52 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 20, 1876. 



very many, ladies have odd notions on this subject — and conse- 

 quently either she or some of the younger members of the family 

 undertake it. Now when one considers what was involved in 

 table decorations — the elaboration of detail, the mass of flowers, 

 and even the displacement of the tables themselves — it was not 

 to be wondered at that an emeute on the subject should break 

 out, and that two or three hours for this one object was rather 

 too much. Hence if anything can prevent this calamity it must 

 be by maintaining a simpler but equally effective style of deco- 

 ration; and this is, I conceive, what the judges at a show are 

 bound to consider, and what was considered in the judgment at 

 the Show at the Aquarium. When one hears the visitors ex- 

 claiming, " Well, I really don't see much in that ; I wonder 

 why it had the first prize," it is always to me a hopeful sign of 

 the judging being correct, for the mass of visitors like to see 

 gorgeous display, and, as the poor people say of the doctor, to 

 get something for their money be it even a nasty black draught. 

 With these views, and judged by the test of simplicity and effect, 

 let me offer a few remarks on the principal exhibits on the 

 occasion referred to. 



The first prize was awarded to Mrs. Burley for a very elegant 

 arrangement ; the centre being a Palm, round the base of which 

 were grouped some fine blooms of Cattleya and other Orchids 

 and Fern leaves. At either end were two trumpet glasses, which 

 to my mind would have been better had they been a trifle 

 smaller : these were tastefully arranged with Rhodanthes, 

 Grasses, and light airy flowers, while the climbing Fern was 

 twisted round these. The fruit was in glass dishes, and consisted 

 of Apricots, Figs, Peaches, and Grapes, with a Pine and Melon 

 at either end, specimen glasses being placed among the fruit. 

 Strong-smelling flowers had been avoided, and altogether it 

 thoroughly deserved the position it took. Mrs. Cypher of Chel- 

 tenham took the second prize with another excellently arranged 

 table. A modified March stand occupied the centre, having a 

 trumpet-shaped glass at top, in which was a single bloom of the 

 singular and beautiful Gloriosa superba, sprays of Oneidium, 

 Grasses, &c. The base was perhaps a little too formal and re- 

 quired to be broken up with foliage, Ferns, &c. At either end 

 were stands with a triple glass, in which the flowers were 

 arranged somewhat similar to the centre one. Peaches, Necta- 

 rines, Grapes, Pine and Melon were the fruits arranged in flat 

 glass dishes, and specimen glasses introduced amongst them. 

 Mrs. Harris took third prize. The stands were upright glass 

 ones with cornucopias suspended from them. Here Rhodanthe 

 was too profusely used, the upper glass containing hardly any- 

 thing else. The fourth prize fell to Mrs. Soder, whose table was 

 decorated with three March stands, arranged with Ferns, and 

 calling for no particular observations. 



Amongst the unsuccessful ones Miss Edith Blair's deserves 

 notice. It was very elegantly arranged but meagre, no fruit 

 being placed upon the table except at the bottom of the central 

 Palm. This was a grand mistake. When the fruit was taken 

 away, which it must be if any of the guests were to partake of 

 dessert, the table would look still more meagre ; and I am per- 

 suaded it is a great mistake to mix flowers and fruit together. 

 Messrs. Dick Radclyffe & Co. exhibited a very grand table, but 

 unhappily too crowded for its size and the number of guests. 

 It was highly commended by the Judges as suitable for a large 

 table ; and in some of the others were notable instances of how 

 ■not to do it. — D., Deal. 



THE RESTING SPORES OF THE POTATO 

 FUNGUS. 



That a large number of animals and plants are in the habit 

 of passing the winter months in a state of seclusion and sleep 

 has been known from very early times. The facts regarding 

 the curious phenomenon of hybernation are best known 

 amongst the larger animals, where the observations are easiest 

 made. Nothing can be more curious than the disappearance 

 of the bear for five or six of the winter months in drifts of 

 snow. During this period the great beast remains in a state 

 of lethargy, and though taking no food yet remains in condi- 

 tion. A mechanical contrivance is provided for the intestines, 

 and when the spring sun once more sheds its life-giving rays 

 upon the wintry earth the bear returns to renewed activity. 



There are innumerable contrivances in nature which will 

 suggest themselves to every reader, by means of which the 

 vitality of animals and plants is preserved during the winter 

 months. The seed of the annual with its protective integu- 

 ment, the fleshy subterranean rootstock of the perennial, the 

 egg of the insect, the spawn of the Mushroom, and the rest- 

 ing spores of many fungi. 



Of oourse the smaller the seeds, the threads of spawn, and 

 the spores are, the more difficult are they to make out. No 

 one can now be found to deny the meaning of the egg of the 

 bird, reptile, or insect, because these objects are visible to the 



unaided eye and have been repeatedly observed. Their mean- 

 ing is known to all ; but the egg condition of a minute fungus 

 like the one which causes the Potato disease is so small that 

 it takes the higher powers of the microscope to see it ; it is 

 therefore extremely difficult (when once obtained) to watch 

 and keep alive. In known eggs, like the eggs of the hen, the 

 snake, and the spider, the length of time which must elapse 

 before the young animal emerges is known ; but in the egg of 

 the. Potato fungus this period, like the egg itself till quite 

 recently, remained wholly unknown. The Potato fungus is 

 only seen in a flourishing state for a few weeks in autumn, it 

 then suddenly appears in our Potato fields, destroys our crops, 

 and vanishes. Last autumn I wrote a paper for the Journal 

 of Horticulture, explaining how I believed the Potato fungus 

 carried a large number of eggs or resting spores, and produced 

 within the tissues of the leaves and amongst the cells of the 

 tubers. These eggs had been suspected and searched for in 

 vain by many botanists for many years. DeBary, the famous 

 botanist of Strasburg, writes that he has searched for these 

 resting spores for fifteen years, and on every opportunity he 

 says he has " searched for them in the stalks, leaves, flowers, 

 fruit, and tubers of the Potato." The Rev. M. J. Berkeley, 

 however, with a keen insight into the true nature of the Potato 

 fungus, made a suggestion many years ago that the true rest- 

 ing spores had very probably been once seen, and even illus- 

 trated, although the author himself (Dr. Montague) did not 

 understand their meaning. It appears that a Dr. Rayer about, 

 or previous to, 1845 found spherical bodies in spent Potatoes, 

 and these bodies Dr. Montague illustrated. Being new to 

 science, and consequently nameless, Dr. Montague christened 

 them Artotrogus. Mr. Berkeley subsequently said that he 

 believed this rare Artotrogus to he no other than the egg state 

 of the Potato fungus ; but from 1S-15 till last year no one could 

 ever again find one or the other, so that Mr. Berkeley's view 

 was obliged to remain a mere surmise. Like De Bary and 

 many other botanists I have long and almost hopelessly 

 searched for the egg state of the Potato fungus. This search 

 had invariably been without the slightest result till last July. 

 The readers of the Journal of Horticulture will remember how 

 I kept infected leaves and tubers damp, and how in the damp 

 portions of the magma I had the great pleasure of at last 

 seeing the long-lost Artotrogus growing upon the threads of 

 the Peronospora. This fact confirmed the correctness of Mr. 

 Berkeley's original views to my own mind, but the unfortunate 

 thing about it was that I could hear of no one else repeating 

 my experiments with the same results. During the months 

 of April and May last it, however, came to my knowledge that 

 Mr. C. E. Broome, one of the best and most exact botanists in 

 this country, had experimented with Potato material as sug- 

 gested by me, and had obtained Artotrogus in abundance as I 

 had obtained it. This was a most fortunate circumstance for 

 me, as my resting spores had now been sleeping so long that 

 some persons began to think they would never wake up again. 

 The sleep had indeed been long, but as there is notoriously 

 no road without a turning of some sort, so my resting spores 

 at last ceased to rest, and then reproduced the fungus of the 

 Potato disease. 



The resting spores were obtained late in the summer and in 

 the early autumn of last year (1875) both by Mr. Broome and 

 myself, by keeping infected Potato materia] constantly and uni- 

 formly moist. Mr. Broome maintained his bodies alive by 

 simply keeping the old leaves in a slanting saucer in which 

 was a small but constant and uniform supply of water, and 

 the whole kept under a bell-glass. I was afraid of putrescence, 

 mildew, and infusoria, so kept my last year's materials in 

 sealed bottles either with a little water or with expressed juice 

 of horse dung diluted with water. In these bottles most of 

 my resting spores have retained life. I have kept my Potato 

 mash free and under darkened bell-glasses since last April, and 

 no foreign parasites to any damaging extent have appeared. 

 Before germination most of the resting spores grew consider- 

 ably in size, many attaining four times their original bulk. 



The accompanying illustration, fig. C, is an attempt to show 

 the nature and habit of the Potato fungus, principally in its 

 resting condition. All readers of the Journal of Horticulture 

 probably know that plants when viewed under the microscope 

 are seen to be built up of minute cells or bladders, the cells 

 adhering by their outer surfaces like bricks in a wall or cells 

 in a honeycomb. This bladdery structure is more or less sup- 

 ported and strengthened by numerous springs or spiral vessels. 

 The minute springs are shown at A, with the resting spores of 

 the Potato fungus within the threads of the springs. The 



