140 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



especially subject to the attacks of this blight Hot and dry weather 

 favor its development. By providing partial shade and plenty 

 of water, I think we can do much more to keep it in check than 

 by spraying with our common fungicides, although such treat- 

 ment is recommended, and may be of use. 



The other form of '^celery leaf blight'^ attacks the leaf, the 

 stalk, and even the seed. The accompanying illustration repre- 

 sents an affected leaflet. The disease is easily recognized by the 



numerous small black 

 dots which project slight- 

 ly above the cuticle of 

 the plant, and may be 

 seen with the naked eye, 

 or more plainly with a 

 lens, in the brown spots 

 and blotches on the leaf 

 and other affected parts 

 of the plant. These black 

 dots are the spores of the 

 fungus. The infection is 

 probably carried over by 

 them to the seed-bed. 

 Safe precautions are the 

 rejection of diseased seed, 

 or its disinfection by 

 washing in diluted Bor- 

 Leaflet Attacked by Celery Leaf Blight. ^^^^^ mixture, in simple 



solution of copper-sulphate, permanganate of potash, or in 

 similar germicides. Spray plants in the field with Bordeaux 

 mixture. Less prevalent and less dangerous, even where it 

 appears, is the "celery leaf spot" and the " celery rust.'' 



ThQ^ soft rot of celery" is a bacterial disease which espe- 

 cially attacks plants when kept continually wet or damp, and 

 which often causes serious damage. Plants that are kept either 

 entirely dry or entirely under pure water will not be affected. 

 The heart of the plants is most subject to attack, but the leaves 

 are also affected by it. The illustration on next page shows a 

 plant badly struck with this soft rot. 



Diseases of Cucurbits. — In recent years we have lost 

 many of our melon, squash, and cucumber vines by a " bacterial 

 blight." Suddenly in the heat of the day some of the plants, 

 scatteringly all over the patch, show signs of wilting. At night, 

 or during damp, cloudy weather, they stiffen up again and ap- 

 pear all right, only to repeat the wilting, in an intensified degree, 

 the next hot and dry day, going from bad to worse until the 

 short run of the disease ends in the death of the plant. One 



