r8g8. 



GARDENING. 



3*3 



At the points where the fungi touch the 

 leguminous roots small tubercles form, 

 yielding nitrogenous matter to the roots, 

 and appear to receive starch compounds 

 in return. This is probably one of the 

 greatest discoveries of the century. There 

 are also indications thatother plantsand 

 some trees, as the Coniferx, growing in a 

 soil largely composed of humus, and 

 which are deficient in root hairs, are 

 clothed instead with a fungus growth 

 of mycorhiza. Evidently the fungus 

 supplies food derived from the living 

 plant. 



We now turn our attention to fungi in 

 their injurious relations to plants. Para- 

 sitic fungi are those which draw their 

 nutriment from living plants, by pene- 

 trating their tissues. Parasitism depends 

 on the ability of the fungus to maintain 

 its existence on the host and on the ina- 

 bility of the latter to repel the invasion. 

 Thespore of an obligate parasite must fall 

 on a suitable species, and then germinate 

 on and throw out a germ-tube to penetrate 

 the host. And this must be done before 

 the small amount of food substance in the 

 spore is exhausted. This is a very crit- 

 ical period, and many of the spores do 

 not survive it. Then after germination 

 too dry an atmosphere will kill the para- 

 site. An equally fatal result follows if 

 the delicate germ-tube has to creep over 

 a surface coated with poisonous salts or 

 other fungicides; this is the philosophy of 

 spraying for lungi as now practiced in 

 horticulture. Then the fungus must be 

 able to penetrate the defensive structures 

 on the outside of the host, and must 

 maintain its existence from food derived 

 from the living food. 



The nature of the attack made by fungi 

 against each surface of the host, and the 

 resistance encountered, may be considered 

 with advantage in connection with some 

 common diseases which have been best 

 studied. Fungi which attack the roots 

 of some plants gain an entrance through 

 the soft structure of the tips of the root- 

 lets, or by passing by way of the root 

 hairs through the harder parts ot the 

 root. The fungus causing the club root 

 of the cabbage, turnip, etc.. causes the 

 leaves to wilt and become yellow in from 

 three to five weeks, and the characteris- 

 tic swellings may then be found on the 

 roots. This disease is especially trouble- 

 some to truck farmers, because they do 

 not practice a long period rotation of 

 crops. Parts of infected roots are left in 

 the ground and the spores liberated by 

 their decay live several years, and so 

 infect the crops planted the following sea- 

 son. Air-slaked stone lime is an effective 

 preventive of club root. From 75 to 150 

 bushels per acre should be spread on 

 the ground in the fall and not 

 turned under until spring. Applications 

 should be made every other year to 

 severely clubbed land on which turnips 

 or cabbages are grown yearly. Little is 

 known of the resistance which plants 

 offer to this disease. One of the Crucifera? 

 which is most susceptible to this disease 

 seems to escape extermination because its 

 seeds are so widely distributed that not 

 all fall in an infested seedbed. 



Infection of the root is more often by 

 mycelium, which creeps from root to root 

 only a few inches below the surface of 

 the ground. The stem of herbaceous 

 plants and the leaves and young shoots 

 of woody plants are covered by a layer 

 of cells called the epidermis, theouterwall 

 ol which is waterpoof and prevents rapid 

 evaporation of moisture from the tissues 

 of the plant. Water vapor is constantly 

 exhaled from the epidermis through open- 

 ings called stomata. The epidermal 



covering withholds from spores on its 

 surface moisture which is necessary for 

 their germination, and in dry weather 

 they generally fail to germinate. A long 

 period of moist weather, however, favors 

 germination and enables the germ tubes 

 to attack the epidermis. In the powdery 

 mildews a cylindrical thread called a 

 hypha, branches and spreads over the 

 surface ol the epidermis, and at various 

 points branches push down and gain 

 entrance into the protoplasmic part of 

 the cell. Here the end enlarges. Such 

 branches are called haustoria, and 

 through these the fungus draws its sus- 

 tenance from the host, and the hypha; 

 remain on the surface, forming the famil- 

 iar white patches. These powdery mil- 

 dews are easily destroyed by anv sub- 

 stance poisonous to the fungus but not 

 to the plant (such as flowers of sulphur I 

 being dusted over the leaves. 



The bacterial brown rot of cruciferous 

 plants is of great interest because the 

 infecting organism so successfully avoids 

 the outer defences of the host. The cab- 

 bage has openings along the margins of 

 its leaves, called water pores, from which 

 superfluous moisture escapes and stands 

 in drops along the edges of the leaves. 

 Bacteria which are lodged there simply 

 swim through the pores into the leal and 

 there spread the disease. Infection also 

 occurs by bites of insects which have been 

 feeding on diseased plants. 



The bark of woody stems forms an 

 effectual barrier against parastic fungi 

 very destructive to wood. When wounds 

 occur which break through the bark, 

 they are repaired by the new growth of 

 cork or ot callus and cambium which the 

 tree makes. In deciduous trees we can 

 cover the wound by grafting wax or paint 

 and so diminish the risk of infection. The 

 mycelium of many fungi extends only a 

 short distance beyond the point of infec- 

 tion. This is the case with "spot disease" 

 of leaves. In other diseases the spread 

 may be greater and even cause the death 

 ot the whole plant. 



Healthy, vigorous plants are less sub- 

 ject to disease than feeble ones. Fully 

 ripened fruit is very subject to rot. 

 Tubeuf states that fungi can frequently 

 penetrate withering plant organs, while 

 they could not infect the fresh living 

 tissue. In some cases a fungus, though 

 well established, may receive such effect- 

 ive resistance as to make headway only 

 when the vital processes of the host are 

 dormant. The fungus parasite of the 

 European larch only makes headway in 

 autumn and winter. 



Protracted dull weather is likely to 

 cause an epidemic of fungus diseases, 

 both because it favors the germination of 

 spores and because it weakens the vitalitv 

 of the host plant. The vital processes of 

 the cells are so lowered that the poison 

 with which the fungus attacks cannot be 

 resisted. Some varieties and species are 

 more resistant than others. In the past 

 cultivators have thought more of pro- 

 ductiveness, color, flavor, beauty, etc., 

 and not enough of the abilities of varie- 

 ties to resist parasitic fungi. Japanese 

 plums, with their greater freedom from 

 the black knot, are well worth the con- 

 sideration they receive. By careful hybrid- 

 izing experiments, Europeans hf.ve ob- 

 tained vines capable of resisting phyllox- 

 era and downy mildew. Eriksson's 

 researches have shown that there are 

 some varieties of wheat able to resist the 

 most trequent kinds of rust. He has also 

 found that disease is transmitted to the 

 descendants of plants, thongh hitherto 

 the opposite has been thought to be true. 



FRANKLIN KELSEY PHCENIX. 



WORKERS IN HORTICULTURE, XII. 



No man more thoroughly deserves 

 the esteem of his fellow workers 

 than does Franklin K. PhcenU, who 

 is probably the oldest nurseryman in 

 America, having embarked in business 

 at Delavan, Wis., in the spring of 1842. 

 Mr. Phoenix was born in Perry, Gen- 

 esee county, N. Y., in March, 1825. His 

 parents removed to Wisconsin in March, 

 1837. After a decade of business activity 

 Mr. Phoenix started a branch nursery at 

 Bloomington, III , where he concentrated 

 his efforts fro ti 1854 to 1877. After four 

 years of inactivity he re-embarked in busi- 

 ness at Delavan, where he is now com- 

 pleting his fifty-seventh year of horticult- 

 ural endeavor. In 1850 Mr. Phoenix mar- 

 ried Miss M. E Topping of Darien, Wis 

 They have four sons and two daughters. 

 The eldest son, Samuel T., served four 

 years with J C. Vaughan.and is nowmin- 

 ing in Utah. The second son, F. S., is the 

 only onetoadopthisfather'scallingas his 

 life's pursuit. He isnowproprietorof the 

 big Bloomington nursery started in 1S52. 

 Despite the weight of his seventv-three 

 years, Mr. Phoenix is energetically prose- 

 cuting business undertakings and enjoys 

 a thriving trade. He handles general 

 nursery stock but makes a specialty of 

 hardy roses grafted on a native stock 

 procured from selected seedlings. He be- 

 lieves this to be the stock of the future for 

 this country. His years of experience 

 have taught him that it has all the merits 

 of the imported stock, with the decided 

 advantages of being hardier and "work- 

 ing" easier. 



Fruits and Vegetables. 



VEGETABLE NOTES. 

 In the east we have had a very favora- 

 ble season for nearly all vegetables. 

 Nights during June were a little cool for 

 squash, corn, melons, lima beans and 

 other tender crops, but peas, celery, 

 onions, potatoes, root crops, and all the 

 brassica family are unusually fine, there 

 having been just the atmospheric condi- 

 tions most conducive to the well doing 

 of the varieties. With theend of June the 



