460 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



fruit. It is a well-known fact that many 

 injurious fung-i produce winter spores, and 

 thoug-h the leaves decay the spores do not. 

 In early spring- these will produce spores 

 which will soon spread to the early leaves. 

 The diseased fruit, plants and leaves, should 

 be burned, not thrown on the manure pile? 

 for then the spores will be able to survive 

 the winter, and reproduce the disease the 

 following season. Moreover, many fungi 

 persist in the leaves as delicate threads, 

 which develop rapidly in the spring and pro- 



FiG. 1944. Flea Beetle. 



duce spores which are soon blown by the 

 wind to the leaves where they germinate 

 and produce disease. 



It may safely be said that if all leaves, de- 

 caying fruits and diseased twigs be burned 

 at the approach of winter the damage from 

 fungous diseases would be lessened very ma- 

 terially. 



THE CELERY BLIGHT. 



Many celery plantations were seriously 

 affected with a blight which caused the 

 leaves to wilt and die. The pale spots in- 

 crease in size and become yellow. It would 

 appear that the celery which was most seri- 

 ously attacked occupied high, dry land, 

 fully exposed to the sun, and the plantations 

 on low, moist grounds were exempt from 

 the disease. During August and the greater 

 part of September the rows of diseased cel- 

 ery showed very little growth, and every 

 evidence pointed to a complete failure of the 



crop ; but with the cooler weather of the 

 last week of September and the first weeks 

 of October, a decided change for the better 

 has come over the crop, so that with care- 

 ful handling fair results may be secured after 

 all. According to a report issued by the 

 Division of Vegetable Pathology at Wash- 

 ington shade is of very great importance in 

 growing of celery free from this blight. 

 When the soil is cool and moist, and the air 

 humid, as at Kalamazoo, Michigan, the di- 

 sease is unknown. 



Experiments show that much advantage 

 is derived if the rows are sprayed regularly 

 every two weeks with ammonical carbonate 

 of copper. 



ASPARAGUS RUST. 



From reports, and from observations 

 made during a recent visit to the Niagara 

 region, I am in a position to believe that 

 the majority of asparagus beds of that dis- 

 trict are in danger of being destroyed by the 

 asparagus rust. At this season the black 

 rust spots are plainly evident on the stems, 

 branches and leaves, while the wilting and 

 bleaching of the whole plant are still more 

 plainly seen. Many of the owners are 

 alarmed, and with the recent introduction 

 of the asparagus beetles more than a few 

 have decided to give up the culture entirely. 

 This rust has done much mischief in many 

 of the States, and a timely warning, I trust, 

 will be appreciated. 



Asparagus Rust [Puccinia Aspnragi) is 

 closely allied to the wheat rust, and like it 

 produces several kinds of spores during the 

 season, but unlike it forms all these differ- 

 ent kinds of spores on the same plant. The 

 early shoots of infested plants will bear yel- 

 low cluster cup-spores, and later shoots 

 brown pustules of summer spores, followed 

 later on by the black spots and streaks 

 which are so common just now. The dark- 

 brown spores which are set free from these 

 spots are winter spores, and if left undis- 

 turbed will continue the crop of rust for next 



