18 VEGETABLE GROWING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



or cauliflower a good sprinkle. This is very handy for a small garden patch, 

 but in a large field it is difficult to keep a large quantity of water at the 

 proper temperature, and to distribute it over a large area. 



Some growers depend chiefly on kerosene emulsion, (see page 130), and 

 keep the young plants clean until they begin to heart, when the danger is con- 

 sidered to be over. Lime and tobacco dust (see page 130) is a very effective 

 remedy. 



Start with clean cabbage plants in clean ground, and keep the ground 

 clean ; and after the crop is marketed clean up the cabbage patch. Then 

 reinfestation will be less. 



Before transplanting dip all young plants in any of the spray solutions 

 mentioned on page 1 29 for sucking insects. 



Poisons such as Paris green and arsenate of lead are not used by some 

 growers, because they imagine that sufficient will remain to make the use of 

 the plants unsafe. This is a fallacy. Spraying with solutions made of the 

 following formulae is recommended, and is quite safe : 



Paris green 1 lb., soap 3 lb., water 50 gallons. 



Arsenate of lead 1 lb., soap 3 lb., water 25 gallons. 



Eelworm causing Root Knot and Root Gall. 



The disease known as root knot or root gall appears to be spreading very 

 much in New South Wales. Such plants as pumpkins, melons, cabbage, 

 cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, beans, peas, tomato, potato, carrot, and parsnip 

 are attacked. The disease is readily seen on- examining the roots. Irregular 

 enlargements, either scattered or so close that the whole root system is 

 abnormally thickened, will be seen. These enlargements interfere with the 

 functions of the roots, and often the first indication of attack is the wilting 

 and failure of the plant. In the potato plant the tubers themselves are 

 usually attacked. Blister-like lumps aie formed, and often the surfaces of 

 these break, thus producing a very scabby appearance. 



The cause of the injury is a tiny round worm, often called an eelworm, and 

 also (from the effects of its attack) a gall worm, which belongs to a group of 

 worms known as Nematodes. The life history of the worm is briefly as 

 follows : It hatches from an egg less than ^i^- inch in length. The young 

 larvae move through the soil with considerable activity, and, on finding a 

 root, bore their way into it. Once inside, the young worm ceases its active 

 movements, and begins to enlarge. By means of a spearlike organ within its 

 mouth, it commences to feed on the root tissues. Its presence irritates the 

 tissues, and so stimulates them to enlarge, thus forming the gall. At the 

 end of two to three weeks the different sexes become apparent, the female 

 becoming pear-shaped, and large enough to be just visible to the unaided eye. 

 It requires about four weeks in all for the female to develop from the egg 

 and commence her own egg-laying. The eggs laid may be ten to fifteen a 



