120 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[August, 
members of the same natural order. It is seldom so 
obtrusive as to render the destruction of the tree ad¬ 
visable, and therefore we are glad of the present 
opportunity of examining the sections. Only a very 
small portion of sound wood and bark remain to 
carry the proper quantity of sap to sustain life, and 
it is obvious that the necessary functions can only be 
very imperfectly performed. The causes of the 
condition of the stem may be various. One point 
observable in the sections is, that the heart-wood is 
decayed. The cause of this is fortunately clear 
enough, for since the arrival of the section, very 
carefully packed, and without any accession of mois¬ 
ture, there has been a plentiful development of the 
mycelium of Polyporus igniarius, a fungus which is 
so common and so destructive to Plum-trees. With 
the sections came roots from the side of the tree 
which was affected with the peculiar disease, and 
also from the unaffected side. In the former we 
find the wood of the thicker roots showing that foxy 
colour which is the indication of disease, and often 
the forerunner of fungus growth, as is well known 
in the ca«e of Oaks which have been raised from old 
stumps ; in both the young roots are either dying or 
so decomposed as to prognosticate death. All healthy 
tissue is soon, by contact with the affected part, 
highly diseased, and is not in a coudition to cirry 
pure sap, and without healthy sap we can scarcely 
expect healthy growth. The effect of the spawn is 
to cause the contiguous bark to split, and this soon 
appears outwardly, and is conspicuous even in small 
branches, an attempt being made at first to produce 
a new growth of bark.” 
In cases of this kind a close scrutiny of the 
leaves will show, as Mr. Berkeley observes, 
that the epidermis or skin of the leaf is sepa¬ 
rated from the subjacent tissue, a condition 
which seems to be brought about by shrinkage 
of the green cells, no doubt from defective 
nutrition. It is to this separation of the 
parts that the milky appearance of the leaf 
surface is to be attributed. When the disease 
thus manifests itself, unless it be checked, 
matters will go on from bad to worse, until 
first the branch and then oftentimes the tree 
will languish and ultimately perish. 
It may be concluded, therefore, that when 
once a tree has become seriously attacked by 
this disease its case is hopeless ; but if on 
the appearance of the first symptoms of the 
malady the tree or its roots are carefully lifted, 
and any affected parts judiciously pruned 
away, a new start being given to the healthy 
roots by adding fresh congenial soil, in which 
plenty of calcareous matter should be found, 
and if all traces of disease in the branches are 
also carefully excised, the 'wounds in both 
cases being dressed with a solution of corrosive 
sublimate or some other substance inimical 
to fungi, it is reasonable to expect that the 
consequences of the attack may be averted and 
the health of the tree restored. This over¬ 
hauling of the roots should be done in the 
early autumn months, while that of the 
branches should be carried out as soon as its 
necessity is discovered.—M. 
TIDINESS IN THE GARDEN. 
T has been said with more or less of truth 
that amateur gardeners are often, some 
even go the length of asserting generally, 
untidy. Probably this often arises from 
want of time or thought, and no doubt some¬ 
times from a lack of capacity for sustained effort 
and constant painstaking care. For it is certain 
that there are few pursuits that demands 
more of those qualities than Horticulture. 
Fits and starts are out of place and character 
in regard to gardening, and can only result in 
disappointment and failure, but those who 
persevere unto the end can win success. 
And the gardener’s w T ork, like woman’s, is 
never done, and very much for the same 
reason. Both alike have to do with life, and 
life can never brook neglect with impunity. 
The want of perseverance speedily reveals 
itself in gardens. In some it is seen in inter¬ 
mittent crops or supplies—now a glut, anon 
a scarcity, by-and-by literally nothing. In 
other gardens it shows itself in weeds. To¬ 
day the whole garden under the inspiration of 
sudden spring weather is scrubbed or scari¬ 
fied rather clean and bare ; not a weed, not " 
even a seed-leaf is left. Within a few weeks 
the crops are lost sight of beneath a labyrinth 
of weeds that rule supreme over all the 
crops in the garden. In some gardens confu¬ 
sion reigns ; the faculty of order seems totally 
wanting in their planning, planting, and fur¬ 
nishing. Flower-pots, watering-pans, wheel¬ 
barrows, and other tools encumber the walks, 
or are placed in the most prominent positions. 
Leaving the open quarter and entering the 
conservatory or other glass-houses, expecting 
to find freshness, order, and beauty, you find 
dirty flower-pots, dead or dying plants, seeds 
in various states of dying and decomposition, 
flower-stakes, Russian or other matting; 
climbers dirty, drooping, or dying, where only 
a few months before there was a glare of flour¬ 
ishing bulbs, or the greenery of a fine houseful 
of bedding-out plants. 
A little more tidiness and perseverance, and 
such houses might all be orderly and well- 
