and intercrossing of many flowers has resulted 

 in a diminution of seed production, and when we remember that 

 the primary object of the flower is to perpetuate its species by 

 means of seeds, we are brought face to face with the fact that 

 ■we are hindering one of Nature's chief schemes for race per- 

 petuity. To thwart Nature is to court disaster. We know this 

 to be true in the case of the human body. In venturing the 

 opinion that in our headlong race after abnormal types of flowers 

 we are possibly depriving the generations yet unborn I do not 

 attempt to dogmatize. My remarks on this head are suggestive 

 only, I am content to leave the matter for consideration by wiser 

 heads than mine. — Gardening lUusiratcd. 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



Text Book of Pomology by J. II. Guiirlcy. M, S, The Mac- 

 millan Company, New York, Upon its nearly 400 pages, this 

 well composed book presents the "experimental and investigational 

 bases of fruit growing on the physiological side." It renders 

 valuable service by having collected and put into conve.iient form 

 for students who have already had considerable mstruction in 

 the schools much of the experimental material that has been 

 accumulating. The selection of the material seems at every point 

 to have been made wisely, so that the earnest student may draw 

 his own practical conclusions from the results of most au horita- 

 tive experiments with pruning, the thinning of fruit, orchard soils, 

 cultural methods, fertilizers, the improvement of fruit, its storage. 

 and several other problems less vital. The presentation is rein- 

 forced by many tables, eight clear illustrations and forty "figures," 



The non-academic person, without true scientific bent, misrht 

 complain that it is hard to find in this work definite and reliable 

 conclusions. He might wish that the author had concisely given 



his summary of the theories and experiments relating to each 

 topic in the form which is used at the end of the chapter devoted 

 to fertilizers and manures. But the careful reader finds expressed, 

 in the body of the book, on every point, conclusions as definite as 

 they discreetly can be. for different parts of the country and 

 different conditions. — F. M. B 



Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits by U. P. Hedrick, The Macmillan 

 Company, New York. Even in the face of the "change from the 

 growing of fruit for personal use and pleasure to the commercial 

 oicijarding which is taking place in America." it can be stated 

 unqualifiedly that this volume ought to have wide c rculation. 

 Its accuracy of description and determination of synonyms are 

 in fact invaluable. Only in a few cases has the author found it 

 necessary to compile a description and his cautious compilat'on 

 is always frankly marked. Y'et the number of different hardy 

 fruits treated is very large and none worthy of note for any part 

 of the country seems to have been omitted. Even the less com- 

 monly used fruits, like the pawpaw and the barberries, have 

 received adequate treatment. The at all serious faults of any 

 variety are not unment'oned, though the effort in every case has 

 been to give in detail full recoenition to all qualities that are good 

 in both plant and fruit. The 325 black and white figures help the 

 verbal description as do the sixteen full page plates, — F. B. M. 



The Market Nursery Work Series, by F. J. Fletcher, F. R. 

 H, S. Benn Brothers, Ltd., London. 



The aim and the ideals of this series of six neat booklets, each 

 of less than seventy-five pages, has been commented upon before 

 in these columns, .^t that time the hope was expressed that the 

 excellencies of the first two numbers would be matched by^ those 

 of the succeeding. This hope has not been disappointed in the 

 third volume, "Roses for Market." nor in the fourth, "Carnations 

 and Pinks," nor in the fifth. "Orchard Fruit Culture," .Anything 

 else could hardly be expected from a man who during nearly fifty 

 years of successful experience as a commercial nurseryman_ has 

 been a progressive student also. He combines shrewd business 

 methods with esthetic appraisement. 



From these little books the American amateur as well as the 

 professional gardener and nurseryman can derive much of value 

 even though he may have good reason to doubt that "there are 

 no roses (i.e., rose plants) in the wcrld equal to those grown in 

 the L'nited Kingdom." But the painstaking carefulness used by 

 the English grower to make the production of plants most 

 economical he might do we 1 to read about as the Ensrlish grower 

 would do well to learn about budding on multifJora seedlings. 

 National practices, habits and ideals of course vary considerably. 

 Even the most devoted lover of pinks would hardly agree with 

 the world's greatest poet in calling this "good old English flower" 

 "the fairest of flowers." But in England it has much greater 

 vogue than in .America and there the carnation can be extensively 

 grown out doors, .\ffection for the carnation and still more for 

 the border pinks make it seemingly hard for the author to devote 

 a chapter to the now deservedly popular Dionthus Alhvoodii, 

 which combines to a high degree the better qualities of its par- 

 ents, the perpetual-flowering carnation and the old garden pink, 

 some strains of which in England now flower through most of 

 the Summer. 



Volume V is an admirably condensed treatise sufticiently plain 

 and complete to guide a skillful and patient gardener in making 

 his own fruit-trees. It is particularly valuable for the attention 

 paid to dwarf fruit-trees and to cordons, a subject to which, 

 because of the comparative lack of area has been given much 

 more attention in Europe than in .America. — F. B. M. 



Greatness of mind is not shown by admitting small things but 

 by making small things great under its influence. He who can take 

 no interest in what is sma.l, will take false interest in what is great, 

 — Ruskin. 



OWNERS OF COUNTRY ESTATES 



desiring to obtain the services of gardeners, thor- 

 oughly versed in all phases of their profession, and 

 qualified to assume the responsibilities the position 

 calls for, as superintendents or gardeners, should 

 apply to the National Association of Gardeners, 

 M. C. Ebel, Secretary. 286 Fifth Avenue, New York. 

 The association numbers among its sustaining mem- 

 bers, the owners of some of the foremost country 

 estates in America. 



The association makes no charge for any service it may 

 render to employer or member. 



(See page 300.) 



