370 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 2S, 1884. 
to suit my own fancy, which adds very much to the pleasure of 
growin" them. I have, of course, seen large trees grown as 
“H. W. H.” describes; but the fault which I find with that 
system is that you have too many fruit ripe at one time and it is 
soon all gone, whereas by pot culture and a judicious choice of 
sorts you may prolong the season and have a good supply of 
fruit for a succession of weehs. My advice, then, to persons 
of small means and limited space would be, By all means have 
an orchard house as affording the most useful result and the 
greatest amount of pleasure. 
If you want to keep your trees clean syringe the leaves on 
the right side. Many gardeners seem to imagine that they have 
done this when they wet the upper surface, but the enemy is 
concealed beneath, and no amount of water on the upper surface 
will dislodge him. The syringe which I use is one originally 
made by Tylor. It was not, however, sufficiently appreciated, 
and they no longer keep it in stock. It draws water for itself 
through an indiarubber tube 5 feet long, and has a nozzle with 
a moveable joint, which when turned at right angles sends the 
water under the leaves. I would not be without it on any account. 
—Senex. 
POTATO CULTURE AND POTATO DISEASE- 
SCIENCE VERSUS PRACTICE. 
The very witty paper of Mr. Worthington Smith in the issue of the 
Dth inst. induces me to ask you to find room for some further disserta¬ 
tions on a kindred subject; though when I tell you that I am one of 
the “ignorant crotchetmongers” who ventured to compete for the grand 
prize of £100 therein referred to, and was consequently a contributor to 
these essays, “ all of which were of course so feeble or atrociously bad 
that the prize was necessarily altogether withheld,” I have grave doubts 
as to your compliance. Still (if you will allow me) as some sort of 
justification for the fatuity that led me to write, and after this lapse of 
time leads me to own to it, I would urge that I was at that time under a 
delusion—the delusion that the object of the prize given was, if possible, 
to obtain such practical information as might be utilised in the repression 
or amelioration of the Potato disease rather than a conglomeration of 
abstruse scientific terms and disquisitions, which in effect would merely 
leave the matter where they found it. Consequently I neglected my 
nids and spores and oospores, and contented myself with a record of 
different experiments I had made, and what I had gleaned from them, 
with speculative arguments as to the nature of the disease founded upon 
analogical data. And here was the mistake I made. Practical infor¬ 
mation as to the conditions most favourable to the spread of the disease, 
as also those which made it possible altogether to neutralise its ravages, 
were at a discount, it was only the unveiling of the occult mysteries 
attending its procreation and birth that could find favour. 
Now do not let it be thought that I treat lightly the teachings of 
science, far from it; still in some cases the teachings of practice are at 
least equally valuable. For instance, few can fail to be interested in 
what entomologists tell us is the life history of the aphis—its series of 
viviparous generations, &c., &o. Yet when I was in charge of the houses 
at my father’s nursery the practical information that tobacco smoke and 
tobacco water would check the ravages of these interesting creatures was of 
far more consequence to me than their method of procreation. Thus when 
I learned that the coveted prize of £100 was to be offered to a foreign 
savant to induce him to fathom the mysteries pertaining to Peronospora 
infestans, I ventured to predict to the numerous friends who kindly 
condoled with me upon my egregious failure, that the learned fungologist 
would never tell us enough about it to enable us to check the Potato 
disease, and even ridiculed to them the learned Council who so 
hastily assumed that the fungoid parasite was necessarily a cause when it 
was possibly only a consequence. Of course I was rash, but the pre¬ 
diction was not far. wrong ; and there is something to be said about 
consequence versus cause even yet, though if the oospores discovered by 
Mr. Worthington Smith are able to reproduce themselves and transmit 
the disease (as it is called) to successive generations of plants, it is almost 
overwhelming evidence in favour of cause. 
Those who, like myself, have been used to force Cucumbers and Roses 
in the early months of the year know how easily a house of either may 
be infested with mildew—stimulated too much with liquid manure, 
exposure for a few minutes to a cold east wind, and frosts. There it is, 
and the luxuriant growth gives place to leaves whose every pore is 
clogged by its parasitic enemy. Now is this unnatural and diseased state 
of the plants caused by the interference of the mildew with their natural 
functions, or is the mildew apparent only because the sudden check to 
the over-stimulated growth has induced such derangement of the tissues 
as to encourage abnormal development in the parasitic form ? Also how 
is it that the Scotch Champion Potato, for example, obtained direct from 
the north of Scotland, is perfectly vigorous and shows no disease, while 
after a few years spent in a more enervating climate it is much less 
robust, and its tubers diseased are plentifully infested by the parasitic 
Peronospora ? This I have seen repeatedly and over many acres where 
examples of the robust and weakly were grown side by side. Now was 
the disease in the one the consequence of weakened constitution or not ? 
If not, why did not the attacking Peronospora creep out of one trench 
into another and serve all alike 1 This, by the way, for young gardeners 
to think over, 
In my discarded essay I advanced the theory that the disease did not, 
as was then believed, make its way down the stalk after attacking the 
foliage, but that the spores carried by the air or rain made a direct 
attack upon the tubers, and this, I believe, now is generally accepted as 
true. I also detailed the results of numerous experiments, some of which 
proved that it was possible to save from attack any portion of a field or 
garden however bad the disease might present itself, though unfortunately 
the means employed would be impracticable upon a large scale. Since 
then in a desultory way I have tried further experiments, chiefly in 
corroboration of those narrated, and I have, though laying no claim to 
scientific attainments, learned enough of the predisposing causes of the 
disease and the mode of its procedure to say that practically I can 
retard or accelerate its progress either upon land of one kind or other 
(that is in seasons when the disease is prevalent), and dare undertake 
from one tuber to cut four sets, one of which, planted on land where 
nearly all decay, shall produce sound tubers, while the other close by has 
nearly all rotten ; and the remaining sets planted on land where the 
disease is almost unknown shall have one root practically worthless, 
while the other is sound. But I am already intruding on your space, so 
conclude by remarking that, partly favoured by circumstances and greatly 
by the experience I made an effort to relate in 1873, I have never even 
in the worst years of the disease been without a fair crop of sound 
Potatoes, and never had to replace, since I knew what a. Potato was, 
the dish of this favourite esculent by any other vegetable,—W. 
Godwin, jun. 
DINNER-TABLE DECORATION. 
I THINK “ W. B.” has done good service in calling attention to 
this very important subject, and also in wishing for the ideas of other 
“young scribes,” for there is no doubt that much useful inforrnation 
may be widely diffused through the medium of this Journal if the 
young men to whom this kind of work is generally entrusted will 
help each other, by recording in its pages the result of their experi¬ 
ence. This matter requires the most artistic abilities of the gardener, 
especially where there is a succession of parties, rendering it necessary 
to have totally different styles of arrangement to give variety on 
each occasion, and when perhaps the materials at command are very 
limited ; but it is surprising what good results may often be obtained 
by the most common materials when the arrangement is artistically 
designed and ingeniously carried out. 
What may be called a golden rule in dinner-table decoration is 
always to have some distinct feature in each arrangement. If a design 
is worked out in coloured leaves let them be used in such quantities 
and in such a way as to give colour and effect to the whole. If cut 
flowers are used for filling glasses or epergnes let them forrn the 
prominent feature of the arrangement, and sometimes let plants, either 
large or small, supply colour, grace, and beauty. One of the most 
popular ways of decorating a dinner table is to use rather tall trumpet¬ 
shaped glasses with projecting arms, which support smaller cups or 
trumpets around the central one, and a rather wide dish-like base. 
The dish should be arranged with the largest flowers, using as much 
as possible those that show to the best advantage when the eye looks 
down upon them. Allamandas, Dipladenias, upright-growing Roses, 
Chrysanthemums, and Camellias are all good for the purpose, with a 
few sprays of some light material to take off the stiffness ; but it is 
not necessary to make the base particularly light when you have a 
tier of smaller glasses above. The arrangement of these should 
always be extremely light and graceful ; nothing approaching stiff¬ 
ness or heaviness is allowable. The flowers used should be of the 
lightest description, such as Bouvardias, Jasmines, Begonias, 
Plumbagos, Ericas, and Epacrises, with a few Grasses intermixed, 
and a light fringe of Adiantum or Pteris serrulata, to which might be 
added a few sprays of Fuchsias, Begonia fuchsioides, or any other 
small pendulous flowers. When the above plan is well carried out 
there is nothing to surpass it for elegance and beauty. It is also a 
style that finds great favour with the judges at many of the best 
exhibitions. 
A very pretty effect can also be obtained by using small plants 
or Ferns placed in glass, silver, or china ornaments, and dotted about 
at regular intervals on the table, with one large plant and a few 
smaller ones tastefully arranged in a bowl for the centre. There are 
numbers of plants suitable for the purpose. I will mention a few 
that I have found particularly so : Pandanus Veitchii, P. utilis, and 
P. elegantissimus, Dracaenas terminalis, ignea, and congesta. Crotons 
angustifolius and Chelsonii, Asparagus plumosus nanus, Cyperus 
alternifolius and variegatus (struck from tops), Grevillea robusta, and 
Caladium argyrites. Aralias Veitchii and gracilis are often used on 
account of their lightness, but one great objection to them is the dull 
colour of their leaves, which do not look well by artificial light. The 
best Aralia I know for the pm-pose is A. leptophylla, which has the 
same style of growth as A. Veitchii, with leaves of a fresh green 
colour. 
When the arrangement consists principally of leaves there is 
plenty of scope for variety of colour and design. A surprisingly 
beautiful effect can be produced by the green, variegated, and 
