THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



41 



keep the roots in and light out. Both 

 plants are alive and vigorous after two 

 months. 



" Both manganese and potash," the 

 components of permanganate of potash, 

 are essential fixed elements in the 

 sti'ucture of plants. Manganese occurs 

 in small quantities ; and, although its 

 benehcial propei-ties have not yet been 

 definitely ascertained, it is doubtless 

 taken up by the rootlets in solution 

 with other matters. Of the absolute 

 necessity of potash for plant-food there 

 is not a shadow of doubt. In short, it 

 is essential to the life of a plant, and 

 there seems to be no end to its power 

 of combining with other substances, in 

 most cases rendering matters solvent 

 and assiinilable which without its aid 

 would have remained useless. The 

 liquid permanganate of potash certainly 

 looks a very risky thing to water plants 

 with ; but it is not so, for adiantums 

 dipped overhead in it gave no unfavour- 

 able result. Poured through a pot 

 tilled with pure sand, it filters through 

 as pure, colourless water of beautiful 

 softness. For flowers in vases it is evi- 

 dently good ; the water does not re- 

 quire changing or become offensive, and 

 the plants preserve an unusual fresh- 

 ness and vigour. I have used it for 

 some time in a glass button-hole holder, 

 and the flowei--stalks seized and ab- 

 sorbed the colouring matter in about 

 an hour. This was especially the case 

 with yellow flowei's. Overhead water- 

 ing with this liquid is disasti-ous to our 

 common enemy, the green fly." 



APPLES IN THE LONDON MARKET. 



Keeling & Hunt, at Moniiment 

 Buildings, London, England, on 30th 

 December, 188i, reported the following 

 sales, viz : — Choice selected Greenings, 

 10s. 6c/. sterling; Baldwins, 14s. 6c/.; 

 Roxbmy .Russets, 10*-.; Golden Russets, 

 12s. Qd.; Ribston Pippins, 13s. Qd. 

 2 



THE YELLOWS. 

 The Gardeners' Monthly notes the 

 success which has attended the experi- 

 ments of a Mr. Miller in staying the 

 ravages of the " yellows," or a kindred 

 disease, which attacks the Rhododen- 

 dron, Norway Spi'uce, White Pine, and 

 other things, by the application of sul- 

 phur to the roots. " That the fungus 

 which causes the peach yellows," says 

 the editor, " is the same as that which 

 works injury in other cases has been 

 positively proved by exjieriments re- 

 corded in our pages, where a spadeful 

 of soil near a diseased peach tree per- 

 meated by the fungus spawn, placed 

 around a Norway Spruce produces the 

 disease in that tree also, and a micro- 

 scopic examination of the two fungi 

 shows them to be the same. A species 

 of fungus ferment seems to permeate 

 the whole tree after these attacks, and 

 buds taken with the ferment fungus in 

 the tissue and used for inoculating 

 other stocks will spread the disease. 

 Even seed taken from such diseased 

 trees carries a portion of the ferment 

 with it, and the disease is spread in 

 other directions." The editor then re- 

 fers to a visit to Mr. Miller, the con- 

 sulting landscape gardener, of Fair- 

 mount Park, N. Y., and says: — " Every 

 practical gardener knows that sulphur 

 is always fatal to the lower organisms, 

 though wholly innocuous as against the 

 higher forms of life, and it i-equired 

 only the suggestion to use that on 

 fungus below ground, which had been 

 fovmd so effectual on fungus above. 

 The sulphur application was quite as 

 effectual here, and Mr. Miller was quite 

 enthusiastic as he pointed out his Rho- 

 dodendrons and Pines,once so thorough- 

 ly disease-stricken that most gai'deners 

 would have at once committed them to 

 the flames, now as green and healthy 

 as the best. The only wonder is that 

 no one has thought to try sulphur on 

 the root fungus as a remedy for the 



