Gardening for Amateurs 



315 



In the case of people to whom the cost 

 does not matter I should recommend Mo- 

 Effic, which I have found wonderfully 

 effectual. I have had good results also 

 from Abol and V 2 K fluid. A new cure 

 called Serum is spoken of very highly by 

 those who have used it. 



Red Rust. This disease is common to 

 both cultivated and wild Roses. It shows 

 in the form of spots or patches on the leaves 

 and on the wood. 



In dealing with this and other fungoid 

 diseases it is best to burn fallen leaves and 

 cuttings or prunings as soon as possible. 

 Indeed, if there has been much disease it is 

 wise about December to cut all leaves off 

 the bushes with scissors or shears and to burn 

 tht'in. The next season the Roses should l>e 

 sprayed early \\ ith a good fungicide. Most, if 

 not all, of the affected wood will probably 

 be cut away at pruning time and burnt. 



Black Spot. This is a highly injurious 

 disease, and should be stamped out as soon 

 as possible after its appearance has been 

 noticed. It shows as black-looking spots 

 or blotches, as the name indicates. The 

 Ir.-ive* drop off when the attack is severe, 

 and consequently what should be dormant 

 buds are developed by the plant to keep up 

 a .-upply of the needed foliage. Here again 

 all leaves and prunings should be burnt, 

 and the plants regularly sprayed with a 

 fungicide. Where possible the affected 

 bushes should be transplanted to new ground 

 in the autumn. 



Rose-Leaf Scorch. This is another 

 disease common to wild as well as cultivated 

 I {>-<. Treat bushes and soil with formal- 

 dehyde or sulphate of copper in mid-winter, 

 iKirn all leaves and prunings, and use 

 fungicides in spring and summer. 



Canker. This is now understood to be 

 the result of budding or grafting a weak 

 seion on a strong stock or a strong scion on 

 a weak stock, so that too much or too little 

 sap, and consequently food, is supplied to 

 the Rose by its foster-parent. The theory 

 sounds reasonable, and if the true cause has 

 now been discovered it ought not to prove 

 very difficult to prevent the disease in the 

 future. One can do nothing except cut 

 away the diseased parts and paint the cut 

 portion with Stockholm tar. 



Washes Recommended. Formaldehyde, 

 a cure for black spot and other fungoid 

 diseases, was strongly recommended for the 

 purpose by Dr. Arthur R. Waddell, whose 

 paper on this treatment was published in 

 the National Rose Society's " Rose Annual " 

 for 1913. It is there stated that formal- 

 dehyde can be applied safely to any Rose 

 foliage when diluted to a strength of an 

 eighth per cent., i.e. 1 tablespoonful of the 

 commercial formaldehyde of 40 per cent, to 

 1 gallon of soft water. He adds that double 

 this strength may be used in winter. The 

 substance mixes readily with water and is 

 inexpensive. It should be distributed in 

 the form of a fine spray, and be sprayed on 

 the soil as well as on the plants. It is better 

 to use it when the atmosphere is still and 

 cool, and when the soil is friable and moist, 

 but not sodden. It should not be used when 

 the weather is windy and the soil dry. 



Do not syringe or spray with fungicides 

 during brilliant sunshine ; scorching is the 

 result. Weak solutions should be used for 

 spraying in spring ; the full or summer 

 strength should be used only when the 

 foliage has become toughened with age and 

 exposure. 



HOW ROSES ARE INCREASED 



Roses are naturally self-fertilising, but 

 it has been found that " cross-fertilisation " 

 that is, the fertilising of one Rose with 

 pollen from another Rose, even from one 

 of the same variety produces stronger and 

 healthier progeny. Hybridising is the cross- 

 ing of different sorts by fertilising the flower 

 of one with pollen from the flower of another. 

 Hybridisation is often produced naturally, 

 of course, through the agency of insects, of 

 wind, or by accident. 



The cross-fertilisation, for example, of a 

 red Rose with pollen from a yellow Rose, 

 or vice versa, or of a white Rose with pollen 

 from a red or yellow one, and so on, is 

 practised for the purpose of producing a 

 Rose of a new shade of colour and possess- 

 ing other individual peculiarities. It is thus 

 that the growing multitude of ncu I{>-r> 

 is created. But this is not the simple matter 

 that it appears as one reads or hears about 

 it. In practice it needs great skill, and the 

 work can seldom bo performed successfully 



