4- 



IRISH GARDENING 



Celery Seed and Celery 

 Disease. 



Fi.i: 11..- i.ast viixUi >>\ l.u >. ;ir.s ..r >.. a ais.'asf ,>\ 

 .-.IriN. known as •• l.-al' .spot" or •■ hli^lit.'" has 

 iitil..rtmiati-lv. Ix-i-ii IxMomiii^' niort" ami more 

 |. ivval. -lit no"l, only in In-laiid. ImiI also in (iivat 

 Urilain and <'U th,- Continent. 



,\[anv iranlrn.Ts aiv alrcadv lamiliar with the 



Fi^^ 1. 



disease and hcavo exi>orienre of tlio io.ssos caused. 

 l)v it. Imt . judging from the miniber of exain])les 

 of it which continue to be sent in for report 

 (usually, it may be stated, in the autunm, when 

 it is too late to take effective uieas\ires apjainst 

 the disease), there must still be a consideral)le 

 number who are unacquainted with it. 



The Department of Agriculture liave published 

 an illustrated leaflet (No. 5) dealing with the 



disease, and an 



done in their See 



I'onnection with 



niintl>..r ol their 



lit I I). W.- ,uv 



the lo;.u ot tl.r hlorks il hist rat iii^' t'his art.ide. 



As i- >o fretpientlv tlu'e.i-c with plant diseast s. 

 the earJie-t. stages of .illark .iiv apt t.i be over- 

 look. mI. A c.-l.-ry phuit h.i.Uv allect.-d Ls shown 

 in l-'iu. 1. wh.-iv. it will !..■ note(l. t he older leaves 

 li;.\.' b.'.Mi .•iliii..st t..l.-.lly d.'stn.yed. whilst the 

 \ onnu'.i' .ines are also 

 in pr...-.ss ..f <l.-eav. 

 'I'll.' .'arlv attacks 

 lak.-l.h.form.d- inoiv 

 ..r l.ss is..la.t,'d dis- 

 ...loinvd aivasonth.' 

 b.lia-.'andleaf st.dks, 

 which lat.-r increase 

 in luimbei- and be- 

 eonie confluent t.i a 

 iir.'ater or l.'ss 

 (h'gree. On thesi- 

 brow nish,d,is<<)lou red 

 and dead areas num- 

 erous minute black 

 l)o dies a re o n 1 y 

 just discerni])le witli 

 tlie naked eye. Init 

 they are easily seen 

 witli a pocket lens. 

 Ka<h of these is a 

 hollow fundus fructi- 

 lication containing 

 in its interior my- 

 riads of small s]»ores. 

 If a ])ortion of a 

 S])otted, infected leaf, 

 such as is shown in 

 Fig. 2, be kept 

 covered in a moist 

 dish for a dJ^^y or so 

 it will be seen that 

 there is extended 

 through a miniite 

 ])ore at the a])ex of 

 each of these fructili- 

 cations (pycnldia) a 

 worm, or tendril -like 

 mass, consisting of 

 siudi S])ores. These 

 masses are broken \ip 

 l)y rain, and thus the 

 sjxtres beconu- distri- 

 buted over the ]tlant. 

 If atTe<ted foliage 

 or leafstalks be al- 

 lowed to remain on 

 or in the soil or com- 

 ])ost heap over the 

 whiter, the fiingus 

 does not die. but re- 

 mains ca])al)le of pro- 

 ducing fresli S])ore9 

 and of infecting a succeeding cro]) in the following 

 season. Hence the necessity of carefully collect- 

 ing and Tmrning every tra((» of affected celery 

 ])lants in the autunm. 



The fungus, however, not only attacks celery 

 foliage, but it is also fo\ind on the fruit, and since 

 each celery " seed " consists of a half -fruit it is 

 therefore to be foimd on conuuercial celery seed. 

 Fis?. 3 shows some celery seeds which liave the 



