Gardening for Amateurs 



551 



the National Sweet Pea Society as too- 

 much-alike. Intending exhibitors should 

 consult the Society's list before making a 

 final selection. 



Thirty-six Varieties for Garden Dis- 

 play or Gutting. The varieties mentioned 

 below may be relied upon to give good returns 

 under fair conditions of cultivation ; no 

 extraordinary treatment is necessary to 

 induce them to give a continuous display, 

 and shading is unnecessary : 



Name. 



Colour. 



SWEET PEA DISEASES: THEIR CAUSES 

 AND PREVENTION 



Streak. Sweet Pea streak generally makes 

 its appearance in the season of heavy dews, 

 just as the plants begin to blossom. It is 

 manifested by reddish-brown spots and 



streaks along the stems, having their origin 

 near the ground, and becoming darker as 

 the disease develops. The disease becomes 

 quickly distributed over the more mature 

 stems until the deeper li.-snes are destroyed, 

 when the plant prematurely dies. The 

 bodies found in the ' spots are seen to be 

 bacteria, and are referable to the bacterial 

 disease of Clover and Beans, but, differing 

 somewhat from previously described or- 

 ganisms, the bacterium has been referred to 

 a new species, Bacillus lathyri. 



Streak having been determined to be a 

 disease of bacterial origin and prevalent in 

 the common Clover, it is easy to under- 

 stand why it should appear in plantings of 

 Sweet Peas -where previously none had been 

 grown. Clover and other legumes are com- 

 mon to pastures and even to arable land, 

 hence streak comes through land already 

 infected with the organisms, while possibly 

 it may be introduced in manure. 



Remedies. Streak, however, is not a root 

 infection, but attacks Sweet Peas through 

 the stomata. Therefore the old-fashioned 

 practice of mulching alongside of the row oi 

 plants with strawy manure has much to 

 commend it, for this prevents infected soil 

 from being splashed on to the stems by rain. 

 This and syringeing with a solution of per- 

 manganate of potash, 1 oz. of the crystals 

 dissolved in 6 gallons of soft water, and 

 applied so as to coat the under sides of the 

 leaves as well as the stems and petioles, at 

 intervals of ten days till the plants are ad- 

 vanced towards blooming, is the best we are 

 able to suggest at the present time in respect 

 of prevention. This must be practised con- 

 jointly with the partial sterilisation of the 

 soil to be presently referred to, and fortifica- 

 tion of the plant with nutritious matter, in 

 order to render it healthy and capable of 

 resisting disease. 



The Mosaic Disease. This malady is 

 characterised by yellow mottling of the 

 leaves, and on some varieties is associated 

 with a curling and thickening of the tissue. 

 A cessation of growth usually results, hut 

 later tin- plant, particularly if it is a thick- 

 Ira vrd sort, iniy oven-nine tin- disease. It 

 i> identical with the mosaic disease occurring 

 on Red Clover and other species of Lathyrus. 

 Aphides may by their punctures set up 



