168 
GARDENING IN THE SOUTHWEST 
To Cure Is 
Difficult 
Health 
Requisites 
Fungus 
Diseases 
Mildew 
Mildew 
Not in 
Western 
Portion 
Use 
Fungicide 
Sprays 
Sulphur 
Dusts 
Soil 
Resistance 
Builders 
Potash 
Sulphur 
T^ose Diseases 
T he more you work among Roses and try first this remedy and that 
for any trouble, once it has started, the more you are apt to recall, 
"To cure disease is not easy; to prevent it, is much more feasible.” 
The same agencies that operate to keen a human being healthy will 
keep a Rose so too, namely, plenty of fresh air, sunshine, water, a well- 
balanced diet and cleanliness. If you remember this and never try to 
substitute drugs and chemicals for intelligence and systematic care, you 
won’t have much need to call in an expert to save your dying plants. 
MILDEW AND BLACK SPOTS 
The medicinal treatment of mildew and black-spot is the same, for 
both are fungus troubles, though widely different in character. The cause 
of mildew is a disputed question. Some say it comes from the soil and 
others say from atmospheric conditions. Probably both are right. But 
one thing is certain. It is as inherent in some plants as the shape of their 
leaves and the color of their blossoms. It is simply that one environment 
will bring it out and another won’t. So, if you really want to get rid of 
the mildew, get rid of certain Roses that can be counted on to produce 
it with the slightest excuse. 
From the replies to the questionnaire sent out all over the Southwest 
on subjects pertaining to the Rose, we may gather that the western por¬ 
tion is little troubled by mildew, due, they say, to "dry atmospheric 
conditions”, but the rest of this section admits it has it. 
Mildew being a fungus trouble, a fungicide is naturally the thing to 
turn to to correct it. Most fungicides are excellent when used as dormant 
sprays, but discolor foliage too seriously to be much used after a plant has 
put out leaves. There are a few sulphur compounds that are good to use 
then as some do not burn. 
Schepps’ spray has proven exceptionally effective, both as a fungicide 
and an insecticide. 
Dusts that contain sulphur are widely used for mildew. But they are 
better for beds of Roses than for Climbers, whose height and size make 
them more easily sprayed. 
For those who believe mildew comes from the ground, there are sev¬ 
eral good things to do to the soil to help build up in your plant a resist¬ 
ance to the disease. Potash, which develops hard wood, is good. Many 
successful growers put a liberal quantity of hardwood ashes, which con¬ 
tain potash, around their Rose plants, especially their Climbers, every 
August and again often in early Spring. Treating the soil as well as the 
plants with any good fungicide is a good preventive measure. Plain pow¬ 
dered sulphur dug into the ground around a plant will help. 
