Januaty  11,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
o( 
to  the  warts  on  the  small  root  fibres.  Go  further  with  the  investiga¬ 
tion,  and  pare  off  the  tip  of  a  protuberance  on  the  large  excrescence, 
and  that  of  a  wart  on  the  small  root.  Compare  the  tissues,  and  note 
that  the  two  have  an  exactly  similar  formation.  Then  take  a  rather 
large  slice  of  the  unnatural  growth,  and  observe  how  beautiful  the 
tissue  is  to  the  naked  eye.  A  portion  of  such  is  shown  in  fig.  8,  at  A. 
It  is  matchlessly  ingrained  with  gold  in  silver.  The  graining  in  the 
figure  represents  the  golden  colour,  and  the  white  the  silvery  tissue  of 
the  Apple  tree,  while  the  black  marks  show  the  partings  between  the 
warts  of  the  protuberance.  It  is  also  desirable  to  note  that  the  gold 
is  always  within  the  silver,  and  also  to  observe  that  the  part  of  the 
excrescence  is  joined  to  the  main  body  by  a  stem,  p,  just  as  the 
preternatural  growth  itself  is  affixed  on  the  root  of  the  Apple  tree. 
A  bit  of  a  protuberance  enlarged  six  diameters  is  figured  at  B, 
showing  three  growing  points,  q,  and  also  a  non-protuberancing  part,  r. 
The  cortex  (bark)  is  seen  to  be  dark  brown  in  colour,  and  more  or  less 
granulated,  and  within  appears  cellular  tissue,  indicated  by  white,  is 
a  graining  of  gold  colour  represented  by  wavy  lines. 
What  mean  the  gold  in  the  silver  tissues  of  the  Apple  tree  root  ? 
Excitants  of  growth — bodies  exploiting  of  the  host.  If  so  they  can- 
not  be  symbiotic,  that  is,  leading  together  a  common  life  for  their 
mutual  benefit,  for  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  reciprocity  of  services, 
but  of  rank  parasitism — a  drawing  away  of  the  growth  and  nutrition 
of  the  Apple  tree  to  serve  the  ends  of  the  parasite.  What  is  it  ? 
Examination  of  the  cells  of  an  active  or  growing  point  of  a  pro¬ 
tuberance  with  the  microscope 
reveals  a  faintly  yellow  stain 
analogous  to  that  of  the  body 
found  in  clubbed  cells  of  a 
Cabbage  plant  root.  The  pro¬ 
tuberance  cells  are  very  thick- 
walled,  one  .  shown  at  C, 
enlarged  260  diameters,  show¬ 
ing  the  protoplasm,  s,  yellowish 
body,  f,  and  nucleus  of  the 
Apple, u.  Abitof  theyellowish 
substance  under  a  lens  en¬ 
larging  1040  diameters,  brings 
into  view  the  amoeba-like  body 
represented  at  D,  which  also 
shows  a  nucleus,  v.  It  has  not 
a  protective  wall,  but  is  simply 
naked  protoplasm,  and  accords 
with  a  similar  organism  found 
in  the  cells  of  protuberances 
on  Alder. roots,  and  named  by 
Moll  Plasmodiophora  Alni. 
On  an  apparently  dead  por¬ 
tion  of  the  protuberance  were 
found,  on  the  dry  part,  bodies 
of  a  roundish  oval  form,  one 
shown  at  E,  and  on  the  moist 
portion  the  organism  repre¬ 
sented  at  F.  Possibly  the  first 
is  a  cyst  of  some  species  of 
Myxomycete  or  slime  fungus, 
and  the  latter  bacteroides, 
though  more  likely  bacteria. 
In  no  instance  were  either  the 
early  or  later  stages  of  the 
bacteroides  found  in  the  living 
cells,  nor  any  bacteria ;  but 
in  every  one  of  the  cells  of 
the  protuberance  examined 
was  found  the  gold  ever  within 
the  silver,  and  undoubtedly 
the  cause  of  the  remarkable 
excrescence. — G.  Abbey. 
[The  soil  where  the  clubbing 
of  the  Apple  tree  roots  occurs 
is  very  sandy,  and  appears  to  be 
infested  with  what  is  known  as 
slime  fungus,  Plasmodiophora 
Brassicse.  Fruit  is  grown  with 
difficulty,  but  Scotch  Firs 
thrive  in  the  district.  Will 
the  slime  fungus  attack  Apple 
tree  roots  or  give  rise  to 
another  form  that  will  ?  In 
recent  years  Potatoes  have 
been  infested  by  a  parasite 
producing  preternatural  out¬ 
growths  from  the  tubers  or 
underground  stems,  as  figured 
and  described  in  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture,  December  15th, 
1898,  page  463.  In  that  case, 
as  in  the  present  one  of  attack 
of  Apple  tree  roots,  the  parasite 
Fig.  7. 
’oRTioN  OF  Root  after  Removing 
Excrescence  (Natural  Size). 
References:  j.  Fork  of  root  in  excrescence; 
k,  scar  on  clean  root ;  I,  root  stub  with 
swollen  end ;  m,  point  of  springing  of 
small  root  shown  on  face  of  excrescence; 
n,  branch  of  rflbt  bearing  excrescence  ; 
0,  point  of  arrested  growth. 
Fig.  8. — Sections  of  Root  Excrescence, 
A,  Section  of  a  portion  of  protuberance ;  p,  stem  of  a  swelling  (natural  size) ; 
B,  portion  of  excrescence  (enlarged  6  diameters) ;  q,  growing  points  ;  r, 
stationary  part ;  C,  cell  of,  root  protuberance  (enlarged  260  diameters) ;  s, 
protoplasm  ;  t,  yellowish  body  ;  u,  nucleus  of  Apple  ;  D,  amceba-like  body 
found  in  apparently  living  cell  (enlarged  1040  diameters) ;  v,  nucleus  of 
body ;  E,  cyst  found  in  dry  portion  of  tissue ;  F,  bodies  existing  in  moist 
dead  tissues. 
produces  a  dry,  not  a  wet,  gangrene,  and  hence  dissimilar  in  effect  to 
Plasmodiophora  Brassicte,  which  causes  speedy  decay  of  Cabbages  and 
Turnips.  What  is  best  for  such  land  cannot  always  be  obtained.  If  it  was 
ours  we  should  like  to  give  it  a  dressing  of  clay  marl,  half  to  a  cartload 
per  rod,  spread  the  lumps  evenly  on  the  surface,  and  leave  them  for  the 
weather  to  scatter,  then  dig  in,  taking  small  spits  so  as  to  mix  as  much  as 
possible.  Failing  the  marl  we  should  prefer  a  similar  dressing  of  chalk 
treated  in  the  same  way.  Gas  lime,  1  cwt.  per  rod,  spread  evenly  on 
the  surface  of  vacant  land,  leaving  it  there  for  a  month  or  six  weeks  and 
then  dig  in,  would  act  beneficially.  The  gas  lime  must  not  be  used  on 
ground  occupied  with  fruit  trees  or  other  vegetation,  and  it  should  be 
fresh  from  gas  works  to  thoroughly  disinfect  the  land.  Stale  gas  lime 
will  not  kill  parasites  nearly  so  effectively,  though  useful  in  preventing 
club-root.  Basic  slag  and  kainit,  about  8  lb.  of  the  former  and  2  lb.  of 
the  latter  per  rod,  applied  now  would  be  good  for  fruit  trees  and  crops 
in  such  soil,  as  would  salt  and  soot  in  the  spring ;  but  nothing  that 
may  be  applied  can  cause  such  extraordinary  protuberances  on  fruit 
tree  roots  to  disappear.] 
Poison  in  Lily  of  the  Valley. — It  seems  as  though  a  sprite 
of  vindictive  activity  is  ever  whispering  into  the  ear  of  the  investigator. 
One  after  another  some  of  our  best  favoured  plants  are  overhauled  and 
marked  dangerous.  Everyone  will  recall  the  rumpus  raised  over 
Primula  obconica,  which  has  actually  resulted  in  a  much  lessened 
cultivation  of  that  charming  Primrose,  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  the 
plant  did  irritate  some  who  handled  it,  but  it  is  far  from  generally 
poisonous,  and  fully  merits  more  encoumgement.  And  now  the  latest. 
A  German  chemist  claims  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  to  conceal  a  most 
virulent  poison — prussic  acid — to  which  indeed  he  attributes  in  a  large 
degree  the  characteristic  odour  of  the  flower.  Not  only  is  the  flower 
full  of  poison,  but  the  stalks,  too!  The  attention  of  this  investigator 
was  directed  to  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  because  his  gardener  showed  all 
the  symptoms  of  prussic  acid  poisoning  after  carrying  in  his  mouth  a 
bunch  of  the  flowers  when  he  had  chapped  lips.  For  all  the  above  we 
would  not  advise  anyone  to  give  up  growing  such  a  beautiful  flower. — 
— (“American  Gardening.”) 
