134 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 265. 



year. There are two large beds of it, each over twelve 

 feet across, on the end of a long grass vista in the arbore- 

 tum at Kew, which, when the sun is shining upon them, 

 are visible nearly half a mile off. The plants are bushes 

 two feet high, composed of numerous erect wand-like 

 branches clothed from base to tip with bright rosy purple 

 flowers. These two beds have been a great attraction for 

 about three weeks, and they will last a week or two longer. 

 Certainly the Mezereum is a plant for every garden. 



London. W, WalSOTl. 



Cultural Department. 



A Serious Filbert Disease. 



EARLY in the season a large grower of exotic trees found 

 that his test orchard of several hundred Filbert-trees was 

 being destroyed by some obscure enemy. Many of the 

 branches were more or less blighted, often for several inches 

 along one side, and rough oval warts had developed, varying 

 from a quarter to a third of an inch in length. These warts 

 had evidently contained the spore-cases of the fungus enemy, 

 but being of previous years' production they had become ma- 

 ture and the spores were gone. From the general appearance 

 of the diseased parts it seemed quite likely that the trouble was 

 due to a fungus somewhat related to the black knot, well 

 known as an enemy of Plum and Cherry-trees. Early in the 

 summer it was evident that the disease was very deeply seated 



Fig. 22. — Filbert Twig attacked by Blight. 



and was present in nearly all the trees. Sometimes one 

 side of a trunk was affected, in other instances the trouble 

 seemed confined to a single large branch, while frequently the 

 twigs of last year's growth were dead or dying. Figure 22 is an 

 engraving of the Filbert blight as seen upon the twig, shown 

 natural size. With considerable variation at different sizes 

 and stages the same general appearance obtained, namely, a 

 shrinking of the tissue and the presence of the rough oval 

 warts, which are somewhat inclined to an arrangement in one 

 or more rows on the affected parts. An inspection of the 

 native species of Hazel (Corylus Americana) showed that 

 only at rare intervals was any of the Filbert fungus to be 

 found. 



Examination of the warts led to the conclusion that the fun- 

 gus is perennial, and the spore sacs within and developed with 

 the warts require a long time for their formation. In mid- 

 summer only immature living warts could be found, and by 

 examining these freshly cut from the trees at intervals of a 

 month or so through the season it was demonstrated that 

 spores in sacs were produced in the warts at the end of the 

 season. Figure 23 helps to show the nature of this blight, with 



longitudinal and transverse sections of an affected stem. The 

 depth to which the fungus penetrated is shown in the trans- 

 verse sections. The fungus checks the formation of wood and 

 the stem becomes eccentric with the warts upon the non- 

 growing portion. 



It seems probable that the spores falling upon the young de- 

 veloping twigs in early spring germinate and penetrate the 

 soft epidermis. After vegetating for a time the warts are de- 

 veloped possibly at the natural minute rifts in the bark known 

 as the lenticels. Likewise, it is probable that these lenticels 

 furnish the proper places for the entrance of germs to twigs 

 that are more than a year old. The fungus when once within 

 the twig feeds upon the assimulated sap of the host, and 

 spreads up and down the twig, in these respects resembling 

 the fungus, Plowrightia morbosa, causing the black knot. The 

 similar structure, methods of growth and propagation of these 

 two fungi suggest that the same treatment should be followed 

 for both. The importance of eradicating the blackk not by 

 meansof the knifeandburnheapwasmadeemphaticyears ago. 



As the European Filberts are not generally grown in this 

 country, this subject of twig-blight is not of general interest. 

 It, however, might become so should the Filbert industry de- 

 velop in this country, or if the disease above described should 

 spread to some of the Filbert's many closely related native 

 trees. We cannot afford to overlook the importance of making 

 a study of fatal diseases simply because they are local. It is 

 then that they can be stamped out, if ever. Those who im- 

 port new kinds of plants and cultivate tliem forthefirsttimein 

 this country should watch carefully for symptoms of disease 

 of any sort, as it is possible to introduce an enemy that may 

 neutralize all the good of the importation. It is a pleasure to 

 record the fact that the owner of the test orchard of European 

 Filberts is willing to root out all of his trees if they cannot be 

 cured, and will sell no young stock although it looks perfectly 

 healthy. 



Rutgers College. Byrofi D. Halsted. 



Hardy Deciduous Barberries. 



'X'HE common Barberry of our gardens, often so plentiful 

 -^ along the way-sides and in the fields of the older-settled 

 parts of the eastern states, is not a native plant of this country, 

 but belongs to the flora of Europe and Asia, and has been in- 

 troduced here since the first settlement of the country. The 

 freedom with which it appears to have adapted itself to the 

 conditions of climate and soil and the seemingly natural and 

 spontaneous manner of its growth along with the indigenous 

 vegetation, might well lead any one not acquainted with its 

 history to believe that it was one of the aboriginal tenants of 

 the soil. 



There is really no native species of Barberry to be found in 

 the New England or northern states or in that part of the Do- 

 minion of Canada lying north of them. One native species 

 only is found in North America east of the Mississippi River. 

 Although this was named Berberis Canadensis by the early 

 American botanist, Pursh, it is not found in Canada at all, but 

 only from Virginia southward, chiefly along the region of the 

 Alleghany Mountains. The two species have a good deal of 

 general resemblance, but sufficient differences in their bo- 

 tanical characters are found to maintain their specific dis- 

 tinctiveness. The American species is hardly such a stout- 

 growing shrub as the foreign one. It has usually smaller, less 

 bristly pointed leaves, with bristles or teeth farther apart, ra- 

 cemes of blossoms shorter and fewer-flowered, petals notched 

 at the apex instead of entire, as in the other, and with smaller 

 berries, which are roundish or oval in shape, while those of 

 the European species are larger and oblong. 



For all cultural purposes the commonly introduced species 

 is probably the equal, in every way, of the rarer native one. 

 It is perfectly hardy in all well-drained situations, enduring 

 winters when the temperature sometimes falls to thirty de- 

 grees below zero, as at Montreal. It may be used in almost 

 any manner in plantations, and will thrive better than most 

 shrubs in rocky situations where it is almost impossible to 

 make any attempt at cultivation or planting. While it is al- 

 ways much more handsome and picturesque when allowed to 

 grow naturally and produce its long, pendent branches laden 

 with flowers or fruit, it will bear pruning into any desired 

 shape, and in most situations may be trimmed into a very 

 good and close hedge. Close pruning and trimming involves 

 the loss, however, of a large proportion of the bloom and 

 fruit, the chief attractions of the plant. Where it is desired to 

 prune into formal shape and to insure also a good supply of 

 blossoms in the following summer, the pruning should be 

 done just as soon as the plants have flowered in early summer. 



