48 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



favouring circumstances. They are in specially prepared compost, 

 in suitable sized pots, scientifically pruned and under constant 

 observation, so that with all these in their favour all they will 

 need is intelligent treatment. They are endowed with no immunity 

 against the attack of pests ; they will get dry under sweltering heat ; 

 they will exhaust the soil in due course, and " intelligent treatment " 

 implies that these will be anticipated and provided against. Adhering 

 to our oft-expressed preference for preventive as against curative 

 measures, we strongly recommend during the growing season a 

 weekly syringing with an insecticide, even if it be nothing stronger 

 than the good old tried method of a Quassia chip solution. If 

 this was done twice a week during May and June it would not be 

 too often. The maggot, " the worm-i-th'-bud," is a great depre- 

 dator, but if it defies the insecticide its presence can nearly always 

 be detected in the curled leaf before it has time to attack the bud. 

 The aphis, or green fly, is of all pests the most persistent and, 

 fortunately, the easiest to destroy, and it is up to us to go one 

 better in the matter of persistency in making the position un- 

 tenable for them. Mildew may attack the foliage ; when it does 

 it generally denotes some inaction between moisture and the 

 roots ; possibly ineffective drainage or faulty watering. If the 

 attack is not too bad, a syringing with a weak permanganate of 

 potash solution will kill it ; if severe, apply flowers of sulphur 

 locally, but in either case find out if possible what caused it 

 and correct the treatment. 



Feeding becomes an important matter when the plants have 

 nearly attained full growth, for by that time they have made great 

 demands upon the limited quantity of compost contained in the 

 pots, and require a sufficiency of food to complete their growth 

 and to carry them on until the demands die down at the time of 

 ripening. We know of nothing better for the purpose than a liquid 

 made from soaking a bag of cow-droppings in a barrel of water, 

 usable when of the colour of ordinary coffee. This should not be 

 used more than once a week throughout July and August, after 

 which time ripening, rather than growth, must be encouraged. 

 If the summer be dry and hot a mulching of strawy manure is 

 of direct benefit to the plants, for it screens the soil from the full 

 force of the sun and prevents the rapid evaporation of its moisture. 



