PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION 



NOTWITHSTANDING the short period of time that has 

 elapsed since the appearance of the first edition of this 

 little book, several very destructive diseases have either 

 appeared for the first time or have developed and extended 

 to an alarming extent during the interval. Chief amongst 

 such may be instanced the cucumber and melon leaf- 

 blotch, which has caused a loss of at least ^20,000 

 during the past two years to the growers of these plants 

 in the neighbourhood of London alone. 



A word of justification is perhaps necessary in con- 

 nection with the often-repeated remark of gardeners to 

 the effect that giving the name or discovering the cause 

 of a disease is of no value unless accompanied by a 

 remedy for the same. Of course at first sight this infor- 

 mation appears to convey the same amount of satisfaction 

 as would the announcement by a fireman that your house 

 was on fire, but that he could not possibly extinguish the 

 flames. As a fact, however, the discovery of the cause 

 of a disease is of primary importance, as it is impossible 

 to formulate a cure for a disease the cause of which is 

 unknown. 



GEO. MASSEE. 



