12 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
Jannary  4,  1900. 
There  are  often  6  inches  of  water  over  the  soil  in  winter,  yet  it  would 
be  diflBcult  to  find  healthier  and  more  floriferous  plants.  This  season 
I  visited  a  Scottish  garden  where  equally  good  results  were  secured, 
and  the  plants  were  on  the  margin  of  the  lake,  but  in  the  water,  all 
winter.  I  have  plants  doing  equally  well  in  and  at  the  edge  of  water. 
[If  our  several  contributors  can  produce  flowers  equal  to  that 
portrayed  by  our  artist  it  is  only  reasonable  to  suppose  they  will 
feel  satisfied.] 
Antirrhinums. 
It  is  needless  to  say  much  about  our  old  Snapdragons,  which  are 
known  to  everyone  in  the  shape  of  A.  majus,  which  is  generally  treated 
as  an  annual  or  biennial.  One  seeks,  however,  some  information  about 
one  or  two  others  mentioned  in  books,  but,  apparently,  not  available 
for  gardens.  These  I  do  not  know,  but  I  am  in  hope  that  some 
readers  may  be  able  to  give  us  information.  One  of  these  is 
A.  siculum,  with  “white  or  yellowish,  rarely  purple,  flowers,’’  growing 
from  1  to  2  feet  high.  There  is  also  A.  hispanicum,  with  purple 
flowers  with  a  yellow  lip.  It  is  said  to  grow  1  foot  high.  It  has 
purple  flowers,  the  corolla,  according  to  the  “  Dictionary  of  Gardening,” 
being  the  largest  of  the  genus.  Probably  none  of  these  are  equal  to 
our  old  Antirrhinum  majus,  which  has  in  the  course  of  years  been 
greatly  improved.  A.  asarina  is  better  adapted  for  the  rock  garden 
than  the  border,  and  is,  besides,  not  particularly  hardy ;  although  it 
proves  hardier  in  some  places  than  one  would  expect.  It  is  not  an 
erect  but  a  procumbent  plant,  with  greyish  leaves  and  yellow  and 
white  flowers. 
Aphyllanthes  monspeuiensis. 
This  is  a  pretty  and  distinct  little  plant,  which  one  very  seldom 
meets  with  even  in  large  collections  of  hardy  flowers.  It  belongs  to 
the  Lily  family,  and  has  small  heads  of  neat,  deep  blue  flowers  barely 
an  inch  across.  The  branches  are  like  the  leaves  of  the  Rushes,  and 
the  leaves  are  absent;  the  flower  scapes  being  leaf-like.  The 
Montpelier  Aphyllanthes  is  a  native  of  France.  It  likes  a  light,  warm 
soil  and  a  sunny  situation.  It  is  increased  by  division.  It  cannot  be 
called  a  showy  plant,  but  is  both  interesting  and  pretty.  It  is  fairly 
hardy  under  the  conditions  of  cultivation  suggested. — S.  Arnott. 
COMBATING  CANKEK. 
It  seems  to  le  a  general  drawback  of  the  leaflets  emanating  from 
the  Board  of  Agiieulture  to  leave  altogether  out  of  account  the  facts 
which  practical  experience  has  slowly  accumulated,  and  to  draw  the 
line  at  scientific  teaching.  I'he  one  published  in  October  was  fairly 
well  equipped  in  this  respect,  but  the  leaflet  on  canker  quite  eclipses 
that,  fl'he  worst  of  such  teaching  is  that  those  who  are  attached, 
perhaps  a  little  unreasonably,  to  old-fashioned  views,  and  who  give 
little  if  any  attention  to  what  science  has  done,  not  only  in 
the  elucidation  of  the  forces  at  work  which  cause  disease,  but  also 
of  the  means  for  combating  these  forces,  become  disgusted,  and  fail  to 
reap  any  benefit  from  papers  othenvise  suggestive. 
The  question  of  spraying  in  winter  may  in  some  instances  prove 
not  without  value,  though  where  trees  are  not  permitted  to  grow 
beyond  easily  manageable  dimensions  its  necessity  is  not  so  apparent, 
provided  methods  already  in  practice,  such  as  excision  of  diseased  wood, 
are  carried  out,  such  promoting  a  healthy  root  system  in  appropriate 
soil.  I'he  advice  to  discard  varieties  of  fruit  notoriously  susceptible 
of  infection  is  commendable,  for  though  canker,  like  other  diseases  of  a 
fungoid  character,  is  somewhat  mysterious,  tWe  is  nevertheless  no 
difficulty  whatever  in  detecting  certain  Apples  that  canker,  by  its 
virulence,  renders  unprofitable  to  cultivate  in  some  positions. 
But  the  writer  of  the  leaflet  has  made  a  mistake  in  too  closely 
identifying  certain  kinds,  as  under  every  circumstance,  or  in  every 
locality  positively  under  the  power  of  canker.  What  is  the  fact  is  that 
many  Apples,  of  which  I  may  name  such  well-known  varieties  as 
Cellini,  I  ord  Suffield,  Stirling  Castle,  Wellington,  Blenheim  Pippin, 
Cox’s  Orange,  and  Gravenstein,  from  a  list  that  might  be  considerably 
extended,  are  in  some  gardens  apparently  canker-proof,  and  in  others 
so  susceptible  of  attack  as  to  be  practically  not  worth  growing.  These 
are  matters  which  give  a  more  or  less  unsatisfactory  flavour  to  the 
whole,  a  particular  kind  of  scientific  teaching  that  ignores  practical 
facts. 
The  teaching  that  cultural  treatment  has  nothing  whatever  to  do, 
either  in  the  production — or  perhaps  the  better  expression  would  be 
the  introduction — of  canker,  or  in  its  suppression,  is  a  question  of 
greater  import.  There  is  no  better  known  fact  regarding  the  Potato 
disease  than  the  so-called  disease-proof  qualities  of  some  varieties,  but 
it  is  equally  recognised  that  these  require  a  regulated  treatment  to 
preserve  them  so.  Tomatoes  present  another  instance,  perhaps  not 
so  well  marked.  One  might  go  a  step  further,  and,  if  philosophically 
inclined,  proceed  to  show  that  these  diseases,  if  not  the  result,  are  at 
least  the  concomitants  of  cultivation  under  highly  artificial  conditions 
extending  over  protracted  periods.  They  are  the  inevitable  outcome 
of  highly  civilised  plant  life.  But  it  is  obvious  that  cultural  methods 
are  capable  of  modifying  or,  on  the  opposite,  intensifying  those 
conditions ;  and  as  we  find  that  wet  and  naturally  cold  soils,  as  well 
as  those  of  a  dry  gravelly  nature,  produce  a  growth  very  susceptible 
of  canker,  so  it  is  possible,  by  improving  the  latter  class  by  the 
addition  of  good  imported  soil,  and  the  former  by  draining,  and  in 
extreme  cases  surface-planting,  to  render  canker  at  the^least  a  less 
virulent  disease. 
1  think  there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  a  tree  continually  underfed, 
or  one  growing  in  a  soil  naturally  deficient  in  plant  foods,  to  be 
peculiarly  open  to  the  attacks  of  canker.  1  have  noticed  in  the  case 
of  old  Holly  hedges  to  which  nothing  in  the  way  of  feeding  had  been 
done,  and  also  where  bushes  were  growing  singly  in  positions  where 
roots  of  deciduous  trees  had  robbed  them  of  nourishment,  that  canker 
has  proved  almost  fatal,  and  surface  dressings  have  proved  exceedingly 
beneficial,  the  cankered  portions  having  of  course  been  removed. 
Growth,  robust  yet  sturdy  and  well  ripened,  is  what  one  desires 
for  the  production  of  high-class  fruit,  and  the  conditions  which  produce 
such  growth  appear  to  be  those  which  also  render  the  tree  most 
largely  proof  against  canker.  Rank  manures  on  this  account  are 
always  to  be  shunned,  and  sound  loam  with  proper  chemical  foods  to 
be  commended.  The  addition  of  iron  to  soils  was  some  years  ago 
confidently  asserted  to  be  a  certain  antidote,  but  though  I  have 
employed  it  with  good  results  to  the  general  health  of  trees,  its  effect 
in  lessening  canker  cannot  be  said  to  be  anything  but  problematical. 
Certainly  it  does  not  cure  it.  In  the  form  of  ferric  sulphate  or  green 
copperas  it  forms  a  cheap  manure,  but  the  commercial  article  requires 
not  a  little  labour  to  pound  it  sufficiently  fine  for  use. 
A  method  of  at  once  stopping  the  progress  of  canker,  and  lessening 
its  bad  effects  by  means  of  excision  of  the  portions  attacked,  might 
be  more  generally  practised  with  always  good  results.  If  the  bite  has 
not  been  deep  or  widely  extended  the  wound  heals  in  a  surprisingly 
short  time,  and  even  in  bad  cases  where  the  wood  has  been  eaten  away 
to  the  “hard”  a  clean  skin  may  be  caused  to  grow  along  the  edges. 
It  is,  however,  necessary  in  order  to  secure  good  results  that  every  bit 
of  tainted  wood  be  removed,  and  the  cut  be  made  smoothly  with  a 
sharp  knife.  The  wonderful  results  achieved  on  various  cankered 
trees  by  Forsyth  at  Kensington  Gardens  a  hundred  years  ago,  and 
which  he  attributed  to  the  merits  of  a  simple  composition,  were  no 
doubt  due  to  the  care  he  took  in  eliminating  every  portion  of  diseased 
wood  and  bark.  While  much  can  be  done  by  the  knife  in  the  removal 
of  canker,  it  is  also  certain  that  careless  pruning  exerts  a  distinctly 
ready  means  of  promoting  its  spread.  This  i.s  esj^iecially  apparent  in 
the  case  of  vigorous  young  trees,  whole  branches,  and  sometimes  the 
entire  tree,  being  lost  through  an  injulicious  wielding  of  the  knife. 
There  is  only  one  thing  to  be  done  in  such  cases,  and  that  is  the 
excision  of  the  cankered  portions  as  soon  as  they  are  noticed.  For  the 
same  reason  all  “snags”  and  dead  spurs  should  be  not  merely  cut  off, 
but  cut  into  living  wood,  by  which  means  a  skin  is  quickly  formed 
over  the  wound.  The  evil  effects  of  frost  on  Apple  trees  are,  I  think, 
perhaps  less  than  is  sometimes  supposed.  I  do  not  know  of  an 
instance  where  canker  has  followed  cracks  in  bark  caused  by  frost. 
It  ought  to  have  been  more  clearly  indicated  when  noting  the  good 
effects  of  excising  cankered  wood,  that  the  dead  portions  if  left  form 
a  capital  nidus  for  this  insidious  fungus  to  propagate  its  species.  At 
present  the  plant  is  easily  discovered  in  these  portions  by  the  dull  red 
globular  processes  which  mark  an  advanced  stage  of  its  life  history. 
Hence  the  importance  of  at  once  removing  the  plants  with  its  host, 
and  also  giving  the  tree  an  oj^portunity  of  healing  its  wmunds. — B. 
FORCING  RADISHES. 
Early  and  tender  Radishes,  if  well  coloured  and  quickly  grown,  are 
much  appreciated  at  a  time  when  salads  generally  are  not  plentiful. 
To  secure  them  in  this  condition  at  an  early  period  they  must  be 
grown  in  the  mild  and  gently  forcing  temperatuie  of  a  hotbed. 
French  Breakfast  and  Wood’s  Early  Frame  are  the  two  best  varieties 
for  early  forcing. 
The  heat  produced  solely  from  hot-water  pipes  is  not  so  good  for 
this  crop  as  that  generated  by  a  hotbed  formed  within  a  frame,  or 
built  specially  with  a  frame  on  the  top.  A  brick  pit  filled  with  fer¬ 
menting  material  is  the  best  for  early  crops,  as  the  heat  is  not  so 
readily  lost,  which  is  important.  The  materials  for  forming  a  hotbed 
should  be  composed  of  stable  manure  and  leaves  in  equal  parts.  Shake 
out  the  manure  in  a  heap,  and  add  the  leaves  at  the  same  time.  Turn 
the  heap  once  or  twice,  then  place  in  the  frame,  treading  it  firmly. 
A  bed  3  feet  thick  will  be  of  a  bulk  sufficient  to  produce  a  fairly 
lasting  beat,  but  the  height  of  the  bed  may  be  brought  to  near  the 
glass,  as  the  materials  sink  in  the  course  of  fermentation.  On  the 
surface  of  the  bed  place  4  inches  of  soil.  Good  garden  soil,  or  old 
potting  soil  mixed  with  leaf  mould  or  fine  vegetable  matter,  is 
admirable  for  the  purpose. 
Make  the  surface  level  and  sow  the  seeds  thinly,  taking  a  little  care 
in  distributing  them,  as  under  such  favourable  conditions  every  seed 
will  germinate.  Cover  them  after  sowing  with  just  enough  soil  to  hide 
the  seeds  from  view.  Keep  the  soil  moist,  but  this  will  be  maintained 
