1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



157 



upon a fundus which he found in the plant at 

 this point, as the cause of the disease. This fun- 

 gus was descrilH^d b>' him in one of his reports 

 to theStat^ KxiHTiment Station. Hut m.v studies 

 of the past two years have convinced me that 

 this fungus simply accompanies the disease, and 

 that the cause of it is something very different. 

 Every grower of Clematis has observed Icnotty 

 growths of varying size upon the roots of some 

 of the plants. It is in the knots or galls (Figure 

 1) that the cause of the disease is to be found. 

 If a gall be cut across, and the section examined 

 with a hand lens of moderately high power, there 

 will be found imbedded in the abnormal plant 

 growth small Pear-shaiwd bodies (Figure •_') of 

 the same color as the cut surface of the root, but 

 easily \isible by their smooth polished surface. 



These Pear-shai)ed bodies are found on careful 

 examination to be sacs ( Fig- 

 ure 3) containing a large 

 number of eggs. In fact 

 each sac is the body of a 

 worm which has become 

 greatly distended by the 

 eggs which have been de- 

 veloped in it. It is these 

 worms, Hctfrodera radicico- 

 la, cankering the roots of 

 the plants that cause the dis- 

 ease. And, as they multi- 

 ply rapidly when the soil 

 becomes infected by them, 

 the spread of the disease is 

 terrible. I know nursery- 

 men who a few years ago 

 produced Clematis plants by 

 the tens of thousands, who 

 have been forced to give up 

 their production on account 

 of this disease. 



But more unfortunate 

 than the serious injury- 

 caused by these worms to 

 the Clematis, is the fact that 

 thej' do not confine their 

 attacks to this plant. A very 

 large number of species are 

 liable to be attacked by 

 them, and consequently the 

 trouble cannot be overcome 

 by simply suspending the 

 production of this one plant. 

 It is a question in which 

 every horticulturist, what- 

 ever he produces, is inter- 

 ested. 



These new animals in 

 question are worms (Fig- 

 ure 4) belonging to the order known to Zool- 

 ogists as Nematodes, or thread-worms The spe- 

 cies of this order that have heretofore attracted 

 the attention of gardenei-s abroad, are commonly 

 known as eel-worms. There is also a species 

 which will serve as a good illustration of the or- 

 der, known as the harmless "vinegar eel"; minute 

 creatures often seen wriggling near the surface 

 of the \-inegar. The order Xematoda is a large 

 one including many species which vary greatly 

 in habits. The majority being harmless, feeding 

 upon the dead or decaying vegetable matter, al- 

 though a few species are very injurious. The 

 best known is the one that in England causes 

 ear-cockles in Wheat, and the Tulip-root of Oats; 

 but more important than either of these is the 

 species that infest the Sugar-ljeet in Germany. 

 That species and the one infesting Clematis are 

 closely allied, but differ in that the one infesting 

 Sugar-beet does not cause the plant to form 

 galls like that infesting Clematis. 



Both sexes of this species when young are very 

 minute, and thread-like in form, but they can 

 crawl very rapidly, it being in this stage that the 

 species is spread from plant to plant. The males 

 always remain more or less thread-like, while the 

 females after flndinglodging places in the tissues 

 of the roots, and becoming fertilized become dis- 

 tended in a remarkable manner, assuming the 

 shape already descril)ed and increasing in size. 



This species of Heterodora is already known 

 to attack at least seventy-five species of plants, 

 among which are the following: 



Roses, Begonias. Cucumbers, Potatoes and To- 

 matoes. In the south it is especially destructive 

 to the Peach and Grape and garden vegetables, 

 including Cabbage, Turnip and Lettuce, Beet, 

 Parsnip, Egg-plant and Melon. 



This wide range of food plants is the most dis- 

 couraging element in the treatment of this dis- 

 ease. In fact we are not in a condition to name 

 any plant on which the worms cannot live, and 



in this direction lies an imjiortant field for future 

 exjicriments. When such plants have been de- 

 termined, the cultivation of them upon infested 

 ground, and thus starving the worms out, will 

 be the most practical way of meeting the evil in 

 the case of held crops. 



A (Jerman writer, Prof. Kuehn. strongly urges 

 the use of "catch" plants against the species that 

 infest Sugar-beet, having used Rape very suc- 

 cessfully for this purpose. This is sown on in- 

 fested fields, and the young worms in the soil 

 penetrate the roots of the plants. After the 

 roots have become infested, but before the 

 females have Ijegun to produce young, the plants 

 are pulled up and destroyed, several crops of 

 Rape being produced upon the infested field in 



The Morel and other Edible Fungi. 



tExtract of paper read by Mr. Dean before the Portage 

 County [O,) Horticultural Society,) 



One of the lower orders of cryptoganious 

 or flowerless plants includes the vast tribes 

 of Algie and Fungi. I wish to call attention 

 especially, to one of the edible Fungi, pop- 

 ularly called Mushrooms, which is not like 

 the Agaricus or common Mushroom in 

 appearance and has not the umbrella shape. 

 It is classed as a bottle-shaped Mushroom 

 and scientifically it is very nearly related to 

 the Lichens. It has no common name to 

 distinguish it from other Mushrooms, like 



the same season, each succeeiiing crop tending to I the great Puff ball, therefore I think the 



entrap the worms remaining in the soil. 



THE CLEMATIS ROOT GALL. 

 Fiy, 1, Gatls. Pig. 2. Cross section of gall aliinviny Pcar-sliaped Heterodera or thread worm 

 f'ifl. 3. Female Heterodera with eggs, greatly enlarged. Fig, 4. Toung Heterodtra, 



Obviously the use of catch plants is a very ex- 

 pensive method of fighting the pests, but it is an 

 expense that would be gladly met by the owners 

 of valuable lands if they could feel sure of such 

 results as are reported by Prof. Kuehn. While I 

 think we are hardly ready yet to give definite 

 directions for the use of such plants, yet it seems 

 to me that the growers of Clematis can at once 

 reduce their losses to the minimum by a little 

 care in the management of their plant houses, 

 in the procuring of potting soil, aud in the choice 

 of fields for planting out. 



The conditions in some of our establishments 

 where Clematis is grown are those most favor- 

 able for the multiplication and perpetuation of 

 the disease. The benches upon which the pots 

 stand are covered with some material which is 

 only changed at infrequent intervals; the roots 

 of the diseased plants pass through the hole in 

 the bottom of the pot and ramify in this mater- 

 ial and the worms follow the roots, and this ma- 

 terial becomes a breeding place for the pest for 

 succeeding lots of plants. 



I recommend therefore, that between each two 

 lots of plants the gravel or coal ashes be care- 

 fully removed from the benches and placed 

 where it will not contaminate other crops; that 

 before replacing the soil, the benches be 

 thoroughly washed with lye, so as to destroy 

 any worms that may be lodged in the cracks; 

 that the soil for potting be carefully selected so 

 that they shall not be a source of infection; that 

 in planting out great care be taken to make sure 

 that it be done on land which is free from this 

 worm; if any roots of any kind are found in the 

 soil which have unnatural swellings upon them, 

 the field should not be used as there will be a 

 strong probability that such swellings are galls 

 made by this worm; and finally I recommend 

 that until the grower is able to produce only 

 healthy plants he should not use root grafts, for 

 roots that seem healthy often contain worms. 



Latin name, Morchella, should be used. 



To my taste it is not sur- 

 passed in delicate fiavor by 

 any edible known to me, and 

 there is absolutely no danger 

 of mistaking for it any one 

 of its poisonous relatives. 

 When once seen the ordinary 

 eye even of a child is able 

 to detect it at once. I do 

 not know that it has ever 

 l>een cultivated, but if it 

 ever comes to be and its cul- 

 tivation is not too difflcult, 

 I think itwUI prove a source 

 of great pleasure and profit, 

 and will add another luscious 

 food product to the list. 



It likes a soil a little sandy 

 and grows in places where 

 the moisture is preserved 

 by decaying vegetation, 

 frequently in orchards, 

 under the Apple trees, and 

 along old fence rows, and 

 where one is found there are 

 usually others not far away, 

 but they are not abundant. 



The plant consists of a 

 stem or pedicle and a cap 

 or receptacle outside of 

 which and covering the 

 whole of it is a structure 

 that looks a little hke the 

 meshes of a net The plant 

 is hollow throughout, and its 

 color is a reddish brown, ap- 

 proaching a salmon. The 

 stem or pedicle is com- 

 posed of strings of oval- 

 shaped cells both inside 

 the outside and lining are 



but are alike and extend 



Fig. 4. 



and out, and 

 separate structures, 

 through the whole of the interior, and form the 

 lining of the cap or receptacle. The two parts 

 of the stem or pedicle along the division line are 

 composed of a mass of elongated cells interlock- 

 ing each other by being bent in all directions in 

 all sorts of curves, but may be pulled apart show- 

 ing each division complete in itself. 



The cap or receptacle is covered over the 

 whole surface including the net-like structure 

 b.v what is called the hymenium. which is the 

 reproductive portion of the plant. It is not at all 

 like the Agaricus or common Mushroom, which 

 has these organs under the cap. This hymenium 

 consists entirely of elongated cells and the germs 

 or undeveloped spores from which future plants 

 are to be produced. Only a part of the cells of 

 the hymenium are fertile, and these are club- 

 shaped, with the large end of the club outward. 

 The other cells, the use of which is not known, 

 are smaller and occupy the space between the 

 fertile cells. 



The fertile ceUs or fronds, if perfect, contain 

 each eight oval germs like little eggs lying 

 obliquely against each other in the larger part of 

 cell, and when they leave it as perfected spores 

 they pass out at the large end. Of these fertile 

 cells or fronds there are hundreds of millions in 

 a single plant. There being so many they must 

 of course be microscopic. 



The spores after leaving the cells are washed 

 into soil or the humus covering it, and in due 

 time begin their growth in the form of little 

 thread-like filaments. These wind in all direc- 

 tions. They intermingle and tangle themselves 

 together in all ways imaginable, and wind them- 

 sehes in a wad. taking in with them everything 

 in their way, when at last a kind of conglom- 

 erate tubercle is formed, from which when 

 strong enough springs the full-fledged plant into 

 the glory of perfect development. 



