August 25, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
825 
have fruits of a fine deep yellow, suffused with red on 
the exposed side, and oval in shape. Reine Claude 
d’Oullin3 is heavily cropped considering the large size 
of the fruit; and an enormous crop is borne by Large 
Black Imperial, bearing down the branches ; it is now 
tinted with red, and ripening. The same might be 
said of Standard of England, which is pyriform or 
obovate, and pale red, dotted with yellow when mature. 
Three trees of Angelina Burdett are heavily cropped 
with medium-sized oval fruits, of a dark purple when 
mature, and useful for dessert purposes. An oval pale 
yellow fruit is White Damson and the tree is heavily 
laden on the upper branches. It is very hardy, and 
generally a good cropper. A moderate crop is also 
borne by Diapre Rouge, a sort which bears a number 
of synonyms. The fruit is large, pale red when mature, 
and dotted, obovate in shape, and classed as a dessert 
Plum. Fairly well cropped is Washington, a large 
roundish or oval Plum, of a deep yellow colour when 
mature, but like the Peach Plum and Prince of Wales 
is liable to rot in a wet 
season. A .tree of Prune 
Damascene is well laden 
with small pyriform fruits ; 
and a similarly shaped variety 
named Fellenberg also bears 
a fair crop. When ripe, 
the fruits of Winesour are 
dark purple, dotted with 
a darker colour; they are 
oval or pyriform, small and 
suitable for preserving. Fair 
crops are borne by Monsieur 
Tardif and Roy ale de Bran- 
nau, and a moderately heavy 
one by Poupart’s Plum, a 
roundish oval sort of medium 
size. The most suitable 
place for St. Martin’s 
Quetsche is a wall, as the 
fruits do not ripen till 
October, when, if they have 
been properly finished, they 
become of a pale yellow, 
with a white bloom. They 
are ovate or shortly oblong, 
and are so abundantly pro¬ 
duced as to bear down the 
branches with their weight. 
It may be stated that all 
the trees above mentioned 
are grown as standards in 
the open ground, forming a 
collection containing the 
bulk of the older and best 
recognised kinds. Few, if 
any, of the trees are entirely 
without fruit—a remarkable 
fact, seeing how unpro¬ 
ductive they have been for 
many years past. Why 
this should be the case is 
difficult to account for, unless 
it be that the rich, deep and 
rather clayey soil is too heavy 
for Plums to ripen their 
wood properly in autumn. 
The branches are more or 
less thinned out annually, 
but the trees have grown 
until they are rather close, 
and certainly far more so 
than in market gardens 
generally, though no under crop is grown between 
them. It is well, however, to retain the trees as a 
collection, for a re-action more in favour of Plums 
might set in, when they would undoubtedly prove 
valuable. 
-- 
BLACK SPOT OF TOMATOS. 
The longer we cultivate and the more we grow of 
Tomatos the greater is the number of enemies against 
which they have to contend. Whether these diseases 
are recent introductions, or merely old ones that existed 
in the British Islands previous to the importation of 
the Tomato, may be subject to dispute, as in the case 
of many diseases that affect other plants, and whose 
existence previous to the notice of their outbreak on 
cultivated plants is precarious, mysterious or altogether 
unknown. 
Many observers or cultivators describe the Black 
Spot (Cladosporium lycopersici) as the new disease 
of Tomatos. It was described in this country as long 
ago as 1881. In 1887—that is, last year—many 
observed and described its appearance and ravages on 
plants grown both out of doors and under glass, so that 
it must have been disseminating itself widely in the 
same mysterious and silent way as many other 
destroyers of cultivated plants, which makes such small 
enemies the scourge of the cultivator because so difficult 
to cope with, much more to exterminate. Again has 
it made its appearance in some collections, and growers 
will do well to destroy all affected fruits as soon as the 
pest makes its appearance. When once attacked there 
seems as yet no cure nor remedy, and to prevent the 
disease from spreading seems to be the only method of 
procedure open to the cultivator at present. 
The first observable indications of the disease is a 
flattening of the apex of the fruit, or a shrinking of the 
tissues immediately under the epidermis, giving them 
the appearance of a bruise, and for some time the evil 
was attributed to this cause. As the disease works its 
Typical Flowers of the Double Balsam. 
way in the interior of the fruit, the surface continues 
to shrink, to widen the area of the affected part, and 
to become more and more discoloured, till it finally 
becomes black externally and internally to some depth. 
The fungus is believed to gain access to the interior of 
the fruit by first attacking the decaying remains of 
the style, while the fruit is still in a small state, and 
afterwards attacking the living and uninjured parts, 
thus living as a true parasite, although not originally 
of this nature. 
As a rule it confines itself to one spot, but cases 
occur in which two patches break out simultaneously 
at some distance from the apex of the fruit, but may 
be connected b}' a narrow dark stripe. Other decayed 
and shrunk patches appear on different parts of the 
fruit at a distance from the main ones, and may ulti¬ 
mately prove to be the same thing, like the numerous 
patches that appear on Tomatos affected with a 
congener of the fungus under notice — namely, 
Cladosporum fulvum. 
C. lycopersici appears to be confined to the fruit, as 
the foliage in most or all cases remains fresh and 
healthy to the last. Very little of the disease is to be 
seen on the exterior of the fruit, and not much either 
in the interior discoloured or blackened parts. In parts 
more recently attacked, however, the microscope reveals 
the branching and interlacing hyphse of the mycelium 
in full possession of the cells of the fruit, which it 
destroys by appropriating the substance of the host to 
its own uses. Its hypodermal nature is one of the 
chief reasons why fungi of this nature can live un¬ 
harmed, when external parasites may be destroyed by 
the application of some remedy or substance which is 
poison to them.— Lycopersicum. 
-->X<-- 
THE BALSAM. 
Less excitement is caused now by this old-fashioned 
garden subject at local and other shows than was the 
case some years ago, when great emulation was exhi¬ 
bited by gardeners as to 
who should win the first 
prize for the best grown 
specimens. Seeing that soft- 
wooded stuff is so much in 
favour at present it is rather 
singular that the Balsam 
should not be more fre¬ 
quently taken in hand. It 
may now be had from seeds 
in some two or three dozen 
different coloured varieties, 
readily arranged under a 
few characteristic types, 
such as Camellia-flowered, 
Rose-flowered and tricolor 
Balsams, all of which are 
double. Single varieties are 
not to be despised when 
well grown ; but the doubles 
are certainly the most hand¬ 
some, and when well grown 
are even imposing. They 
resemble Camellias, Roses, 
or even flaked Carnations, 
as the upper bloom in the 
illustration shows, and is a 
wonderful counterfeit of the 
latter popular flower. They 
are either self-coloured, or 
variously spotted, mottled 
or flaked, and to get the 
best results, seeds from the 
very best specimens of each 
colour should be collected 
with the view of obtaining a 
good strain, even at the 
sacrifice of a large quantity 
of seed. 
The time at which the 
seeds should be sown would 
vary according to require¬ 
ments ; but the second or 
third week in March will 
allow ample time to obtain 
large specimens. Sow in 
well-drained pans of light, 
rich, sandy soil, keep the 
plants as near the glass as 
possible during all stages of 
their growth, and pot off 
as the seedlings commence 
to throw up their first rough 
leaf. Never allow them to become pot-bound, but put 
them in a larger size as the roots become numerous at 
the sides of the ball. At the first potting, sink the 
seedlings up to the cotyledons to prevent them as much 
as possible from showing naked leggy stems. The 
object should be to encourage the development of 
branches from the very base ; and further encourage¬ 
ment will be given to this by tying down the 
branches as growth proceeds, and by picking off the 
blooms (disbudding them as it is called) that first 
appear on the main stem. Perfect drainage and a 
light rich soil are imperative on account of the 
quantity of water required when making rapid growth, 
while good ventilation and a position near the glass are 
as necessary to maintain a sturdy habit. Eight or ten 
inch pots are good sizes for the ultimate shift, and 
very large specimens may be grown to perfection in 
them, provided they are assisted with liquid or other 
manure after the pots become filled with roots. The 
illustration given above represents the strain grown by 
Messrs. Hooper & Co., Limited, Covent Garden. 
