172 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 1907 



fruit. The disease also attacks the 

 leaves. The tomato rot can be control- 

 ed by spraying with Bordeaux mixture. 



Begin in the hotbed and keep the plants 

 covered with the mixture until the fruit 

 is nearly ripe. 



Suggestions on Seed Selection 



By "Rambler' 



UNDER modern methods of culture 

 and marketing vegetables, uniform- 

 ity of both growth and product is 

 of the greatest desirability. Generally, 

 the more familiar a man is with any 

 vegetable, and the more intensive his 

 method of cultivating that vegetable, 

 the more he notes and values points of 

 difference. From this, it is but a step 

 to saving his own seed by rigid selection. 

 By this means some of our best varieties 

 of vegetables have come into existence. 

 In such hands they were kept to a fixed 

 type, and through such gardeners gaining 

 fame in their local markets and else- 

 where, the enterprising seedsman makes 

 an effort to secure some of the seed, 

 with the result that each individual 

 seedsman and grower strives after their 

 ideals and in some cases breed out the 

 very qualities that made it desirable, 

 because, under the conditions and for 

 the purposes with which that seed 

 grower was famihar, those qualities 

 were objectionable rather than desirable. 

 Let us now consider some of the facts 

 and laws of vegetable life, and how they 

 may be taken advantage of to produce 

 seed which will uniformly develop into 

 plants of distinct and desired types. 

 Every plant originating from seed has a 

 definite, distinct, and changeless char- 

 acter. This character is inherent in the 

 seed, and is made up of the balanced sum 

 of different tendencies, potentialities, and 

 limitations of development inherited in 

 different degrees from each of its ances- 

 tors for an indefinite number of genera- 

 tions, plus more or less influence received 

 from the cHmatic and other conditions 

 effecting the growth and development 

 of the seed producing plant. 



The force of these different ancestral 

 influences is by no means fixed or stable 

 even in plants of the same ancestry. 

 Were all the ancestors of a plant precise- 

 ly alike and of the desired type, and the 

 conditions for growth equally favorable, 

 all the seeds produced by it would de- 

 velop into plants equally like their 

 common ancestors. 



Under the best modem cultural con- 

 ditions the environment of plants in a 

 field is practically the same, but there is 

 usually a great variation in the quantity 

 and quality of the product, most o'f 

 which variation is due to the differences 

 in the individual seed. In the majority 

 of vegetable crops the plants are so 

 variable that if 90 per cent, of them 

 showed the distinctive merit of the 

 variety as well as is seen in the best 10 



per cent., the profit and satisfaction of 

 growing the crop would in many cases 

 be doubled. In many cases less than 

 50 per cent, of the plants show the char- 

 acterisics of the variety clearly enough 

 to identify it with certainty. 



Such facts show that however valuable 

 may be the part of the plant breeder in 

 the origination of new sorts, the great 

 need of the day is not for new sorts, but 

 for seed growers who will furnish us 

 with better and purer stocks of the 

 varieties we now have. The fruit 

 growers have the works of such men 

 as Downing and Beach, with their full, 

 accurate and clear descriptions of each 

 and every variety of fruit, as well as the 

 adaptabihty of the different sorts to 

 certain places'. The poultry fancier has, 

 in the Standard of Perfection, a full, 

 minute and accurate description of each 

 variety of fowl, with the result that 

 throughout the whole of this continent, 

 each and every poultryman is striving 

 for the one and same ideal, and it is only 

 since they have adopted this standard 

 that the poultry industry started to 

 make the strides that have brought it to 

 the front. On the other hand, in vege- 

 tables, where the permanence of a vari- 

 ety and the retention of its qualities 

 depend upon a clear statement of its 

 distinguishing characteristics, very little 

 work has been done. Is it any wonder 

 that the smooth-skinned Hubbard squash 

 of 50 years ago, has drifted into the 

 densely wasted Hubbard of to-day? 

 Many claim that the quality has changed 

 as much as the character of the skin. 



When we remember that the relative 

 influence of each ancestor may vary in 

 each individual, and the great variation 

 represented in the ancestry of the differ- 

 ent plants of most stocks of vegetables, 

 it is not surprising that some individuals 

 are very different and of immensely 

 greater practical usefulness than others, 

 though they often fail to transmit that 

 superiority to their descendants. The 

 only way we can secure seed certain to 

 develop plants of any exact type is to 

 make sure that each and all its ancestors 

 are of that exact type. To do this we 

 must have that type clearly defined, 

 and, in selection, rigidly adhere to it, 

 and not be tempted into the use of plants 

 that vary from that type, even though 

 they may appear individually superior. 



Notes on Melon Pests 



W. G Home, Clarkson, Ont. 



Insects are troublesome and annoying 

 at times. There are three kinds that 

 make their appearance more or less 

 every year on melons. Each has its 

 own pecuHar way of doing work. 



The first one to attack the plants 

 is the cut-worm. It has a clean, de- 

 cided way, and there is no mistaking 

 the results. The next to make its 

 appearance is the yellow-striped beetle. 

 Its mode of attack is quite different. 

 These beetles sometimes come in large 

 numbers and, if left for two or three 

 days, soon destroj' a whole melon 

 patch. They suck the sap and tissues 

 from the leaves and make the plant a 

 mere skeleton. No remedy yet known 

 will destroy them. Dusting the plants 

 with land plaster will check them. 

 Apply it in the morning when the dew 

 is on the vines. If dusted a few times 

 the most of the beetles will leave. 

 Some will stay until blossoming is 

 over. They are fond of the blossoms. 

 They are the cause of a great number of 

 deformed melons. 



Another annoying and repulsive in- 

 sect is the pumpkin or "stink" bug. 

 A plant once attacked by this insect 

 commences to wither and gradually 

 dies. His work generally takes place 

 when you are looking forward to get- 

 ting from four to six nice melons from a 

 hill. Suddenly the vines begin to wilt, 

 and soon the damage is completed. 



Clover follows potash; it is also fa- 

 vored by lime, because lime sweetens 

 the soil and liberates potash. 



Dust Spray for Cabbage 



Is the dust form of applying Paris green and 

 lime for the cabbage worm of any value?— 

 T. E., Summerland, B.C. 



Dust sprays have been tried with 

 considerable success. They have the 

 advantage over liquid sprays, being 

 much easier and quicker " applied. 

 Liquid sprays have the objection that" 

 frequent applications are necessarv and 

 this requires considerable time and 

 labor, making the work expensive. 

 Dust sprays may be applied rapidly and 

 with greater ease. While the dust pro- 

 cess is somewhat new as yet, it would 

 seem that it is very effective for leaf- 

 eating insects such as the cabbage worm " 

 and the potato beetle. The dust spray 

 is easily prepared. It consists of one 

 pound of Paris green to which fifteen 

 pounds of common flour or air-slacked 

 lime are added. The flour is to be recom- 

 mended as it is more adhesive than the 

 lime. Care should be exercised to fight 

 cabbage worms when the plants are 

 quite small, as they are most destructive 

 then. 



I have noticed in my vineyard that 

 grape rot was most prevalent on a 

 gravelly hill and on knolls, not on clav 

 level. Would Hke to know if this is 

 so elsewhere.— W. J. AUam, Homel-, Ont. 



