September 6, 18S8. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
211 
attacked to a much more serious extent than has been the case for 
the past nine or ten years, and the same may be said of those that 
were forced. Early this season mildew made its appearance outside 
before the flower trusses were above the foliage. This was due to 
the drought, for the plants displayed signs of suffering before 
heavy rains fell in June. A careful examination of the plants 
proves that cold wet weather is not favourable to the growth of 
mildew, but has had the opposite effect. Its ravages on the foliage 
I are still visible, but it practically succumbed after rain commenced 
falling. Carefully noting the plants indoors and the atmospheric 
conditions under which it luxuriated indicates the same fact. The 
pest was at home on plants arranged close to the glass where the 
| atmosphere was hot and dry, while in small houses with the plants 
some distance from the glass and in a moist temperature it scarcely 
made its appearance. 
When plants are grown in large numbers outside the labour 
! that would be required to destroy or even check mildew would 
render the work impossible, but when grown only on a moderate 
scale it could be stamped out without difficulty. It should be 
destroyed on plantations from which runners are layered, then 
considerable labour and loss would be avoided during the forcing 
season. Once the fruits are attacked they are nearly valueless^ 
for they present a dull shrivelled appearance. Very seldom do the 
plants become so badly infested outside as to destroy the fruit to 
the same extent as is the case with fruit inside when the atmo¬ 
sphere is of such a nature to encourage its growth. If allowed to 
spread until the spores float about in the air of the house its 
destruction is a hopeless task. When it reaches this stage, which it 
quickly does, dipping and syringing with insecticides is of no use. 
Where mildew was not destroyed on the plants from which the 
*tock for forcing has been raised, attention must be devoted to 
them during the winter to avoid an attack in the spring. 
Some varieties of Strawberries do not fall a ready prey to mildew, 
therefore it will only be necessary to operate upon such varieties as 
Sir Joseph Paxton, President, and others. Vicomtesse Hericart de 
Thury appears to be proof against it, for I have never seen a trace 
upon it; even solitary plants associated with numbers of Sir Joseph 
Paxton kept perfectly clean while every one of the latter were 
attacked. The best method is to select fine settled weather and 
thoroughly syringe the plants with a solution of flowers of sulphur 
and water. A 4-inch potful of sulphur stirred into 4 gallons of 
water will be strong enough to kill this pest if a few fine bright days 
follow ; but one application may not prove sufficient to insure them 
^against an attack in spring, though I have scarcely ever known it fail 
or been troubled with mildew when the work has been properly 
done and the plants have the treatment they require during the 
forcing season. Last summer our plants of Sir Joseph Paxton for 
forcing displayed very little signs of mildew, consequently they 
were not syringed, and they suffered severely in spring. When 
dipping them, as we advised last autumn, before starting as 
a remedy against aphides and red spider we stirred sulphur into 
the solution, and on none of these plants did mildew make its 
appearance, but in every instance the plants of this variety that 
were not dipped suffered more or less according to the position they 
occupied and the amount of humidity that could be maintained in 
the atmosphere. In the future our plants will be syringed while 
they are outside if any trace of mildew is to be found on them, for 
the work as well as the solution is simple, and a large number of 
plants can be done in a very short time. Sulphur applied in this 
manner does the plants no harm. Dipping before starting the 
plants certainly takes longer, but those who practise it will find 
the time occupied well spent. Mildew on outside plants can be 
readily destroyed with the same solution. 
When the plants are attacked in the forcing house no half 
measures must be adopted, or the fruit will be injured, if not 
Tuined, in a very short time. For instance, if the plants are 
attacked just as they coming into flower—very often it shows itself 
at this stage—and they are left until the fruit is set, the plants may 
as well be thrown away. Often the flowers fail to set, and even if 
they do set they never swell kindly afterwards, the seeds only appear 
to grow, while the flesh is hard and never colours properly. I have 
seen it stated recently that a large grower removed a good portion 
of the foliage as a preventive. Such a remedy is nearly as bad as 
the disease, but I doubt very much that any such practice would 
be followed. It is far easier to believe that the foliage was at¬ 
tacked and the leaves removed in the early stages of its growth to 
stop it spreading to such an extent as to ruin the fruit. It can be 
kept under by this means if taken in time before it has perfected 
spores that are driven in every direction by the slightest movement 
of the air in the structure. I have tried nearly all the popular 
insecticides, and they are practically useless for arresting its 
progress, even at a strength that will injure the fruit and plants. 
I he only certain cure is to dip the plants, or syringe them 
thoroughly with the solution I have recommended, and if left on 
the foliage two fine bright days it will prove effectual. If possible 
this should be done before they flower, directly the first speck can 
be seen. If it shows itself when sufficient fruits are set for a crop 
the whole may be dipped or syringed, fruit as well as foliage. 
When the fruit is ripe no trace of the sulphur will be found adher¬ 
ing to it if they are thoroughly and liberally syringed with clean 
water. Until last season we should have hesitated to put into force 
such a practice, but some plants were so badly attacked that it 
would have ruined the fruit. Having nothing to lose we tried the 
course I have pointed out, and with good results, for it saved the 
crop, the fruit being a good colour, but not quite so large as it 
otherwise would have been. 
This mildew will not spread on Yines, so that anyone having 
plants attacked in a vinery need not be alarmed. Some bunches 
hanging closely over infested plants certainly showed traces on the 
small berries that fell out when the bunches were shaken after the 
berries commenced swelling, but no trace could be found on the 
others. —Wm. Bakdney. 
BORDER CARNATIONS. 
In some districts and on some soils these seem to flourish with¬ 
out much attention. Old plants with an annual dressing of loam 
will grow for years in the same place and make huge clumps ; but 
such treatment will not answer in all soils and situations, as many 
gardeners and amateurs can testify to their cost. The compost in 
our Carnation beds is specially prepared for them, yet we dare not 
trust to old plants left undisturbed all the winter. Even the old 
common red Clove presents a miserable appearance in spring, and 
more than half of them die if left in the beds in winter ; and this 
applies to plants only a year old. 
Last autumn, when taking up the young layered plants, we 
decided to lift the old plants also and transplant them ; but, not¬ 
withstanding this was carefully done and fresh loam placed round 
their roots, they have again failed. Many of them died in spring, 
and none is satisfactory. Such plants are also very deceptive. 
They look well all the winter, but when the season is a little 
advanced and the sun gains power they suddenly collapse, and the 
bed which ought to afford interest and pleasure is a source of 
annoyance and disappointment. Wire worms are very destructive 
to Carnations, and plants attacked by them will go off in much the 
same way as described above, but they are not the cause of the 
disease under notice. If the old stems are uncovered and examined 
early in the spring they will be found longitudinally split, and 
unless the wound be very recent there will be multitudes of small 
white maggots ; but they are not the cause but the effect of the 
wound—they are such as can be seen in any decaying vegetable 
matter. This is no new disease, but the query is, Why should it be 
so prevalent in some districts and so seldom in others, and these 
often in close proximity to each other ? At one time I considered 
it was entirely the soil at fault, and there is no doubt that cold 
close heavy soil very much aggravates the evil ; but having 
thoroughly drained and filled the beds with a specially prepared 
compost with no better results, I am convinced there must be some 
other exciting cause, and this conclusion is confirmed by the fact 
that not many years ago border Carnations flourished and grew 
into huge clumps here without any attention whatever. But this 
was before my arrival, and it is a point I cannot understand, 
because our soil is naturally heavy, cold, and wet, resting on a .hard 
impervious clay. 
Perhaps correspondents can throw some light on this erratic 
behaviour of border Carnations. In the meantime I would advise 
those troubled with this kind of disease to layer without delay all 
the stems which are long enough and to make the short ones into 
cuttings. If these are dibbled into a half-spent hotbed covered 
with 4 inches of light sandy soil and half an inch of sand on the 
top they will be rooted in a month. The frame must be kept shut 
and shaded during the day, but a little air should be put on in the 
evening, as if kept too confined they are liable to damp off at 
bottom, and sometimes they will grow at top, which is detrimental 
to root formation. When rooted they should be potted either 
singly in thumbs or in pairs in 4-inch pots, using three parts loam 
and one part each of leaf mould, Mushroom bed manure, and sand. 
After potting return them to a cold frame and keep close for a few 
days until they have taken to the fresh soil, after which they must 
have plenty of air all through the winter. They should, if 
possible, be plunged in cocoa-nut fibre or other light material about 
an inch above the rims of the pots with their tops about 6 inches 
from the glass. The light should be drawn entirely off except in 
very severe weather, and even then a little air will be beneficial, 
the object being to prevent their growing as much as possible, for 
being easily excited they will make small weak growths if kept too 
confined, and then no one need expect good results to follow. 
Those layered should be also potted in autumn, or, what we have 
