e 
578 _ Report or tHE HortTIcuLTURIST OF THE ~ 
previous crops which have suffered from this disease, there is 
little to fear from the Septoria.* 

If for any reason the seed-bed treatment has been omitted, or if _ 0 
there is reason to fear infection from the refuse of last year’s 
diseased plants left on the field, spraying the plants after trans- 
planting may still be found beneficial; but the field treatment is 
more costly both in labor and material, and the seed-bed treat- 
ment ought, therefore, to be given thorough trial before it is — 
abandoned. . 
No unvarying rule can be given for the number of treatments 
which it is best to give in the field. The object of the treatment 
is to keep the entire foliage of the celery plants covered with the 
mixture in order to prevent the germination of the spores by 
means of which the disease is distributed. When frequent and 
hard rains occur it will obviously be necessary to spray more often 
than when the weather is pleasant. Under ordinary circumstances 
treatments are given from ten days to two weeks apart. 
A good nozzle is indispensable for satisfactory work, and we 
prefer the improved Vermorel to any we have tried. With a 
* The advantage of having healthy plants for transplanting is well illus- - 
tracted by the following extract from last season’s notes, dated August 12, 
1892; ‘‘A remarkable example of leaf spot disease directly traceable to the 
seed bed is seen in the celery grown by Mr. M. W. Rickey, Jr., of Horseheads. 
He has a field of about two acres of celery set with plants grown by himself 
with the exception of six rows (2,000 plants) secured from Mr. All 
plants are of the same variety. The six rows were set near one side of the 
field and the remaining part of the field was filled with plants of his own rais- 
ing. This arrangement put an area of home-grown plants on each side of the 
plants from Mr. 


’s seed bed. At first the six rows were the thriftiest — 
plants in the field and made better growth than the home-grown plants, — 
Gradually they began to show the leaf spot (Septoria Petroselini Des., var. 
_ Apii, B and C), and at present writing they can be easily distinguished from 
the rest of the celery even at a distance by the yellowed or spotted foliage and 
stunted growth due to this disease. The home-grown plants nearest these — Gi 
rows have also become infected to some extent; but the farther you go from 
the six diseased rows the less you find of the disease, and in other parts of the 
field only occasionally is a spotted leaf found. It is a clear case of thorough 
infection of plants before transplanting, and emphasizes the importance of 
spraying the seed beds.” Under date'of December 8, 1892, Mr. Rickey writes 
that the plants in the six rows continued diseased and stunted till the crop was. 
gathered, though he thought they were somewhat benefited by application of 
lime. They yielded about one-half as much as an equal area planted with © 
home-grown plants. 
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