1T8 



rCXGI AXD rUXGTCIDES 



spinach forced under glass for early market. That 

 grown out of doors is not infested to nearly so great an 

 extent. As it is impracticable to treat the spinach 

 plants with the ordinary copper fungicides, except, pos- 

 sibly, when Tery young, such cultural methods must be 

 adopted as will reduce the chances of infection to a 

 minimum. These methods include the collecting and 

 burning of refuse leaves affected by any of the diseases, 

 and the changing of the location of the beds used for 

 spinach each year, if possible ; and if not, the changing 

 of the soil instead. Dr. Halsted suggests raking a mix- 

 ture of equal parts of air-slaked lime and sulphur into 

 the soil — a measure that is well worth trying. The flor- 

 ist paints liis heating pipes with a sulphur mixture, to 

 keep the air of the greenhouse saturated witli sulphur 

 fumes, in order to prevent mildew, and it seems possible 

 that the air in hotbeds might also be more or less satu- 

 rated with such fumes to prevent fungous diseases. 



Literature. — The only important general account 

 of these spinach diseases so far published in America is 

 TO be found in Bulletin Xo. TO of the Xew Jersey Exper- 

 iment Station. It is by Dr. B. D. Halsted, aud to it 

 the present writer is indebted for the figures and infor- 

 mation given above. 



