2 QO Gardening 



root ; but it is also known as " clubfoot " or the " finger 

 and toe " disease. 



The fungus causing this disease lives, during one stage 

 of its life, in the soil. It enters the roots of its host, 

 and multiplies by a simple kind of budding process. 

 After a period of feeding, during which the host becomes 

 greatly weakened, many spores are produced by the 

 fungus within the roots. Later, when the roots of the 

 dead host decay, these spores become mingled with the 

 soil. Under proper conditions, which usually occur 

 during early spring, they germinate and infest plants of 

 the new crop. 



Means of control. All diseased plants should be dug 

 up and burned, care being taken to get all the roots out 

 of the soil. If the disease appears in cold frames or 

 hotbeds, one must remove and discard all the soil, and 

 thoroughly clean out flats and frames before using for 

 another year. The destruction of diseased plants and 

 the cleaning of frames is one of the first remedies to 

 use in preventing the disease. 



A second method of combating the disease is to plant 

 in the infected soil crops not attacked by it. Do not 

 grow cabbage on ground where cabbage was attacked the pre- 

 vious year, and do not use soil from infected areas to grow 

 seedlings of cabbage. If the disease appears in an early 

 crop, do not plant a late crop of cabbage in the same 

 earth, but use this space for late crops of some vege- 

 table that is not subject to the disease, such as endive 

 or celery. 



As the fungus thrives best in an acid soil, the appli- 

 cation of lime to the land helps in controlling the disease. 



