216 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ lOrsi S4, ms. 
ever they chance to alight upon, and al%o that the resting spores 
resultant from disease upon the Potatoes may in the next season be 
the origin of disease upon the Tomatoes and vu:e verm. 
Now to the practical question of remedies or preventives, for 
the above premises being admitted as facts, we may as certainly 
look for the annual reappearance of the disease upon Tomatoes, as 
past experience has taught us we must do upon the Potatoes. 
Fortunately we have in the ammoniacal solution of carbonate of 
copper a most certain and efficient preventive if applied early in 
July before the disease has appeared and continuously afterwards 
through the season at intervals of ten or twelve days. As a proof 
of this I will describe my own experience last season. 
Early in the summer I filled a large house with Tomatoes in 
pots. These grew rapidly and most vigorously for about three 
months, during which time they had set a heavy crop of fruit. 
Jiefore any disease presented itself, which was not until late in 
July, I had gathered a consideraVjle quantity of fine, well-ripened 
fruits of remarkably f'fxjd flavour, and the house at that time was 
a Vxiautiful picture, admired by all who saw it. When the disease 
did appear, owing to the several facts—firstly, that rain was falling 
almost daily ; secondly, the roof being very flat and far from 
watertight, there was almost constant drip therefrom in and 
amongst the foliage ; and thirdly, that I was unable to keep up 
any regular supply of heat in the hot-water pipes—it spread most 
rapidly. 
Having read in the Jourml of Horticulture of the value of the 
carbonate of copper solution, I determined to give it a trial, and 
therefore applied to the wholesale drug stores, but was told Vjy 
them that they kept the copper sulphate but not the copper 
carbonate. I also saw in the Journal a method by which the 
sulphate may be converted into carbonate, I prrx^eded to pot 
it into practice as follows. I purchased 4 IVvs. of sulphate of copper 
and 4 lbs. of ordinary washing soda. I placed the sulphate in a 
wooden vessel and added thereto 9 gallons of hot water, stirring 
this vigorously until the sulphate was all dissolved. I then placed 
the soda in another vessel and dissr^lved it with a similar quantity 
of hot wat<.r. After allowing the two solutions to stand a sufficient 
time for the water to beojme cold, I poured the soda solution into 
the vessfd (y^ntaining the copper, stirring well to thoroughly mix 
the two srjlutions, the effect of this l>eing to cause the sulphur to 
part from the ctjppar, the former floating as a thick yellow scum on 
the surface of the water, whilst the latter settled to the Ixjttom, 
having the appearance of a thickish brown mud. 
The vessel was then covered with V^oards and left to stand 
quietly for twenty-four hours to give time for (yjrnpleting the 
partition and settling, after which the water with the floating 
yellow sf;um was most carefully poured off, leaving the sediment 
undisturbed. This was then collected in a pail and placed near the 
fire until the water was all evaporated, leaving it a dry, hard cake 
of a brownish orange cfjlour, this being the carlx»nate of copper 
required, and which was stored away for use as require^l. This 
carbonate of copper is insoluble in water, but soluble in liquid 
ammonia. In using it I dissolved 2 ozh. of the carlxmate in one 
pint of liquid ammonia, and mixed this in 20 gallons of water, 
keeping it well stirred up Uj prevent any settling and applying it 
as a fine spray with the syringe, using a jet thereon instead of a 
rose end, and breaking the jet into fine spray with the forefinger 
of the left hand. 
Iluring the time necessarily taken up in obtaining and preparing 
these materials the d/sease had spread itself so rapidly that there 
was not a leaf upon the plants unatta/;ked, and the zoospores were 
being produwid in such vast numbers tliat on commencing te cut 
away the greater part of the foliage they might l>e seen flying off 
in clouds. In spite of all these, however, the disease ceased te 
spread after the first spraying, and T cfjntinued throughout the 
remainder of the Hnni^on to spray at intervals of ten or twelve 
days, thus [protecting the young foliage as formed. I was soon 
able to clear away every leaf showing disease, and late in the 
autumn I had the house again well furnished with healthy clean 
foliage, and also, which was of more value, a good second crop of 
fruit, which continued ripening satisfactorily until crjnsiderably 
after Christmas. I have thus given as clearly as I can the methods 
I followed with the results, and the deductions I liave myself 
drawn from them are that by wnirnencing the sprayings with this 
arnrnoniacal solution of carbonate of copper early in July, before 
the disease has shown itself upon the foliage, I can practically bid 
•lefiance therete, as 1 liave proved most surely that its spores cannot 
germinate on foliage thus protected. 
'I’he li irdeaux mixture, consisting of a solution of sulpliate of 
copper and lime, is too astringent, and is found injurious to the 
young tender foliage, but the A. carbonate solution seems te liave 
no injurious effects whatever. 
Referring to “ VV. W.’s ” list of varieties I have grown Ilam 
(Ireen extensively, and believe none excels it in point of flavour ; 
bat a« useful and most productive market varieties I prefer Hack- 
wood Park, and also a great y improved form of Earliest of All, 
raised by Mr. H. Bell, Earl Howe .Street, Leicester, and named by 
him Bell's Defiance. This is of more vigorous habit than is the 
original type, equally early and free, and produces handsome smooth 
fruits thicker and much more free from the objectionable corruga¬ 
tions than the original. I have growm the yellow variety in the 
possession of Mr. E. D. .Smith, and have a very high opinion of 
its value. It is much the same type of growth, earlier, and free 
in fruiting, as are the best types of Earliest of All, the fruits 
being somewhat smaller, but very numerous.—W. K. W. 
YOUNG VERSUS OLD VINE RODS. 
Without committing myself tethe assertion, or even admitting 
that young Tines are always to be preferred to old ones, I am yet 
of opinion that a change of rod is desirable more often than it is 
practised, even by many of our most experienced growers. All 
the while the old stems and rods continue to increase in thickness 
and present a natural or bark-enclosed appearance there may be no 
necessity to change this state of affairs, and a good example of 
wliat can be done in the way of building up and sustaining Tines in 
the liest of health and productiveness may be seen at Longleat, or 
within view of where I am now writing. But where one such 
instance can be met with twenty other vineries would disclose a 
very different result. One of the principal causes of injury to some 
Tine rods has l>een the time-honoured, but most faulty, practice of 
annually scraping and dressing the rods with a strong compound ; 
this unnatural proceeding lias a most paralysing effect. Had not 
clay been used very freely in the concoction of many of the dress¬ 
ings, the ill effects of .severely scraping the rods would liave been 
even more quickly apfiarent ; but no amount of clay or any other 
artificial covering would compensate for the loss of the thick, 
porous, moisture-holding bark. The natural and inevitable result 
of baring the inner cr latest-formed bark te all vicissitudes of 
weather is a cessation of all further healthy enlargement of stem 
or rod, and it has been conclusively proved by txpeHa that many of 
the old rods actually contract with age, this naturally checking a 
free circulation of sap, and, whether rightly or wrongly, it is 
considered a frequent cause of shanking. 
Nolxidy knows the age of the Tines in the Black Hamburgh 
house under my cliarge, and all I can learn about them Is that they 
are very old, being planted longer than anyone connected with the 
place can remember. Had I been in a position to form a fresh 
border and plant new Tines the old ones would certainly have been 
rooted out, for nothing could have been worse than the plight they 
were in. I never met with a worse case of shanking, light cropping 
only slightly preventing this. We have not wholly stopped shank¬ 
ing, but laying in fresh rods to take the place of the old ones and 
root-lifting soon restored matters to a more satisfactory state, and 
those old Tines wiU doubtless survive many years longer. 
There are also numerous instances where the rods are in a 
fairly or even perfectly well clothed and healthy state, and yet a 
change may be desirable. Being of considerable age, and regularly 
moderately or closely pruned, they gradually become furnished 
with spurs that must be anything but good channels for conducting 
a flow and return of sap, the crops being so much the p>oorer 
accordingly. Then, again, those old spurs are apt to become far 
teo long te be either pleasing te the eye or economical of space, 
and a change is therefore desirable. Bawing a few of these spurs 
at a time not unfrequently leads to the formation of fresh young 
growths from near the main rod, thus laying the foundation of 
new spurs ; but, as a rule, it is a better plan to change the reds 
as well as the spurs. There ought not to be any rief;essity 
te cut out old rods till strong young ones are ready te take their 
place, preparing these occupying from two to four years, according 
te circumstances. The quickest way te refurnish a house with 
young rods without any loss of crop is te lay in a young growth at 
the lower part of the old rod, and another half way up the roof, 
removing a few spurs or laterals, if need he, in order to favour the 
development of the young canes, the latter being stopped suffi¬ 
ciently early te insure the proper swelling of whatever length is 
made. Borne Tines would be capable of forming a rod stout 
enough te be fruited half way up the roof during the next season, 
reaching the top during the following year. In other cases it 
would, as before hinted, take three or four seasons for a full 
length rod te bo formed. J'he present is the time for deciding on 
the requisite growtlis for extension. 
These young rods must not be heavily cropped at the outset, or 
they will perhaps fail to progress satisfactorily, and it need hardly 
be stated that the lower spurs, or the greater portion of them, must 
be removed acwrding as the young canes require all the space. 
I prefer to train the young cants directly over the old ones, and 
