THE PEONY 79 



replant in perfectly fresh soil without any manure. This forces 

 an entirely new system of root growth, and so treated, the trouble 

 usually disappears in a year or two. Some varieties appear to be 

 more susceptible than others, and occasionally the trouble persists 

 for a number of years. If these happen to be cheap kinds, it is 

 usually better to discard them and start new with clean roots; 

 ■with expensive varieties, however, it pays to have a little patience 

 with them. Practically all the novelties from Europe that have 

 come to us from very old gardens, are affected when we first get 

 them, and if we were to reject them on this account, we would have 

 to forego such wonderful varieties as Le Cygne, La France, Mont 

 Blanc, etc., in fact, nearly all the fine new French varieties, all 

 more or less affected when first received, but which after coming 

 from old, worn out soil, soon outgrow this trouble when planted in 

 new ground here. Remember, you can take the smoothest, 

 healthiest roots from one place, plant them in a sour soil over- 

 saturated with fresh manure, and get the most beautiful specimen 

 of club root the following year. Fortunately it is not contagious 

 as many have claimed, for you can plant affected roots in good soil 

 side by side with healthy ones, and I have never known a single 

 case where the healthy roots were affected by them, which con- 

 vinces me that the sick plants are simply suffering from a cause 

 similar to what we would describe as an inactive liver or a Ijad case 

 of biliousness in our own systems. 



To sum up, fungous attacks are local, due to weather conditions, 

 and only occasionally seriously destructive. Club roots are due to 

 overfeeding, improper soil or planting, and is not contagious. 

 Cut oft' and burn dead foliage in the fall and use hardwood ashes 

 or lime as a fertilizer for acid soil, applying manure as a top dressing 

 only until plants are in active growth. 



