
News Letter 

March, 1950 
Dear Friends: 
Ever since we’ve been in the violet business, 
we've been getting occasional letters from collectors 
asking about the following ailment (this excellent 
description from the letter of Mrs. Mosses, of North 
Carolina): “... first notice a faint grayish tinge 
in the center of several plants. This rapidly pro- 
gressed to a curling and drying of the small cen- 
ter leaves which would leave a bare patch when 
falling off. At no time were these plants wilted 
or droopy. On the contrary, they were extremely 
stiff... Ended up by losing most of my plants”. 
A fellow grower in Macomb, Illinois, comment- 
ed that a whole crop of violets had been lost with 
this same condition when a water softener had 
been installed. This afforded at least a clue to 
the trouble, 
We had never experienced any such disease, 
and curiosity was about to do us in when a lady 
in Vicksburg, Mississippi, came to the rescue and 
sent us one of her afflicted plants so that we 
could see for ourselves. We placed her plant in 
sick bay for observation. We have done nothing 
to it except to provide it with water. Jonesboro 
water, that is. New growth is coming out of 
what’s left of the crown. Whether or not the 
new leaves will be distorted and diseased remains 
to be seen. It hasn’t died, though, and that’s 
SOMETHING, from what these good people say! 
Also, a healthy plant placed close by has not dis- 
played similar symptoms, and it’s been there for 
three weeks now. 
What little evidence there is, then, would point 
to the water supply. Tentative suggestion to all 
dried-crown sufferers: Cultivate a friend with a 
well. Or get some water from the local ice- 
plant. They have wells. 
What in the world would be in a city water 
Copyright, March, 1950, by Russell Gray 

