THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 11 
174 
germ diseases of animals. The pear tree that has had 
the fire blight to resist may overcome the same dis¬ 
ease in its new shoois, but the proof is not in sight.” 
When to Spray. —“ Shall we wait for a sure sign 
before beginning to spray, or shall we do it on gen¬ 
eral principles ? If so, when is the best time to go 
at it ?” 
“ In spraying, it is folly, as a rule, to delay until the 
signs of the disease are seen. Such a rule may do in 
human warfare, when the aim is steady and the am¬ 
munition is low ; but it will not answer in the spray¬ 
ing of plants. In the latter case, the idea is to place 
upon the surface a thin coating of a substance harm¬ 
less to the plant, but harmful to the spores that are 
already there or may soon alight. The whole plan is 
to prevent inoculation, and not to cure a disease al¬ 
ready at work. On this account, it is best to begin 
spraying before the plant has any leaves or buds 
ready for the attack, and this may be in Winter or 
early Spring. Some plants, as the peach, can be 
sprayed with safety in Winter, while they may be in¬ 
jured if the tender leaves are unfolded. It is not un¬ 
likely a good thing to spray the soil in a tomato or 
bean field to kill off the germs that may be there 
ready to get upon the plants. In short, spray as a 
preventive, spray early, and if the season is rainy, 
spray the more.” 
“ Are there any plant diseases that spread from one 
family to another ? For example, practically the 
same kind of rot may attack potatoes and tomatoes ; 
but, as I understand it, this same disease would not 
be likely to'attack cabbage or beans. I would like to 
know whether there are any diseases that can cut 
across corners in that way.” 
“There are many plant diseases that go from one 
family to another ; but, as a rule, they are confined 
within certain limits. The rusts of the Apple family, 
in one of their forms, grow upon the Pine family. 
Thus the Apple rust comes from the galls that grow 
upon the cedar trees, and apple and cedar trees are 
widely separated. The Wheat rust has one form upon 
the barberry bush, and the same is true of many 
other fungi with two or more forms, and host plants. 
There are instances in which diseases with only one 
known form infest widely different host plants. This 
is shown in the rots of many fruits, as the ripe rot of 
apple and grape. Some of the anthracnoses are com¬ 
mon to such widely related plants as beans and cu¬ 
cumbers ” 
Sulphur, Lime, Bordeaux.— “ What is the best 
that can be said about sulphur for curing plant dis¬ 
eases? Just what is its value in this connection ?” 
“ Sulphur, in one sense, is an old fungicide, haviDg 
been long used to dust indoor roses for the mildew. 
The fumes of it are destructive to fungi. When used 
in the soil, sulphur has proved effective in checking 
the scab in round potatoes, and given good results 
when used as a remedy for the soil rot of sweet pota¬ 
toes. It has been used for Onion smut with profit. 
One of the obj actions to it as a remedy for leaf dis¬ 
eases is the difficulty of applying the powder and 
keeping it in place. It is superseded by liquid fungi¬ 
cides for aerial applications in the open.” 
“ Has lime alone any real curative properties ? 
Will it cure any disease germs that may be already 
in the soil ?” 
“ Lime has a fungicidal effect in the case of the 
club-root of the cabbage and turnip that makes it 
practically a specific. At the rate of 25 to 35 bushels 
per acre of airslaked stone lime have, in my experi¬ 
ments, eradicated the germs from badly-infested soil, 
and made it possible to grow 10 successive crops of 
turnips upon the same land without any additional 
applications of the lime. It may be remarked that 
lime increases the scab upjn the round potato, while 
sulphur is inactive with the club-root germ.” 
“ Is there any general medicine better than Bor¬ 
deaux ? ” 
“ There is no general fungicide that is better than 
the Bordeaux Mixture.” 
“ Will you explain why and how Bordeaux cures 
diseases ? Is it the copper that does the business, and 
does it destroy the disease germs and diseased parts ? 
Or does it stimulate the growth of the cells, so that 
they resist and grow away from the disease ? ” 
“It is the copper in the compound that is most ef¬ 
fective as a fungicide. This either destroys the disease 
germs, or holds them inactive. A very small amount 
of copp?r is able to arrest or prevent the growth of 
fungous spores. There is very little in the idea of the 
mixture acting as a stimulus, thus causing the cells to 
overcome the disease. The great stimulus to plant 
growth is the sunlight which, with heat, air and soil- 
water, forms the ordinary conditions of plant growth. 
Artificial stimuli are in the nature of additional or 
excessive food elements, as nitrogen applied to the 
soil and taken into the plants through the roots ” 
“ Will it pay to spray or dip into any mixture, the 
roots of cabbage, tomatoes, or similar plants, when 
first set out ? ” 
“ Some experiments along this line have been at¬ 
tempted, but without satisfactory results. Tomato 
growers sometimes dip their plants in Bordeaux, or 
wet the ball of earth, but the results have been diverse 
and not conclusive. My own experience with cabbage 
is that plants started in limed land will have much 
less club-root than those grown frem the seed in so l 
infested with the club-root. When the disease is above 
ground, there is less hope of satisfactory results from 
the dipping.” _ H. w. C. 
IMPROVING STRAWBERRIES BY SELECTION. 
TO WHAT EXTENT IS IT POSSIBLE ? 
We often have questions from our fruit-growing readers who 
ask whether it is possible to improve varieties of strawberries by 
selection. Most strawberry grow-ers seem to select their plants for 
setting, from matted rows, picking out vigorous plants only, of 
course knowing little about their pedigree. Some growers appear 
to’think that the superiority of certain plants is due chiefly to their 
environment, that is, the culture and care which they have re¬ 
ceived. Our own observation seems to show that no plant or 
berry can be induced to continue to improve after it has reached 
ideal treatment, that is, after it receives just the food and mois¬ 
ture and other conditions that it needs. Then it seems to be at 
its best,.and no amount of selection can improve it. Unless you 
give these best plants the best of care, they will deteriorate, and 
other plants taken from them will not be equal to them, unless 
they are equally well cared for. In other words, with the straw¬ 
berry and most other fruits, is it not more a question of care and 
feeding than of pedigree 1 
Largely by Care and Feeding.— It is very diffi¬ 
cult to answer the questions contained in your in¬ 
quiry concerning the improvement of strawberries by 
means of selection. Two things are concerned in the 
problem : First, variation ; second, selection, to per¬ 
petuate those variations. Variations are induced by 
the environments in which the plants are grown ; 
that is, good cultivation, poor cultivation, rich soil, 
poor soil, tend to make the plants different. As a mat¬ 
ter of practice, we desire only those differences or 
variations which have been produced by good soil and 
good treatment. When these variations once appear, 
by selecting young plants from the o'd plants which 
please us most, we perpetuate that particular varia¬ 
tion. I should say, therefore, in answer to your 
question, that strawberries are improved both by 
causing them to vary in the desired directions, and 
then by selecting the variations which arise. In my 
opinion, the variations are induced very largely by 
the care and feeding which the plants receive. 
Cornell University. [prof.] l h. bailey. 
Strawberry Bud Variation Slight. —Bud vari¬ 
ations have been shown to be common with certain 
plants, and to be often quite marked. This is true of 
apples, peaches and plums. With such fruits, im¬ 
provement by bud selection is altogether feasible. I 
do not mean to recommend this means of originating 
new varieties in general; but it is well worth attention 
in keeping standard varieties up to standard. With 
the strawberry, bud variation is very slight, I sus¬ 
pect ; at any rate, I never noted any special cases of 
it. In this connection, I was struck by a remark 
made by Mr. W. T. Macoun before the recent meeting 
of the Quebec Bornological Society. He said that, 
among a large number of strawberries in the variety 
test at the Central (Canada) Experiment Faim, last 
year, the old Wilson’s Albany ranked first. 
Vermont. F A waugh. 
M. Crawford’s Opinion.— My opinion is that far 
too much has been claimed for selection. It is one of 
those theories that can neither be proved nor dis¬ 
proved. On all such questions, men are likely to 
have very positive opinions. In looking for evidence 
in support of either side, one is very likely to see just 
what he wants to see. The man who believes that a 
horse chestnut carried in his pocket keeps off the 
rheumatism, or that a horseshoe over the door keeps 
off spooks, cannot be convinced to the contrary; to 
the man who knows that selection is the great thing 
in strawberry culture, especially if he has plants for 
sale, can never be moved. These positive people have 
lots of followers, because the majority of people like 
to have some one to do their thinking, and so, truth 
has to be pushed aside for a time. I am not prepared 
to say that there is nothing in selec* ion. The man 
who is thrifty, and selects well-grown plants and 
nice, shapely potatoes, usually comes out ahead; but 
these improved (?) varieties are very dependent on 
good culture. There should be a great difference in 
favor of plants that have been improv d (?) for years 
by selection, but we do not see it. I do not believe it 
exist®. I would suggest that the editor of The R. 
N -Y. obtain some of these improved (?) plants and an 
equal number of the same variety from ano her grow¬ 
er who sells good, common, everyday plants, grow 
them side by side and report results, si crawford. 
Ohio. 
A Wisconsin Experiment. —The common prac¬ 
tice of taking plauts for setting from vigorous matted 
rows would not tend to dc velop strains of strawber¬ 
ries. This could be accompl’shed only by setting in¬ 
dividual plants at considerable distances from each 
other, and permitting each one to form a family of 
runners. By comparing these families, we would be 
able to detect any differences in vigor or in other 
characteristics, and by selecting the family that comes 
nearest to our ideal, and planting the individual plants 
of this in other beds for further selection, we might, 
for all that has been proved to the contrary, develop 
a superior strain of any of our cultivated varieties. 
Prof. Bailey’s theory that each bud is a distinct vari¬ 
ety, certainly offers encouragement for this line of 
work. 
An experiment has been made at the Wisconsin Ex¬ 
periment Station along a slightly different line. It 
was intended to show how far the vigor of the straw¬ 
berry plant may be reduced by disease, and if the 
vigor can be increased by propagating only from 
young beds that have borne no crop In the Spring 
of 1889, two small bed 3 of the Will on strawberry were 
planted a few rods apart. The plants were obtained 
f'-om the late J. M Smith, of Green Bay, Wis., and 
were known to be not only true to name, but of a vig¬ 
orous stock. For some reason that is difficult to ex¬ 
plain, one of these beds was very seriously attacked 
by the “spat disease” or “blight”, while the other 
was practically free from it. These two beds were, 
therefore, made the starting point of an experiment 
that was continued until the Spring of 1897. From 
the bed that escaped the disease, a young bed was set 
the following Spring (1890), before the plants of the 
first bed bad borne fruit, and each Spring thereafter, a 
new bed was planted from the bed that hai been set 
the previous Spring. Thus the ancestors of these beds 
had not borne fruit since 1889 From the diseased 
bed, on the other hand, a new bed was not set until 
the Spring of 1891, after the bed had borne a crop of 
fruit, and after this young bed had borne fruit, an¬ 
other bed was planted f om it, and so on. Thus the 
ancestors of this second series of beds had, in every 
case, borne a crop of fruit. The Spring following the 
planting of each bed, the plants that survived the 
Winter were counted, and as the fruit ripened, the 
yield from each bed was measured. The differences 
in yield of fruit did not always correspond with the 
differences in the number of young plants formed, 
probably because the larger number of plants reduced 
the average yield per plant by crowding. In the fol¬ 
lowing table, the average number of plants formed by 
each plant set in the two beds is given. The number 
varied greatly in different seasons, as the result of 
the varying degrees of dry weather : 
Number of Plants Formed from Each Plant Set. 
1891 1814. 1898. 1897. 
Healthy stock, ancestors borne no crop.... 5.1 19.3 9.6 30.36 
Diseased stock, ancestors borne one crop.. 1.7 13.3 9.6 29.66 
The same cultivation was given the two beds in 
every case, and after the year 1892, the tops of both 
beds were mowed off after the fruiting season, and 
burned, which effectually put an end to the “spot 
disease”; hence, after 1892, the foliage of both beds 
was healthy. It appears that the influence of the 
disease in decreasing the vigor of the plants was, at 
first, very marked, but that after the disease was pre¬ 
vented, the plants recovered their vigor almost en¬ 
tirely. The counting of the plants in 1897, however, 
shows that there was a slight difference in favor of 
the beds grown from plants that had borne no crop. 
Wisconsin Ex. Station. [pbof.] e. s goff. 
Transplanting Onions.— Many northern market gardeners now 
sow onions in a mild hotbed during March, transplanting them 
into the open ground as soon as it is in good condition to work 
When planted out, the tiny onions should have both tops and 
roots shortened a trifle. Treated in this way, the onions are har¬ 
vested considerably in advance of those sown in the open ground. 
Yellow- Danvers and Red Wethersfield are standard market sorts. 
Celery and Cabbage.— Just as early as the ground can be 
worked without its appearing wet and sticky, celery and cab¬ 
bage may be sown in the open ground. Sow in rows, trans 
planting afterwards to the permanent situation Golden Self- 
Blanching for early, and Giant Pascal for late, are excellent cel¬ 
eries. The rose-colored varieties are delicious eating, but seem 
to be regarded doubtfully by purchasers in the market. Among 
cabbages, Early Jersey Wakefield for early, and Flat Dutch or 
Slone Mason for late, are still standard sorts; the Danish cab¬ 
bage, however, seems to be increasing in favor. 
