March 9, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



207 



of the Blues, Queen of the Pinks, Schotel, 

 General Vetter, Koh-i-NcM>r, and L'Innocence. 

 Mr J. H. Barker, gardener to F. R. Dixon 

 Xuttall, Esq., Ingleholme, Eccleston Park, 

 Prescot, who had fine fresh spikes of Gounod, 

 Madame Kruger, King Menelik, City of 

 Haarlem, La Victorie, and King of the Blues. 



The cla^s for twelve hyacinths was keenly 

 contested, there being no fewer than seven 

 entries. The first prize was awarded to 

 Mr. A. Hanson, Ivanhoe, Victoria Park, 

 Liverix>ol, for massive spikes of Corregio, 

 Lady Derby, Enchantress, Gounod, Schotel, 

 King Menelik, La Victorie, and Madame 

 Kruger. Mr. H. Prime was a good second 

 witii Ivanhoe. and City of Haarlem in fine 

 form. Mr. J. Shelton, gardener to Lord 

 Hillingdon, Wildernes^e, Sevenoaks, was 



third. 



For six hyacinths, Mr. E. Morrison, Prince 

 Alfred Eoad, Wavertree, LiveTpool, led the 

 way with fine spikes of Ivanhoe, Gounod, La 

 Victorie, Corregio, Madam? Krtiger, and 

 Menelik. Mr. H. Edwards, gardener to C. E. 

 Bishop, Esq., Norton Priory, Chichester, was 

 t^econd; and Mr. H. Brotherston, gardener 

 to the Earl of Lytton, Knebworth, third. 



The best six single hyacinths grown in 

 moss fibre were exhibited by Miss E, M. 

 Rawlings, Great Houghton Hall, Northamp- 

 ton, who was closely followed by Mr. W. 

 Howe; and Miss Michell, Oakfield, Cinckle- 

 wood, third, 



Messrs. R. and G. Cuthbert, Soutligate, 

 were the only exhibitors of twelve varieties 

 of hyacinths in pans, making one hundred 

 tiid twenty spikes. The plants were splen- 

 didly developed, the varieties employed being 

 Mr. Plimsoll, City of Haarlem, Perle Bril- 

 liante. King of the Blues, Ivanhoe, La Vic- 

 torie. Jacques, Corregio, King Menelik. 

 'Kieen of the Pinks, Linneaeus, and Schotel. 



There were but three competitors for four 

 >ans of hyacinths, each containing ten 

 iiihs. Here Mr. Jas. Gibson was again first 

 ■ ith fine examples of King of the Blues, La 

 \'ictorie, Corregio, and City of Haarlem; 

 Mr. H. Prime, gardener to tlie Marquis of 

 ■Salisbury, Hatfield, was second, with good 

 examples of Electra, La Grandesse, City of 

 Haarlem, and La Victorie; while Mr. G. 

 ^lackinley, gardener to his Excellency the 

 American Ambassador, Wrest Park, Ampt- 

 hill, was third, with neater examples. The 

 same competitor's were the only exhibitors 

 for one hundred plants in twenty varieties. 

 I'liese were splendidly grown, and arranged 

 ;i five plants of one variety made a brave 

 '^ow, the whole being bedded in maidenhair 

 'i ns. Some of the best varieties were King 



Wenehk, General Vetter, Linnaeus, Perle 

 •s uliante, Corregio, Queen of Pinks, Ivanhoe, 

 nd City of Haarlem; a very fine exhibit, 

 i^iere were two exhibitors of six bowls 

 tulips grown in fibre, and the first priz-e 

 Vll to Mr. W. Howe, gardener to Lady 

 i ate. Park Hill, Streatham, for very finely 

 ^';'*>wn sets of Kei-serskroon, Duchesse de 

 jirma Rose Luisante, Prince of Austria, 

 lute Joost van Vondel, and La- Beve. 

 >econd prize was awarded 

 gardener to the Hon. 



Mrs. 



to Mr, 

 Guv 



The 

 Bates, 



' liesterfield StreetTBerkeley' Square^ Fw^'sfx 



Is of narcissi grown in fibre. Miss Michell 

 ' ^ .yith a good exhibit of Lucifer, Victoria, 

 Dite L^y^ Emperor, Bed Flag, and Leoine. 

 / . \V. Howe came second, and Miss E. 

 '^'i^^inis third. 



M. 



Gardeners' Royal Benevolent 



Institution. 



n cJ" -^'r'^- A^^ilia^y has added another 



a thp IL*^^^ ^ smoking concert held 



IV com^lf Tiiesday,^he 27th ult. 



thllr C^^""^ were^ fortunate in having 

 BerW r p'v n*^^ ^'M^^ ^^'^^ Earl of 



r ut^rJ^/T^-!' the spacious hall 



claimed fo^^^^^ ^ ^^^rd may be 



^ ndance ^fc. ^^r^' decorations, and at- 

 '^rv^ddrP ^^^^^"V'^n, in a brief and 



- v/ vears ^ art during tlie 



.^^ars. A man loving flowe.s 50 years 



ago would hardly believe it possible that 

 such a change could be made; but, for him- 

 self, he sometimes wished that they had not 

 gone so far in their ecientific knowledge and 

 cultivation. He liked to isee the spring 

 flowers come up in the open, then he began 

 to think spring had come. Members of their 

 profession, liowever, did a great service to 

 mankind generally, and he doubted whether 

 there was anything in this world which gave 

 as great a pleasure, and at so little cost as 

 flowers. They could not go into a hospital 

 ward where there were flowers without feel- 

 ing that these gave hope to thoc^e who felt 

 hopeless; and by giving hope they gave 

 assistance to the doctors^ skill, and for that 

 reason he hoped there would be a generous 

 response on behalf of the Gardeners' Royal 

 Benevolent Institution. An excellent pro- 

 gramme was carried out, and Mr. Allan H. 

 Bright moved, and Mr. C. A. Young se- 

 conded, a vote of thanks to his Lordship, 



which w^as carried with the utmost enthu- 

 siasm. 



The decorations were ably carried out, and 

 the thanks of the committee were accorded 

 to Messrs. R. P. Ker and Son.s, B. Webb and 

 Sons, C. A. Young, W. Rowlands, and others, 

 for choice- plants and flowers. 



A DISEASE OF SWEET 



PEAS, ETC 



(Continued from page 187.) 



Cypripediums, Culinary Peas 



A batch of orchids (Cypripedium) attacked 

 by Tliieiavia was aent to ivew ior investi- 

 gation. The basal portion of each plant w 

 soft and decayed, and covered on tlie surface 

 with a' dense, black, crusty layer consisting 

 of the Torula condition of tiie tungus. \\ hen 

 placed in a damp cham^ber at the ordinary 

 temperature of the laboratory, the white 

 Milowia stage of the fungus developed 

 within a few days, and gradually encroaciied 

 on tiie still living green portion of the leaves. 

 Tliis material, available in quantity for the 

 flrst time, enabled a series ot experiments to 

 be made on the action of the fungus on ger- 

 minating seeds and on seedlings. 



Twelve " marrow fat " peas were plaaited 

 in each of two Petri dishes, in soil sterilised 

 by steam and afterwards mixed with a copi- 

 ous growth of the Milowia form of the Thie- 

 lavia. A third Petri dish used as a control, 

 was prepared in a similar manner, excepting 

 that no fungus was mixed with the soiJ. 

 After a period of ten days five seedlings 

 appeared above ground in one of the in- 

 fected dishes and three seedlings in the 

 other. Ail thes seedlings, however, died 

 within a lew days. On examining the peas 

 that had not appeared above ground, it 

 was found that both plumule and radicle had 

 in every instance been killed by the fungus, 

 as was a^lso the case with those that appeared 

 above ground at a later stage. All the peas 

 in the control dish germinated and produced 

 healthy seedlings. No success attended the 

 many attempts to infect the leaves or above- 

 ground portion of the stem of peas with the 

 Milowia stage of the fungus. Seedlings of 

 the Shepherd's purse (Capsella Bursa- 

 pastoris) were also killed by the fungus. 

 On the other hand, germinating oats were 

 not attacked, neither were those of another 

 grass, Briza maxima. Four Petri dishes con- 

 taining ordinary garden soil, sterilised by 

 steam and afterward infected with Thielavia 

 in the Milowia stage, obtained from a pure 

 culture on manure, w^ere prepared. Two of 

 these were flooded with one per cent, of for- 

 malin in water for an hour, after which the 

 liquid was poured off and the soil allowed to 

 remain for a week, when all trace of the 



ed. The soil 



smell of formalin had disapp 

 in the two remaining dishes was left un- 

 treated. Twelve peas were placed in each 

 dish. At the expiration of ten days, all the 

 peas in the two dishes treated with formalin 

 were making vigorous growth, whereas in 

 one of the dislies not treated with formalin 

 no growth appeared above the surface of the 

 soil .and in the second untreated dish four 



sickly seedlings continued to grow for a few 

 days, but finally collapsed with one excep- 

 tion. When peas germinate in pure sand, 

 mixed with the Milowia stage of the fungus 

 attached to fragments of manure, infection 

 of the seedlings occurs, w^hereas, when spores 

 of tlie Milowia stage of the fungus alone are 

 mixed with the sand, no infection takes 

 place. Tliis, along with experiments already 

 recorded, proves tliat the germinating spores 

 of the fungus cannot infect a host-plant 

 directly, but only after the mycelium has 

 xisted for some time as a saprophyte, on 

 humus or decaying vegetable matter. 



Symptoms of the Disease in 



Sweet 



In those instances where the laud is badly 

 infected, the majority of the peas do not 

 appear above ground at all. This occurs 

 when both the plumule and radicle are at- 

 tacked. In such case, if a number of the 

 peas are dug up and placed with sterilised 

 manure in a Petri dish, the contents kept 

 moist and at a temperature of about 65 deg. 

 F,, the w^hite Milowia condition of the 

 fungus will appear on the surface of the 

 manure within .a few days. In the majority 

 of cases the root only is attacked, at least 

 at first, and the plant often attains a con- 

 siderable growth before any sign of injury 

 appears, but suddenly the plant may begin 

 to wilt, turn yellow, and die, or in some 

 instances only one branch dies, the rest of 

 the plant remaining green for some time, 

 but rarely producing perfect fruit. Another 

 very common symptom of the disea^ i{s 

 known to growers of swovt ju-as under the 

 name of ''streak" or " stripe. ' characterised 

 by the presence of dingy yellow streaks or 

 stripes on the leaves and stem. This condi- 

 tion is the result of Avhat may be termed a 

 mild attack, the fungus not being present 

 in the tissues of the root and collar in suffi- 

 cient quantity to kill the plant outright, 

 yet sufficiently abundant to prevent the root 

 from performing its function to the fullest 

 extent, hence the stem and leaves lack water 

 and are hungered. The green portions of a 

 plant showing streak " correspond to the 

 position occupied by the vascular bundles or 

 water-conveying vessels where the limited 

 supply of water obtained by the root makes 

 itself evident, whereas the yellow portions 

 between the veins are dead, owing to lack 

 of water. If the root of a pea plant that 

 has been attacked by the fungus is examined, 

 it will be seen to present a blackened or 

 charred appearance, and very frequently to 

 be more or less decayed on one side, sug- 

 gesting the idea that it had been gnawed by 

 wireworm. In some cases small black patches 

 of tlie Torula form of fruit are present on 

 the surface. 



Symptoms of the Dise 



Asters. 



So far as my ex])erience goes, asters are 

 always killed outright during the seedling 

 sta^e. When the plants are about three 

 inches high they commence to wilt, and > 

 fall over as in the disease known as "damp- 

 ing off." The roots of diseased plants are 

 shrivelled and blackened, and all the rootlets 

 are dead. The fungus appears to spread very 

 rapidly in the soil, as whole l)atches of seed- 

 lings collapse simultaneously. 



(To be Continued.) 



ase in 



^ 



Tbe question to-day i^^not ** Shall we Spray," :\s every 

 gardener knows he must Spray, hut " Wliat machine 



or syringe shall I spray with " All the world answers, 



Use only the reliaMe tested 



which have won 30 

 Clcld tS; Silvt r Medals, 

 nianv m open competi- 

 li' n with other makes. 

 J he machine illustrated 

 is the Four Oaks Gold 

 Medal Knapsack Spray- 

 er, 45 No rubber 

 vaKe-- Compbte Cata- 

 logue of Spraying and 

 I >itiie\\ ashing Alachines 

 and Syringes of every des«:riptinn f; ee on application to 

 the Sole Manufacinrers-THE FOUR OAKS SPRAYING 

 MACHINE CO., No. 3 C. SUTTON COLDFIELD. 



