THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1898. 



r,p GLOUCESTER AND CHELTENHAM 



U HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ROYAL 



I J „„T«TTTONSto be held on WHIT SATURDAY and MONDAY, May 28 



GRAND E: gSo2r«. 1 8 9 8 > at Cheltenham. Schedules and entry forms sent on 



Secrewriesj, ^ R Henry Smith> ^ Rfigent s t> Cheltenham. 

 Me * Entries close May 21 and September 17, 1898, respectively. 



1 S97 the total crop was 5 tons 4 cwt, with 4 tons 1 2 cwt. sound. The best 

 results were obtained from the dressings of two tons caustic lime, and of 

 four tons of chalk, which gave 17 tons 4 cwt. and 14 tons of sound 

 roots respectively, while three tons of gas-lime and one ton of caustic 

 lime sufficiently satisfactory to justify their use. 



— «<t^itt TIIRAL SHOW ADVERTISEMENTS are mseriea in ims 



0R J lCU t SsWUtog P« Kne, the minimum charge being Five Shillings. Advert.se- 

 ng^fiS^. V&f Street. London. E.C. 



YUCCA FERTILISATION. 



Mr. C. Lloyd Morgan's description of the method of fertilisation of 

 the yucca involves such a purposeful action on the part of the moth con- 

 cerned (Promiba yuccasclld) as to differentiate it altogether from the 

 general category of insect fertilisers. In the vast majority of cases, the 

 transfer of the pollen by insect agency from one bloom to another, or one 



6 — - . . . . „ P lant t0 another, is effected altogether bjindly ; the flowers are visited for 



guaranteed insertion, or altered, unless received before Four p.m the sake of the ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ q{ ^ ^ ^ 



NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS. 



Owing to the continued increase in circulation, the " Gardeners' 



Magazine 

 be 



00 that day 



Wedn 



No advertisement can 



NOTES OF THE WEEK. 



PREVENTION OF CLUB-ROOT. 



as cross-fertilisation is a distinct benefit in most cases, evolution has 

 brought about a myriad cunning lures and devices through which the 

 visitor is made the involuntary carrier of the potent grains from point to 

 point of vital activity. So far as the actual object or effect of these grains 

 is concerned, the insects are as unwilling as the breezes which effect the 

 same essential operation with plants, which, devoid of insect attraction, 



DURH the past two years experiments have been conducted by Pro- scatter thdr redundant poUen crQp tQ the four windSj and find thdr mates 



fessor Gilchrist, director of the agricultural department of the University in the wings of thg zephyr Qf ^ ^ ^ mQt ^ however> gQes 



Extension College, Reading, with a view to the prevention of the disease as systematically to work as the most skilful gardener, and having 



known as finger-and-toe and club-root, and have obtained some interesting collected the needfu , graJns of Uen from Qne tWi . packjng them 



results. From the official report it appears that in conducting some carefully int0 a ball for easier porterage , she flies off with this to another 



rotation experiments at Headmgton, near Oxford, in 1895, it was found blossoni| and carefully appHes it in prec i se ly the right place in the stigma 



that the swedes which formed the first crop were badly infested with club- which apparently has been SQ shaped M tQ facilitate the rec eption of the 



root, and that in some parts of the field the crop was practically peUets> There js nQ suspicion of acc i den ts ; she does exactly the right 



destroyed. The soil of the field is sandy, resting on limestone rock, and thing> nQ mQre and nQ ensure cross . ferti ii sation of that particular 



in various parts differs materially in its percentage of lime, this difference flower jn the mos t effectual way possible, and for the particular 



being to a considerable extent coincident with the damage done by the benefit of ^ yu(xa p , ant „ Nothing for not hing," however, 



disease. Soil from two parts of the field was analysed, and where the is obviously the moth > s motto> and she has a i rea dy arranged a 



crop was fairly free from disease, the lime was equal to 5*49 percent., cunning system of taxat ; on through which the yucca community so 



where the crop was much damaged the soil contained only -45 per cent. brought int0 poss i b i e existence, shall pay toll to her descendants as a 



of lime. This fact is of importance as illustrating the great value of quid p r0 gu0m At the bottom of that stigma lies the ovary of the flower, 



lime, as we have so frequently pointed out, in checking the development the future cradle of ^ new generation> and m j streS s Pronuba, prior to 



of the sl.me fungus which causes the disease. In the following year a ^ the -finishing touch of fertilisation to the future brood, pierces the 



portion of this field was marked off into eleven parts, and ten of these Q wal , and ly insertS) cuckoQ fashion> her own eggs to bear it 



were dressed, three with caustic lime in varying proportions, two with 



company. Now begins a sort of race between the pollen grains above 



sulphate of copper, two with gas-lime, one with chalk, and one with basic and the hatching eggs below . the former push their slender tubes down 

 slag. The dressings, with one exception, were applied in January, and ^ i i ~c .Hr^n c „ fV.o ,,,^0 0 ,nrc ti,^ 0 



one of the applications of sulphate of copper was made just before sowing 

 the sec A ~ 



through the length of the stigma, and so reach the yucca eggs. These 



swell and speedily begin to be seeds proper, when lo ! their small com- 

 The report states that " in 1896 none of the dressing^ had any panions burst their shellSj an d t h e toll-taking begins and continues at the 



expense of the yucca brood, until that of the moth is ready to be launched 



appreciable effect in reducing the ravages of the disease. It would, in fact, 



0 ° * CAUCllOt Ul till** V Ul*V~C* Wivv/vij mmmmwmm mm-mmm mmmmw »w * -ww*«.^ *w v» m m m 



appear from the table given in the report that the dressings assisted in the forth intQ the WQrld and begin anot her cycle. The clever moth and 



development of the disease for on the undressed plot the sound roots mother has , however, been provident enough to arrange for a margin 



were at the rate of 5 tons 6 cwt. per acre, the slightly diseased 4 tons beyond the to ll exacted by her youngsters, and equitably leaves fifty per 



> cwt., and the badly diseased 2 tons 1 cwt. In no other plot was there cent of the yucca brood intact> as her partner's share in the joint 



uie same weight of sound roots, the nearest approach being the plot tran ' saction> s0 t hat fair provision is made for the continued existence of 



ressedwith gas lime at the rate of three tons per acre, and here the both CarefuUy considered, this instance of co-operation between insects 

 -ound roots were at the rate of 5 tons 4 cwt per acre, the slightly 

 diseased roots 10 tons 18 cwt. and the badly diseased 18 cwt. In none 



and plants is seen to be very wonderful ; and it is excessively difficult to 



of th H Y dlseased 18 cwt ' ln none imagine how the fashioning and transfer of the pollen pellets by the 



if r Tffi SSed Pl ° tS WaS the wei S ht of diseased roots less than 9 tons i mot h has been brought about, especially seeing that in a flower like that 



fact difficult to understand. In view of the results obtained in 1896 it 

 was decided to again grow swedes and turnips on the same plots in 1897, 

 without any further dressing, to ascertain whether results might be 

 «tamed by giving the dressings a longer time to act in disinfecting the 

 and the report states that " all the forms of lime, viz., caustic lime, 

 gas hme, and chalk, gave excellent results." The figures given support 

 « statement, but unfortunately the table is prepared in a different 



In "aT A d Cr ° P ' S d * vided into two P ort i° n s, good and bad only. 



»97 the crop on the undressed plot dwindled down to 16 cwt., and all 

 J* roots were bad. * " " 



ressed with 2 cwt. of sulphate of copper, the crop on that dressed in 



rm.it!* u 1 ton IOcwt -> and where applied in spring 10 cwt. 

 «ults obtained from the dre 



tirt . Cry Unsatis fectory, for the total crop amounted to 2 tons 



P^rpkxin ^ ° f Which 1 t0n IO CWt 



ree'T Sh ° uld admit of further explanation, for with a dressing 



10 tons i6° nS ° f gas " lime > tnere was a cr °P o{ 11 tons 6 cwt., of which 

 Powder «-f* t . Were sound - The plot dressed with 2 cwt. bleaching 



moth has been brought about, especially seeing that in a flower like that 

 of the yucca, the apex of the stigma is a long way from the ovary, and 

 requires a special visit. 



of th 



PLANTING R0SE5 IN SPRING. 



AUTUMN planting, when carried out under proper conditions, invariably 

 gives such good results in the rose garden that there is a tendency in 

 some quarters to regard the autumn as the only season in which roses can 

 be successfully planted, and consequently to overlook the opportunity the 

 All the roots were also" diseased on "the two "plots spring months afford for the formation of new beds and borders of roses, 



and for filling gaps in those which have been in existence for a con- 

 Xhe siderable period. Autumn is unquestionably the best season in which to 



ssing of gas-lime at the rate* of one ton per plant roses, and should as far as practicable be taken advantage of, but it 



— *" performed with 



we're'disea^df" These" figures "are success, and it is evident from our correspondence that some reference 



to the spring planting of roses will be useful to many of our readers. It 

 is of course, a matter of common knowledge that with special care roses 

 may be transplanted until March is well advanced with the assurance of 



» croo'if ? 3 l ° nS 6 cwt P er acre > of which 6 cwt. were diseased, against a satisfactory growth in the season following, but it is not so generally 

 J.! 1896 of 12 tons 3 cwt., of which 10 tons 14 cwt. were diseased, known that plants previously prepared in pots give the best possible 



°asic slae o J ' wnicn IC 



Reived \ a SOmewha t peculiar results, 



duced a C l S,n S of th »s fertiliser at the n 



for in 1896 the plot which 



e da cro f * **" "" s Icrmiser at tne rate of 10 cwt. per acre, pro- 



P° 1 3 tons of which 3 tons 14 cwt. were sound, whereas in 



Well 



pots are by no means costly, and they may give some excellent blooms 

 late in the season, and will a uredly in itbe year ^following surpass 



