THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 10, 1885. 
92 
There is no disease of Potatos more common than 
one called “ scab.” Last year Lord Catlicart wrote an 
essay on the Potato and its diseases for the Royal 
Agricultural Society ; of course “scab” was described. 
I may say here that “scab” is set up in Potatos by 
mechanical causes only, it is a mere roughening of the 
skin, but Lord Catlicart wrote for the Royal Agri¬ 
culturists : “scab is a disease of the tuber, a fungus, 
Tuburcinia scabies.” How Lord Catlicart contrived to 
fall bodily into the crater of this gigantic mare’s-nest 
I do not know : he was possibly misled by the specific 
name “scabies,” which certainly seems to have some¬ 
thing to do with “scab.” Tuburcinia scabies is, how¬ 
ever, a fungus which causes “smut” in Potatos, and has 
nothing whatever to do with “scab.” Lord Catlicart 
also discovered for the Royal Agricultural Society that 
the fungus of the Potato disease appears on Lilium 
lancifolium (!) three weeks before it is seen on Potatos ; 
this is a choice novelty in mare’s-nests—a sweet thing. 
These mare’s-nests are the more remarkable as Lord 
Cathcart's M.S. was read, revised and annotated for 
him by two illustrious botanists. 
A German doctor has also had a turn at “scab ” in 
Potatos. He has discovered that scabby places on 
Potatos represent efforts on the part of the tubers to 
“form cork ” for warding off attacks from certain des¬ 
tructive fungi. On first reading of this portentious 
mare’s-nest I involuntarily exclaimed 1 ‘ oh cork !” 
Last year, 1884, my friend Mr. C. B. Plowright, of Kings 
Lynn, expressed his concurrence in the belief that Pota¬ 
tos really did begin to “ form cork ” when the spores of 
disagreeable fungi were by their germ tubes trying to 
penetrate their skins, but it unfortunately happened for 
Mr. Plowright (as well as for the German doctor) that 
Potatos were never so extensively “scabbed ” as in 1884, 
and that in the same year Potato fungi were never 
more scarce. Potatos must have been very weak- 
minded in 1884 to form such a prodigious amount of 
“cork” when no fungoid assailants were near. TheGer- 
man “doctor” has published an engraving of part of a 
Potato in the very act of “forming cork.” A writer 
in the Gardeners' Chronicle effectually burst the bladder 
about “intelligent cork formation” in Potatos, and 
compared it with the cork generally present in full wine 
bottles, as being the assumed product of the vinous 
beverage within to protect itself against the attacks of 
topers. 
The Potato Disease. 
In reference to the Potato disease. Dr. J. H, Gilbert, 
P.R.S., has said that some of the clergy, in the first 
years of the murrain, discovered the mare’s-nest that 
the disease was a scourge sent by God, and that to 
attempt its cure was impiously to oppose the designs of 
the Almighty. 
In September, 1872, a leading article was published 
in the Times on the Potato and the Potato disease ; the 
writer exhibited a series of kaleidoscopic mare's-nests, 
all of which he had discovered himself. It is difficult 
to read this writer's description of the Potato without 
swimming of the head. This Solanum Solomon 
wrote:-“The Potato has been described as an accident(!) 
a sort of sac or wen on the root, rather than a legitimate 
part of the plant or a fruit. If this be the case, ” says 
he, ‘ ‘ we must expect it to be a very sensitive and 
delicate thing. If the plant is labouring under a sort 
of disease to begin with, and compelled to feed a large 
adventitious mass from a very inadequate system, no 
wonder that it feels atmospheric shocks and disturbance 
more than we do.” Listen to that, “more than we 
do.” The writer concludes by saying:—“The soil 
itself, too, partakes of these shocks and disturbances 
quite as much as the atmosphere. ” Every word of the 
above is a jewel. When I am out of sorts I read it ; 
its effect on me is like champagne or ginger-beer. 
Nature of the Potato-fungus. 
I think it is generally conceded that the nature of the 
Potato fungus is at the present time thoroughly under¬ 
stood, not even omitting the resting-spores, which I 
was once unfortunate enough to find. At the time of 
the discovery, Professor De Bary, as is well known, 
hotly contested my views, and of course a whole army of 
little botanical skirmishers followed in his wake. Times 
are different now, for Professor Thistleton Dyer in¬ 
formed the Select Committee of the House of Commons, 
a year or two ago, that although Professor De Bary is 
“not absolutely convinced,” yet “he thinks it not at all 
improbable that they are the real thing. ” What a terrible 
blow for the professional confirmers! As the fungusisnow 
quite understood, and my oospores after all considered 
to be very likely the “real thing,” it seems inexcusable 
that any author should discover new mare’s-nests about 
the Potato disease ; yetan author last year out-Heroded 
Herod in a series of portentious mare’s-nests. He began 
by saying the “fountain-head,” whatever that may be, 
“had not'been shown before he wrote but he omits 
all reference to “nids” and the “active resting” con¬ 
dition that Professor De Bary once thought he had 
discovered. These were possibly not at the “fountain¬ 
head.” He goes on to say the critical time for a Potato 
is when it “changes its skin” (like a crab, I suppose), 
or perhaps this “ critical time” is when thi cook re¬ 
moves the skin with a knife prior to putting the tuber 
in the pot; this is certainly a “ critical time ” for the 
tuber. This mystic “ skin,” the author says, does not 
exist after August; and that after August it is impos¬ 
sible ‘ ‘ even by boiling to get it. ” One could understand 
boiling the skin off, but how on earth a skin could be 
boiled on I do not know. After making this and other 
discoveries of a like nature, the author informs his 
readers that he “then felt like a policeman who, after 
capturing a notorious burglar, said to himself, ‘ Here 
you are—clear enough.’” One, however, loses confi¬ 
dence in the author when he says “the clubbing of 
Cabbages, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, also of Turnips, 
and that mysterious disease of the Cucumber and 
the Melon—all this I attribute to one and the same 
thing.” “The balls” (whatever they may be), says the 
writer, “the balls all correspond.” Perhaps the 
“balls” correspond with the “nids.” The author 
goes on to say, “I have studied the common mildew, 
Peronospora infestans, but I cannot see anything of 
that in what I have discovered. ” I should say not! 
‘ ‘ I have also tried to find Fusiporium Solani, and looking 
time after time through portions of leaves that I have 
examined, I must say I have failed to find it.” No 
doubt! One more quotation must suffice, the author 
repeats, “ The tuber has to undergo a change of skin 
when it goes to rest.” Can the Potato change its 
skin? The disease, he says, bursts “through the 
cuticle, and having done so it has rent it, as it were, at 
every vein under the skin ; this (the skin) turns back, 
so showing plainly to the eye the form in which the 
tubes surround the tubers.” I have never seen these 
“tubes” myself. They were first mentioned in the 
report of Professor De Bary's discoveries, in the Journal 
of the Royal Agricultural Society. I am glad their 
presence has been “confirmed.” It seems they are 
“outside the tuber.” I should say a long way outside. 
Professor de Bary did not mention the distance. 
A short time ago several letters were published in one 
of the gardening papers about the Potato disease. The 
drift of these letters was to the effect that the disease 
was caused by “worms, wire-worms, and grubs.” The 
information was at first rather indefinite, as we all 
know the word “grub” has more than one meaning, 
and that there are different sorts of worms. More than 
one species of worm was blamed. At length a gorgeous 
mare’s-nestite rushed angrily to the rescue. He wrote 
and said that a former correspondent had blamed “the 
wrong worm.” He, the writer, who had had forty 
years’ experience, knew all about it, and informed the 
readers of the paper that the true worm “commenced 
its attack at the very bottom of the root, and punctured 
and skinned it upwards. ” The depredator was described 
as a “blanched sickly-looking earth-worm this, the 
true worm, was termed a “ ravisher, ” and like “Moses’ 
serpent,” said the writer “ eats up all the others within 
its reach.” It would seem to be both an animal and 
vegetable feeder. The other worms, however, says the 
instructor, “ know its skinning propensity, and give it 
a wide berth. ” The writer watered his Potatos with 
lime-water, and so he exclaimed, with revengeful and 
Shylockian glee, “ I expect—to have skin for skin.” 
The same writer concluded by saying the same worm 
skins the roots of Pansies, Calceolarias, and Parsley, 
and suggested that the worm is the sole cause of the 
familiar fungus of Hollyhocks, named Puccinia Mai- 
vacearum. 
(To he continued.) 
The Advance Nectarine. —To any of your readers 
in want of a good early Nectarine I can strongly 
recommend this seedling of Mr. Rivers’ from Pitmaston 
Orange. In the same house with Hunt’s Tawny it 
succeeds that variety, and always holds its own on the 
exhibition table ; at least, that is my experience. It is 
a showy fruit, reddish brown on the sunny side, with 
greenish white flesh and rich flavour. — IV. S. 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
It will now be time to give some of the winter- 
flowering plants a little more heat. "We do not mean 
that the houses should be kept closer, on the con¬ 
trary, we like to keep plenty of ventilation on as long 
as the weather will permit, but it will be necessary to 
give a little artificial heat; this helps to keep the 
atmosphere pure, and prevents the damp settling on 
any plants that are flowering. It is only by giving 
plenty of artificial heat, and keeping a good circulation 
of air that many plants can be induced to flower through 
the winter. Most of the autumn potting will be done 
by this time, but there may still remain some things 
that may be potted on at any time as they require it ; 
this will apply to Cinerarias, Calceolarias, Primulas, 
&c. Cyclamen, Bouvardias, Begonias, Primulas, both 
double and single, or any other flowering plants that 
have well filled the pots with roots should have a little 
liquid manure from time to time. Chrysanthemums 
should also have plenty of manure now that they are 
coming into flower, they cannot very well be over-fed, 
but after watering them with strong manure, care 
should be taken that they are not allowed to get too 
dry before being watered again. 
Propagating Plants for Sub-tropical Bedding. 
—Polymnia grandis. —This is one of the most useful 
plants for sub-tropical bedding work. After the season 
is over the plants may be taken up and potted, and 
if taken care of, will provide a good lot of cuttings 
for the following year. They should be kept mode¬ 
rately dry until they are started into growth for 
cuttings, which should be early in January, so as to 
give them time to make good plants before bedding out 
time. Cuttings, which should be taken off as soon as 
they can be secured, will strike freely in a close propa¬ 
gating pit where there is a good bottom heat, they 
should only have just sufficient water to keep them 
from shrivelling until the cuttings are well callused, 
when more water may be given. It is best to strike 
the cuttings simply in small pots, and pot them on as 
soon as they are well rooted. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
Lifting and Transplanting Peach and Necta¬ 
rine Trees.— No time should now be lost in carrying 
out the operation of lifting and transplanting any trees 
that have not grown and fruited satisfactorily during 
the last season or two. If fhe said trees are old worn- 
out ones, they should be removed forthwith to the fire- 
heap and be replaced by trees taken up carefully with 
nice balls of earth adhering to the roots from the open 
walls. But, on the other hand, if the trees are con¬ 
sidered worth replanting, they should be taken up 
carefully by opening a trench about 4 ft. from the base 
of the tree, and from 2 to 2.) ft. deep ; working most 
of the soil, which probably has become sour and, there¬ 
fore, distasteful to health}’ root action, from underneath 
and around the -roots with a five-pronged fork ; care 
being taken not to injure the former in doing so. 
Then lift the tree bodily, placing it in a convenient 
position to the hole while the latter is being excavated 
to the depth of 4 ft. Into the bottom of this hole put 
9 ins. thick of old brick-bats, stones, or clinkers, and 
over these a sufficient thickness of coarse gravel should 
be laid to fill in the chinks, and following this a layer 
of turf, grass-side down, to insure a perfect drainage. 
But should the water be likely to rise at any time 
nearer to the surface than 4 ft., it will, of course, be 
necessary to reduce the depth of the hole to such an 
extent as will prevent the possibility of the roots of the 
trees being at any time submerged—a circumstance 
which would be detrimental to their well-being. The 
holes having been made ready for the reception of the 
soil, the latter, consisting of three-parts of good cal¬ 
careous loam, and of old lime-rubble and wood-ashes, 
well mixed, should be got into the holes in a moderately 
dry state, so that it may not adhere to the feet in 
treading on it. In planting the trees make due allow¬ 
ance for the soil subsiding ti or 7 ins., within as many 
weeks. 
Spread the roots out in every direction with a slight 
inclination downwaids, at the same time shortening 
back all straggling roots a few inches, and cutting clean 
away with a shaip knife any that may have got injured 
