July 7, 1917 



HORTICULTURE 



f\ 



Hollow Stem Fungus on Paconies 



The short paper in Horticulture for May 13, 1917, 

 has been followed by requests for more details. When 

 the fungus gets into a garden, it comes in the old stalks 

 in the resting stage, below the level at which they were 

 cut in preparing them for shipment, as stated in the 

 earlier paper. The first appearance in the new garden in 

 the early spring will be on the new shoots before they 

 have broken ground. For this reason it will not be de- 

 tected except by a gardener who has been warned to 

 look for it. Generally the first indication tliat this pest 

 has arrived will be the wilting of young stalks after they 

 have come above the ground. This may occur very 

 early, when they are but an inch or two high. Then 

 soak the ground thoroughly (with a fungicide) and next 

 day dig down carefully, exposing the crown and wash 

 the dirt away with a fungicide solution. It will be seen 

 that the affected stalks are in contact or very near old 

 hollow stalks. If these are examined, fine white threads 

 will be found within them, and growing out through 

 their frayed walls. Wlien these threads come in contact 

 with the tender shoots the fungus will rapidly multiply 

 in their tissues, and in a few days the aerial fruiting 

 stems, described and figured in the earlier note, will 

 appea.r ; only in this case they will be under ground. 

 The fungus wakes from its winter sleep so early in the 

 spring that it may be detected on the young stalks 

 in the fruiting stage, soon after they have emerged from 

 the buds. If one is lucky enough to discover this on a 

 valuable plant, the best method is to dig a deep trench 

 outside the line of the roots, then to wash away the 

 central mound of earth containing the roots, with a 

 stream of water, after first soaking the earth with a 

 fungicide. 



Next immerse the whole root in the same solution, 

 cutting down every old stalk to sound tissue, giving the 

 new affected stalks the same treatment before replant- 

 ing. Properly done the plants will not be checked. 

 Experience shows this may be done even later, when the 

 stalks are a foot high, if the new clean earth is care- 

 fully put in a little at one time, and after each trowel- 

 full, puddled into intimate contact with every root sur- 

 face, with a stream of water under pressure. I have 

 never tried this with paeonies in flower, but with iris of 

 many kinds and several common garden plants, like 

 phlox and larkspur, it succeeds. When the soil is seri- 

 ou.=ly affected by the fungus, treatment is difficult, ex- 

 cept by removing the plants to new soil; which is not 



practical in most home gardens, as they are usually 

 planned on papei- before planting and fonn part of a 

 general artistic whole. With our present limited knowl- 

 edge of fungicides the best we can do is to soak the 

 ground with lime sulphur, equivalent to a two per cent 

 solution of Bowkers' Liquid Lime-sulphur, using about 

 two quarts at each application, pouring the solution on 

 the stems that it may run down them into the ground. 

 The earth about each plant should be made into a saucer 

 like depression, that the liquid may soak into it near 

 the stems. Treating plants as described in the first 

 paper and planting them in steam sterilized soil wiU 

 ensure their health, until they are affected by the wind 

 blown spores from diseased plants. This may not be 

 for long. I have a row of paeonies planted on the east 

 side of a building fourteen years ago. They remained 

 healthy for thirteen years, but the first year after the 

 fungus was discovered in the paeony garden, they were 

 affected, though the garden was five hundred feet away 

 and on the west side of the house, showing how fast and 

 far these spores can travel. 



Steam sterilized soil, except for experiments on a 

 small scale, is not practical for most of us, therefore it 

 is of importance for the Government to undertake to 

 discover new fungicides that can be applied in affective 

 strength to the soil in which plants are growing, with- 

 out injur}' to them. This need is one of the most seri- 

 ous in agriculture, for during the half century I have 

 lieeu interested in plants there has been a great increase 

 in the damage done by fungi. 



In using lime-sulphur as directed, the first applica- 

 tion should be to the ground before the paeony stalks 

 appear, in which case the strength should be one per 

 cent. In midsummer the roots are covered with fine 

 th.read-like hairs, which are probably of much impor- 

 tance to the plants, for in my rather limited experi- 

 ments paeonies moved at this time have more chance of 

 having the growth for next year checked than when this 

 is done earlier or later. These fine threads are quite 

 sensitive to strong fungicides, but later the lime-sul- 

 phur can be increased to three per cent without injury 

 to plants. 



/ 



// 



A "TREE OF PARADISE." 



The great plant of the white wista- 

 ria shown by Professor Sargent, at the 

 Outdoor June Show, with its long, 

 descending, pointed sprays of flowers 

 pendent from the branches of a tree 

 of purely Japanese form, was of a 

 loveliness so tender and so profound 

 that it was an emotion merely to look 

 at it. "I feel," said one who was 

 there, "that there are such trees as 

 that in heaven." No doubt of it. And 

 some of us who have but vague ideas 

 of heaven are glad to suppose that we 

 get our ideas of Paradise from such 

 trees as that. We do not read much 

 in the Scriptures, by the way. about 

 the trees in heaven, but it is pleasant 

 to learn from the Book of Revelation 

 that there is at least one there two 

 trees, indeed, for we are told that the 

 tree is "on either side of the river," 

 which must mean both sides. .Vnd 

 whether the trees of Paradise bear 

 fruit every month or not, not one of 



them, assuredly could be more beauti- 

 ful than this wistaria. 



— Boston Transcript. 



TARRING OR CREOSOTING HOT- 

 BED FRAMES. 

 HoETicuLTtJBE Publishing Co. 



Gentlemen : Can you inform me whether 

 either tarring or putting on creosote on 

 hotbed frames would be likely to impreg- 

 nate the vegetables grown in them with an 

 undesirable flavor. C. L. P., Mich. 



We think it would be unsafe to use 

 tar on hotbed frames. The sun shin- 

 ing on the tarred wood would be liable 

 to cause gasses that would be decided- 

 ly injurious to plants growing in the 

 frames. Creosote would probably be 

 safer but the frames should not he 

 used until the liquid had thoroughly 

 penetrated the wood and does not re- 

 main in any quantity on the surface. 

 We should prefer to have the creosot- 

 ing done several months in advance to 

 avoid any possible danger from vola- 

 tile gasses. 



AN ACKN0W1.EDGMENT. 



The following communication re- 

 ceived by Secretary Hammond speaks • 

 for itself. 



Mr. Ben.lamin Hammond. 



Secretary, American Rose Society, 



Beacon, N.«Y. 



Dear Mr. Hammond; — Your letter of .Tune 

 12 and the very beautiful flag emblem, so 

 kindly authorized by your Society at its 

 late meeting, has reached me by the hands 

 of Miss Carrie Harrison and Prof. L. C. 

 Corbett of this Department. 



I wish to express my sincere apprecia- 

 tidii of this expression of good will on the 

 part of the associated rose growers and 

 rose lovers of the country and I can assure 

 the members of the Society that the pos- 

 session of this elegant token will ever be 

 a pleasure and an incentive to further ef- 

 forts to develop rose varieties in every way 

 worthy of the great country in which we 

 live. 



With hearty wishes for the well-being of 

 your Society and a great faith In the future 

 of the American Rose Culture, I am, 

 Very sincerely yours, 



(Signed) W. Van Fleet. 



Washington. I>. C. June 18, 1917. 



