GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



past 



If the American growers cannot 



Con 



on Ch 



R 



Stable 



* ■ P 009 "'^ i n the markets of the United Kingdo 

 ^ ^ tinned raspberries cannot be conceived. 



for fruit more objection 



.0*1* not 



The leaves of maritime plants under the 



Under the auspices of the National Chrysanthemum Society a most interest- 

 ing conference on the above subject was held on the evening of October II, in 



_uL Stephen ' S Hal1 ' R °y al Aquarium. The attendance was large, and prob- 



than 



**TL "Jm * eduction <* chlorophyll acouiring by way of meeting and ^ ^ C/waTrer . reld a ^ '^Z 



**''Zter thickness and a more marked development of the assimi 

 c ^uon a g ea ^.^^ of structurCj although having a tendency to 



injurious action of the salt, is, according to Mr. E. Griffon, 

 I-' he assimilation per unit of surface is always less for the 

 Maritime species than for comparable leaves of the same species 



iota 



inland. 



""*s7r.,lture in Roumania.-In the recently published statistics of the 



nVof the vineyards and plum orchards of Roumania for the year 

 "* *£ 2 area of vines under cultivation is estimated at 380,000 acres, of 



W» tWl thp , nta i v i e M being calculated at 



rteh kss tt 



; ifjb gall 



Jtivatio 

 rftht national 



TV 



,sfiO«llonsoi wine, ui me — » » — — _ L . a ' 



iriwiion of plums is an important industry in Roumania, chiefly on acccount 



CWUV&U r « 1 ■ ■ I • 3 Jnm Kroner r^ll^rl 



01 





• 









• there were estimated to have been about 135,000 acres under cultiva- 

 ,897 planted with plum trees at the rate of about 240 to the acre, but 

 . I00 ' acrC s are estimated to have been productive. The yield was 

 3i a» bushels of plums, of the value of ^130,708. These statistics show 

 ftgtfce rains and floods of last year's season affected the vine-growing districts of 

 fcoutry to the extent of over two-thirds of the total area, the plum-growing 

 baring suffered to about the same extent. 



int Culture has assumed considerable proportions in the United 



_ _ A 



Peppei 



ftfcs cf late years 



•opcnnim 



production 



aromatic crop. In 1897, it was estimated that there were 8,260 acres of 



Over 1,000 acres of this were grown by one man, 

 In the same year, Indiana produced about 165 



(^Congressman A. M. load. 



of peppermint, and New York 275 acres, 

 potable as it used to be. The chances are that, in the future, the culture of this 



The crop is not considered as 



cop will be con< 

 fage appliances 



The total yield of the 



000 



chnsanth 



mum Shows in the London Parks. — Chrysanthemums 



• the control of the London County Council present a promising 

 the displays will be highly attractive when the flowers are 

 The parks in which exhibitions will be held are : Finsbury 



Venice, and 



Uly developed. 



hfk, opened on Saturday last ; Southwark Park and Waterloo Park, opened on 

 Ttanday ; and Battersea Park and Victoria Park to be opened to-day (Saturday.} 

 Orapc Harvest in the City.— The remarkable summer we have just 

 pmA through has, says the City Press % been an unspeakable blessing to the 



Never before have their efforts to make their 



■il»|ardeners of the* City. 



»- - * bill md nnlm wwA- 



One resident in Golden Lane has even had the good fortune to grow a 



f excellent grapes. He has made several attempts, but on each 



firnm occasion has just failed to brL & 



The Starlike Water Lily {NympJaea stellaia) has been much inquired 

 ■» uoce the appearance of the excellent illustration that was given in the 

 •■Watts' Magazine a few weeks since, and both Mr. Hudson and ourselves 

 •»"*ved large numbers of letters relating to it. The majority of our corre- 

 PHfcU appm to be under tilt impression that this beautiful blue water lily, 



teen grown with so much success in an open tank in the Gunnersbury 



' ijj is difficult to obtain. This, however, is not the case, for it may 



° f the P rinci P al nurserymen, good plants being worth about 

 ^•-puaeaeach. 



late Baron von Mueller.-The executors of the late Baron von 



we endeavouring to raise a sum sufficient to defrav tho ™»t n f *k ^ 



P»*e in the St. Xilda Cemetery, Mell 

 jT«e monument is to be of grey granite 



JET™' ^ wU1 stan( i ^ the centre o 

 «tt specimens of the Australian flora 



' Wl Wnnlo. m ,.-..l ... 



lb**? ** and was pr 

 rj*^. together with t 



T** 1 ^ens, Melboun 

 W» of his writings. 



u <la, whence we receiv 

 '^mai, is described 



a Australiensis," upon which he 

 press at the time of his death, 



bracing 



biography and complete 



tot only 



^tilled. 



island 



a part of it is under cultivation, and some of this is but 



Urily about roCO arr« nf * f^fol *g 



^. - cared 



On estates where care and skill are exercised, great 



l * 0 Pponuniri 



Jear • hut r . ~^ u,c UI yieiamg tour crops 



• but many of the cultivators are shiftless, and do not i 



obtained 



' which on , • r—vn*! exports are tomatos, 

 -*Zm2 thC UnUed States ' The last are ( 

 ^ * *ptabU* * ParaSiUc disease which h *s 



* * W ^.^Tott?nif ed) '"~ There has been a recent Chang 



IK. . *» an,i this old-estahlishpri 



some 



in the firm of Mr. 

 business will be known in 

 Mr. Brazendale, so long 

 the managing director of 



Practical Aspects of the Chrysanthemum Rust. 



Mr. Waterer commenced by observing that the disease beca 

 during the autumn of 1897, and it soon became evident that drastic measures 

 would have to be taken to eradicate it. After referring to several diseases that 

 the chrysanthemum suffers from Mr. Waterer briefly described the fungus as like 

 tiny patches of snuff on the under and also upper sides of the leafage, this being 

 followed by a discoloration of the foliage. White Swan, M. E. Andre, Australian 

 Gold, Graphic, Mary Molyneux, and some others were stated to be varieties very 

 liable to disease, while Edith Tabor and others were almost free, and the Davis 

 family proved entirely free from the disease, so far as his observations went. Mr. 

 \\ aterer said he also found the disease upon plum trees, dock leaves, and wild 

 plums near his garden, and he felt sure that its presence there assisted chiefly in 

 its distribution in his collection. He also thought the disease was propagated largely 

 through the potting mixture by means of spores retained in leaf-soil, &c, and 

 considered many of the myriads of spores produced escaped the rubbish heap fire, 

 and continued the mischief. He tried to destroy the spores but could not do so, 

 even by paraffin, soot, brimstone, &c, and by a French decoction that was so 

 abominable that it might even " Kill the devil at a hundred yards." He thought 

 the chief methods of prevention arould consist in keeping the ground clear of all 

 harbouring plants, and frequent syringing with mixtures of any kind that would 

 prevent spore germination. He advised that all fallen leafage should be burned 

 and not allowed to accumulate. 



With regard to the scientific side of the question Mr. Waterer confessed that 

 he did not know much, but so far as his microscopical observations had gone he 

 could scarcely corroborate what Mr. Massee had written in our columns recently 

 with respect to the difference between puccinia spores and teleutospores. Mr. 

 Waterer was attentively listened to and applauded at his conclusion. 



The Scientific Aspects of the Fungus, 



Mr. G. Massee gave a most interesting lecture, showing how fungi have cycles 

 of existence, and that the point for the cultivator of plants attacked by fungi to 

 discover what was the weakest spot in that cycle, and so break the connection and 

 destroy his enemy. After detailing the life history of Puccinia Ilienici, as shown 

 in the Gardeners' Magazine of October 8, Mr. Massee said that the fungus 

 only, and naturally, did the best it could for itself, and its present widespread 

 attack upon chrysanthemums was due to the fact that it had now found a new and 

 congenial host upon which to grow, and it took advantage of the circumstance 

 and lived a happy life. He said that the puccinia was parasitic upon almost all 

 composites, and infested ten genera and thirty species of British plants. It was a 

 well-known fungus, and no new thing, but it had found a new host. Gardeners 

 were themselves very largely to blame for the spread of the disease because they, 

 as a rule, knew so little of fungi growth that only when they saw the fruit or spores 

 did they know the pest was present, whereas, as a matter of fact, the disease had 

 been present for months. He showed how the puccinia spores were shed during 

 summer, and these, falling upon a damp leaf surface, soon germinated, and in 

 about a week were ready to produce fruit themselves ; this method of reproduction 

 continued until the chrysanthemum leaves began to undergo the chemical change 

 inseparable from late autumn and winter, when the fungus — having to continue its 

 species, and not having the means at hand for so doing as had prevailed during the 

 summer — then produced teleutospores or resting spores, and these, falling 

 anywhere, laid low until with the new growth of spring — under natural 

 conditions — it had an opportunity of lighting upon its congenial host, germinated, 

 produced mycelium that ran throughout the leaf tissues, and presently once again 

 set up the puccinia-spore condition. Mr. Massee showed that the weak point in 

 the fungus was that it produced no perennial mycelium, but was dependent upon 

 suitable conditions for the germination of the teleutospores. He strongly advised 

 that all decayed leafage be burned as quickly as possible, and that a house which 

 had contained infested plants should be syringed out with sulphate of iron. Then 

 in spring he advised methods of prevention, and showed that overcrowding should 

 be avoided, while frequent sprayings with sulphide of potassium would effectually 

 prevent any spores from germinating upon the surface treated. He contended 

 that nothing would cure the disease, but the disease could readily be prevented. 

 Mr. Massee was listened to with wrapt attention, and loudly applauded for his 

 able and immensely interesting address. 



Discussion. 



After asking for brief speeches, the chairman 



ieeting 



discussion of the question. 



Mr. Wells, of Earlswood, considered a gardener could as readily destroy a 

 fungus as he could produce a cucumber. He considered chrysanthemum rust was 

 not a fungus. The fungus he thought quite a distinct affair. A tablespoonful of 

 paraffin to a gallon 



and a cure for the fungus. He prescribed a remedy composed of lime, soda, sofc 

 coao flowers of sulphur, and water, but we failed to catch the precise amount of 

 each • this to be thoroughly syringed on to the infested plants over and over again. 

 He did not consider the fungus would ever be a pest to be afraid of by growers, or 

 that it would seriously affect the flowers produced by the plants attacked. Mr. 

 Norman Davis felt that the more he grew chrysanthemums the more he found there 

 was to know about them. Was it right that the spores could not be destroyed by 

 fire ? He thought rain water assisted the development of the disease, as the spores 

 were distributed on the roof and then washed into the rain water tank. He had 

 never seen the chrysanthemum rust until last year, and he thought the dry weather 

 Md been a means of distribution. He also thought the intercrossing had done 

 uch to weaken the constitution of chrysanthemums and so predisposed them to 

 disease Mr T Bevan remarked that a couple of years ago the fungus was raging 

 in France, and he thought the pest might be an introduction from thence in plants 

 "1 Mr H Cannell showed that the disease needed certain conditions to 

 enable it to propagate, and he thought the dry season was conducive to its increase, 

 but that ordinary-English summers would prove almost fatal to its general spread. 

 Mr H T Tones also spoke briefly. 



Mr' Massee in reply, said they were all agreed as to the existence of a fungus 

 on the ' chrysanthemum, and he thought the theory of distribution by rain water 

 from house roofs a most plausible one. As to the introduction of the pest from 

 17,™,.* that was beegine the question, as the pest existed in the held, common, 

 * ran , ce '_ ma _ ZIa ;r,h?,ndance. the hawkweeds beine especially subiect to its 



