VEGETABLE DISEASES 



777 



fungus being noticed, the plants are sprayed with Bordeaux 

 mixture; but if the disease has got a firm hold, then spraying 

 will avail nothing. After the Celery has been dug, and if very 

 badly attacked burnt, give the ground a good dressing of freshly 

 slaked lime, or one of the several soil disinfectants now on the 

 market. 



Celery Maggot or Leaf Miner. — This pest, which in some 

 seasons disfigures the leaves of Celery very badly, is very diffi- 

 cult to combat, as the maggot is encased inside the skin or leaf 

 covering, consequently impossible to get at with any insecticide. 

 The only remedy is hand-picking the affected leaves and burning 

 them. After removing the leaves that have been very badly 

 disfigured, give the plants a good dusting of soot. Given repeated 

 dressings of soot to check further attacks of the fly, a healthy 

 growth will follow, and if this is kept clean there will be but little 

 fear of a severe attack. 



Mint Cluster-cup Fungus {Puccinia menthae). — There is no 

 cure for this, as the fungus is in the stems, in the lower part of 

 which it passes the winter. When this fungus attacks a bed of 

 mint the best thing that one can do is to pull up the plants at once 

 and throw them on the fire, making a fresh plantation in another 

 part of the garden with plants from an untainted source. It is 

 advisable, too, to give the ground where the fungus-infested mint 

 has been growing a good dressing of lime, so as to destroy any 

 fungus spores that may be present in the soil. 



Onion Fly {Anthomyza ceparuin). — This lays its eggs at the 

 base of the young plants in April and May, and the grubs when 

 they hatch out begin feeding on the bulbs and burrow into the 

 hearts of the plants, which very soon collapse. In the case of a 

 bad attack the plants can be pulled from out of the drills, as the 

 roots are then partially or wholly destroyed. When in this 

 condition every afifected plant should at once be pulled up and 

 destroyed. Shallow sowing renders the plants liable to attack, as 

 the base of the plants being on the surface the flies are better able 

 to find a footing. If deeper sowing is practised, the vulnerable 

 part of the bulb is then buried. To act as a protection it has been 

 found that by drawing soil up to the plants on either side of the 

 lines the fly is unable to get at the base. Some growers water 

 the soil between the lines with paraffin and water, while others 

 again strew sand saturated with paraffin between the lines. We 

 have tried both these so-called remedies, but in neither case did 

 any good results follow. The best way we find when this pest has 

 been troublesome is to grow the onions in another part of the garden 

 as far away from the infected area as possible, sowing the seed as 

 soon as the ground is in working condition, and rather deeply so 

 that the outer cuticle of the bulb may be hardened and so 



