238 
FLORA AND SYLVA 
the way for the maturing seed ; or where 
the great white spathes are thrust into 
the sunhght by scores and hundreds 
together, shining in twihght or in 
deeply-shaded nooks with an almost 
luminous brightness, in which the great 
moths hover ; and last, as their beauty 
fades to the final scene, great heads of 
seed gather and swell, until even the 
stout stem can bear no more and the 
crowded mass is buried in the mud pre- 
pared by rotted leaves, to form another 
colony beside the parent, or to be 
scattered here and there at random by 
the flowing water : to see the Arum 
thus is to realise something of its value 
as an aid to beauty. Though common 
enough in the south of Europe, or in 
Madeira, where the Giant White Arum, 
tall as a man, grows in such profusion | 
as to form the food of swine, such a 
scene is all too rare in Britain, and is 
confined to the warmest districts and 
most sheltered gardens. Still, it is cer- 
tain that far more might be done to 
its free enjoyment in ways we shall 
suggest, and there seems to be no reason | 
(save their scarcity) why some of the 
handsome yellow kinds should not be 
finely used in many a sheltered garden. 
In the warmer States of America, and in 
Europe — even to Germany — yellow 
kinds are flowered freely in the borders, 
and their roots stored dry in winter, 
their beauty being thus brought within 
the reach of many to whom their enjoy- 
ment as hothouse plants is impossible. 
As they become more plentiful, we shall 
doubtless hear of their use in this way 
(at least as an experiment) in English | 
gardens. 
Disease ^^^^^^ recent years the 
Richardia has contracted 
" soft-rot," a disease which attacks the 
plants when about to flower. It is char- 
acterised by a slimy decay of the root 
and stems near the ground level, the 
I plant sometimes falling over almost 
without warning and at others failing 
by slow stages in which the leaves turn 
spotted and the flowers brown and shriv- 
elled. From study of this pest inAmerica 
(where the plants are often grown in 
vast masses) it has been proved to be 
the work ofbacteria,destructive not only 
to the Richardia but to many choice 
vegetables, and it is therefore important 
to destroy all diseased plants lest they 
should infect other crops. The disease 
is readily detected in growing plants 
by the soft watery tissue and brown 
flesh of the tubers which should be firm 
and white ; in dormant roots it is less 
easy torecognise,occurringas dry darker 
patches on the surface which often lie 
dormant for months if deprived of con- 
ditions favourable to activity. The best 
defence is air and bright sunlight — 
which destroys the germs in a few min- 
utes ; plants grown thickly in a dull 
light always suffer most. Growing them 
well apart in full sunlight, with free 
ventilation and some roasting of the 
corms during summer, appears to be the 
surest way of avoiding disease. 
The following kinds are now in culti- 
vation : — 
R. Ad/ami. — A plant of minor interest for 
gardens, though distinct and of great vigour. 
It was sent out by M. Max Leichtlin of Baden 
in 1898, and differs little from others of the 
family, save its white spathes, which are short 
and widely open, with a large blotch of violet- 
