50 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



"When first I wrote upon this subject the disease had 

 attacked my young Vines only, especially those that were grown 

 in pots ; but within the last two years I have found it suddenly 

 invade established Vines, in the prime of their strength and 

 luxuriance ; but as yet it has confined its sphere of operations to 

 Vines with thick and tomentose foliage, such as Gros Colmar, 

 Black Alicante, and Gros Maroc. I have never yet seen it on 

 Black Hamburgh, Chasselas Musque, or Black or White Muscat. 



To me it appears to be akin to the disorder which often 

 attacks the young shoots of certain Pears, notably Louise Bonne 

 and Beurre Superfin ; these are struck with it in J uly or August, 

 even in warm weather, and the tip of the shoot is the first to be 

 touched. The young leaves are edged with a deepening line of 

 black, then the disease descends the shoot, which becomes 

 opaque and black and fluted. 



" Search the roots " is the gardener's law in the usual post- 

 mortem; and " Something the matter with the roots," instead 

 of " Death from natural causes," is generally the verdict. Over 

 and over again I have searched the roots and found them 

 healthy, the side-shoots also, and lower foliage in full vigour, 

 till the plague descends. Sulphur in every form I have tried, 

 quassia, tobacco-water, and the like. Until the last year or two 

 I believed that the only course was to cut well below the evil on 

 its first appearance. But seeing by chance a can of strong liquid 

 (brought from the manure-yard to be diluted), I plunged an in- 

 fected shoot in that, on the principle of " kill or cure." To my 

 surprise there was no kill, neither any sudden cure, but a speedy 

 arrest of the evil, and, after two or three dippings, a renewal of 

 sound growth. This year I have stopped the plague by dipping 

 every shoot that showed it in stuff even blacker than it meant 

 to be. 



II. Passing other fungoid torments, I come to those even 

 viler creatures which have life enough to know better. Who 

 shall tell their names without requiring a muzzle for the sake of 

 his friends, or to save the fissure of his own jaws? For this, 

 however, there is no help. And to the general gardener, even in 

 this " highly cultured " age, it is more important to be able to 

 punish than to pronounce them. With the pile of good books 

 now within his reach the fault is his own if he cannot do that ; 

 and possibly he finds yet quicker ways by dint of his own obser- 

 vation. These live enemies pass into three divisions according 



