IRISH GARDENING 



43 



pycniclia of the fungus upon their surfaces in the 

 form of niinute black specks. 



The presence of the fungus on the seed 

 naturally suggests at once that the disease may 

 be trausniilird by the use of affected seed, and 

 this has u<i\\ been demonstrated to be the case. 

 Fig. 1 shows a celery seedling raised from an 

 aft'e.cted seed. The left hand seed-leaf or 

 cotyledon has become infected towards its free 

 end with the disease by means of sjjores of tlie 

 fungus derived from ])ycnidia on the seed coat. 



Fig. 2. 



At this time of the year gardeners will be 

 thinking of purchasing and sowing celery seecl,. 

 They should bear in niind that a very great deal 

 of the celery seed on the market carries the 

 disease with it, and they should insist on being 

 su])plied with a written guarantee by the seed 

 merchant that the seed offered for sale has been 

 subjected to expert examination and has been 

 l)ronounced to be free from the fungvis. 



The Dej)artment of Agriculture have made 

 arraiigciiicnis by which seed merchants and others 



heir stocks of celery 

 1 1 ion for the suni < 



can li;i\ !■ 

 repoi'tcd 

 sam.pk'. 



Tf for any reason nothiii? 

 but affected seed be avail- 

 able, it is poa!sible to treat 

 such seed with a fungicide 

 ill such a way that the 

 disease-])roducing fungus is 

 killed without impairing the 

 vitality of the seed. Such 

 seed should be soaked for a 

 period of three lunirs either 

 in commercial hydrogen 

 I'eroxide (sold by chemists 

 under the name of " Golden 

 Hair Wash ") or in a dilute 

 solution of formaldehyde (1 

 I'firt 40 per cent, fornuilin 

 ill »)00 water). The seed 

 sbould be thoroughly shaken 

 ui> with the liquid to ensure 

 that it becomes thoroughly 

 wetted all over its surface, 

 and at the expiration of 

 the ].eriod of so:i,king tbe 



(I examined and 

 )ne sliilling ))er 



liquid should be pmired off", the seeds roughlv 

 dped upon clean blotting ])aper, and then 

 placed in a shallow layer in a warm place to 

 ensure rapid drying. 



A careful watch should be kept when the celery 

 seedlings are planted out in the prepared itrenches 

 for any signs of sjiotting of the foliage. ' Even if 

 the disease makes its ai)i)earance it is possible 

 to keei) it in cheek by si)raying with the same 

 mixture as is used against the potato blight. 



Fig. I 



Such S])raying should be commenced in good 

 time, and should be repeated two or three times 

 during the growing season. 



It ought not, however, to be necessary for the 

 gardener either to treat his celery seed or to spray 

 his plants (unless the disease be contracted from 

 a previous crop). Gardeners should lusiM on 

 being supplied with disease-free seed bv the seed 

 merchants, and the latter should insist that the 

 growers of celery for seed should supply them 

 with clean seed- It is for the growers of the seed 

 to si^ray their crops and produce seed free from 

 disease, but, naturally, they will not do so until 

 compelled by the gardener'and seed merchant. 

 Many iieople"object to spraying celery through 

 the fear that it might be 

 rendered d a n ge r o u s for 

 human c o n s u m ]) t i o n. 

 If spraying be commen- 

 ced early, however, it 

 will not as a rule have 

 to be continued so late that. 

 at the time of using the cro]), 

 uuuh or any of the si)ray 

 still remains adhering to the 

 ). hints. This objection, of 

 ~=^^ course does not hold good in 



sJ^^Mk the case of celery grown fm- 



^^^^^k seed imrixises. and since liy 



^^^^P iiiuely s])raying seed can be 



raised w iiitli is free from tlie 

 disease the onus of ])reventing 

 the furtlier spread of the 

 disease lies with those wlu) 

 so far have been the cliief 

 iigin\t=i in disseminating it — 

 namely, the celery seed 

 urowei's. 



(J. H. P. 



