92 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  1,  1900. 
Notes  on  MARfCHAt-  Niel. 
When  grown  under  glass  the  pruning  of  this  fine  Eose  is  a  matter 
of  great  importance,  and  cultivators  are  somewhat  divided  as  to  the 
better  wav.  IMany  cut  back  the  growths  closely  each  year  directly 
after  the  flowering,  I  have  adopted  this  plan  for  a  number  of  years 
with  considerable  success,  but  the  sight  of  several  plants  ireated  in 
some  cases  by  close  pruning,  and  in  others  by  very  moderate  cutting, 
has  rather  modified  my  views  in  regard  to  the  former  practice. 
The  Rose  trees  in  question  fill  a  good  sized  span-roofed  greenhouse, 
and  are  planted  on  each  side,  wires  being  fixed  to  train  the  growths 
near  the  glass.  They  were  planted  two  years  back,  the  object  being 
the  supply  of  blooms  for  sale.  All  the  plants  are  budded  on  Briar 
stocks  from  cuttings,  and  are  therefore  dwarfs.  The  first  season  after 
planting  a  fair  amount  of  growth  was  made,  but  the  shoots  were  not 
strikingly  vigorous,  and  in  the  spring  of  last  year  a  few  dozens  of 
blooms  were  gathered  of  good  colour  and  quality.  After  this  came 
the  test  as  to  pruning,  which  is  the  principal  object  of  these  notes.  The 
owner  had  been  advised  to  cut  hard  back  all  the  growths  throughout 
the  house.  Not  caring  to  undertake  such  a  risk,  as  he  thought,  he 
used  the  knife  in  the  determined  way  indicated  on  some  half-dozen 
of  the  plants.  With  the  rest  he  simply  removed  weakly  growths  and 
slightly  shortened  the  longest  rods. 
That  it  was  wise  not  to  prune  closely  the  present  appearance  of  the 
plants  or  trees  fully  pjroves.  The  half-dozen  were  a  considerable  time 
in  starting  into  new  growth,  and  the  result  of  the  last  summer’s 
crop  of  shoots  are  a  few  short  weakly-looking  rods  that  cannot  possibly 
bear  high-class  flowers  a  month  or  two  hence.  The  majority,  how¬ 
ever,  are  magnificent  in  strength  and  health.  The  trees  have  furnished 
long  clean  rods  that  have  run  to  the  top  of  the  house  oii  both 
sides  with  leaves,  large,  deep  green,  and  leathery.  The  “  eyes”  look 
plump,  and  nothing  save  bad  management  can  now  prevent  an 
abundant  harvest  of  fine  blossoms. 
Forcing  is  detrimental  to  Mardchal  Niel  Rose.  At  least  the 
blooms  lose  in  colour  and  substance  when  much  fire  heat  is  applied. 
A  little  may  be  necessary  to  keep  aw^ay  frost,  because  even  in  a  cool 
greenhouse  the  growth  buds  seem  anxious  to  move  at  the  turn  of  the 
year.  Little  heat  and  little  air  are  advisable;  the  latter,  when  it  takes 
the  form  of  cold  draughts,  is  certain  to  bring  mildew  and  green  fly. 
I  shall  watch  the  house  of  Roses  seen  recently  for  the  future, 
because  I  have  always  considered  Mardchal  Niel  on  dwarfs  as  short 
lived.  My  favourite  stock  is  the  standard  Briar.  Budded  on  this  one 
has  noticed  a  less  rampant  growth ;  this  is  firm  instead  of  gross. 
Soft  wood  favours  canker.  Such,  at  least,  has  appeared  to  me,  so 
that  when  one  hears  of  a  comparatively  large  space  being  filled  with 
the  favoured  Rose  in  a  short  space  of  time,  one  expects  to  hear  in  a 
.season  or  two  that  the  plant  has  died.  I  once  had  a  specimen  that 
bore  800  fine  blooms  two  years  alter  planting,  and  after  the  crop  had 
been  gathered  the  tree  died  in  some  unaccountable  way. 
Near  the  spot  where  I  write  is  a  very  fine  specimen  trained  to  the 
south-east  side  of  a  dwelling  house.  The  position  is  high,  and  the 
soil  dry  and  of  a  sandy  nature.  This  tree  is  about  five  years  old, 
and  last  year  bore  really  grand  blossoms.  The  leaves  now  present 
a  most  healthy  picture,  the  frost  we  have  had  not  being  severe 
enough  to  harm  them.  There  are  many  spots  in  gardens  where  this 
beautiful  Rose  would  do  well  if  tried.  When  once  a  favourable 
position  has  been  obtained  it  is  glorious  as  a  climber,  and  gives 
practically  no  trouble  beyond  nailing  in  the  shoots.  Little  pruning 
in  the  case  of  outside  specimens  is  required,  and  although  it  is  not  a 
continuous  flowering  variety,  I  fancy  most  persons  are  more  delighted 
with  one  perfect  blossom  of  Marechal  Niel  than  a  handful  of  almost 
any  other  Rose  that  is  cultivated. — H.  S. 
How  Fertilisers  Affect  Potatoes. — Three  years’  test  at  the 
Virginia  experimental  station  seems  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that 
Potatoes  grown  without  fertilisers  contain  the  greatest  amount  of  dry 
matter.  The  addition  of  fertiliser  tends  to  diminish  the  dry  matter 
in  proportion  to  the  amount  applied.  Potatoes  grown  with  sulphate 
of  potash  contain  more  dry  matter  than  where  muriate  was  used. 
The  ash,  says  an  American  contemporary,  did  not  appear  to  be  affected 
to  any  appreciable  extent,  and  the  same  is  true  of  starch.  Neither 
the  kind  nor  the  amount  of  fertiliser  seemed  to  have  any  effect  upon 
the  percentage  of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and  potash,  but  the  per¬ 
centage  of  chlorine  was  considerably  higher  when  muriate  of  potash 
was  used  and  increased  with  the  amount  applied. 
SPRAYING  FRUIT  TREES  WITH  SULPHATE 
OF  COPPER. 
On  page  6  “  Y.  B.  A.  Z.”  says  he  proposes  to  give  his  Plum  and 
Pear  trees  a  double  syringing  of  sulphate  of  copper  (1  lb.  to  25  gallons 
of  water)  whilst  resting,  and  again  when  the  buds  begin  to  swell,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  attacks  of  brown  rot  fungus.  Monilia  fructigena  ; 
also  in  the  hope  that  the  Pear  midge,  Diplosis  pyrivora,  may  find  the 
treatment  disagreeable. 
May  I  suggest  to  your  esteemed  correspondent  the  omission  of  the 
second  dressing,  “  when  the  buds  begin  to  swell,”  on  account  of  its 
rather  dangerous  nature  to  those  buds  which  may  be  sufficiently  open 
in  the  scales  to  allow  the  solution  to  enter.  The  solution  of  copper 
sulphate,  at  a  strength  of  1  part  in  250  parts  water,  1  lb.  to  25  gallons, 
acts  disastrously  on  developing  as  well  as  developed  growths, 
whether  leafy  or  floral,  the  strength  quoted  being  only  permissible  before 
any  growth  has  developed.  • 
If  the  solution  is  used  at  all  after  the  buds  start,  it  should  be  at  a 
strength  of  1  part  sulphate  of  copper  in  8000  parts  water,  or  1  lb.  to 
800  gallons  ;  if  Paris  green  be  added  for  the  Pear  midge  and  similar 
“  gentry,”  1  part  in  12^  parts  of  the  copper  sulphate  solution  for  Plum, 
and  1  part  in  20  parts  for  Apple  and  Pear  trees  ;  or  1  lb.  Paris  green  to 
200  gallons  of  copper  sulphate  solution  for  Plum,  and  1  lb.  Paris  green 
to  320  gallons  of  sulphate  of  copper  solution  for  Apple  and  Pear  trees. 
There  would  then  be  a  chance  of  killing  two  birds  with  one  stone 
— the  parasitic  fungi,  and  the  predatory  insects  or  their  larvm. 
But  in  order  to  grapple  successfully  with  parasites  and  predatory 
insects  we  must  understand  something  of  their  life  histories,  and  of 
the  two  pests  named  by  our  friend,  that  of  the  brown  rot  fungus. 
Monilia  fructigena,  has  not  been  completely  worked  out.  All  we 
know  is  the  conidial  condition  and  the  sclerotia  stage,  the  perfect  or 
ascophore  form  being  unknown,  or  at  least  imperfectly  determined. 
The  fungus,  however,  passes  the  winter  in  the  sclerotia  stage,  known 
as  Sclerotinia  fructigena,  consisting  of  small,  black,  wrinkled  bodies, 
mostly  concentrically  arranged  on  affected  fruits,  especially  fine,  on 
Doyenne  du  Comice  Pears,  and  from  these  spring  short  flask-shaped 
branches  or  hypha?,  bearing  globose  conidia  or  spores,  which  give  rise 
to  the  disease  anew. 
The  diseased  fruits  bear  on  their  affected  surfaces,  sometimes  in  thd 
core  cavity,  dense  tomentose  tufts,  often  growing  in  circles,  white,  then 
dingy  ocfiraceous  red.  This  is  Monilia  fructigena — hyphm  branched 
bearing  elliptical  spores,  usually  in  chains,  and  in  this  matrix  the  small 
black  bodies,  Sclerotinia  fructigena  form,  practically  wet,  drought,  and 
frost  proof.  I  do  not  exactly,  but  very  nearly,  know  they  are  also 
poison  proof,  for  the  way  the  simple  solution  of  copper  sulphate  acts  is 
by  abiding  on  the  sclerotia,  and  preventing  the  growth  from  these 
of  young  mycelium,  consequently  the  develojiment  of  spores  is 
prevented. 
It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  brown  rot  fungus  also  attacks  the 
leaves,  though  less  frequently  than  the  fruits,  hence  the  winter  spray¬ 
ing  may  be  useful  in  acting  upon  any  sclerotia  on  the  trees  or  ground, 
otherwise  the  spraying  whilst  the  trees  and  fungus  are  dormant  can 
have  little  effect  where  cleanly  culture — the  destruction  of  all  diseased 
fruits  and  leaves — is  practised,  for  it  is  the  sclerotia  that  constitutes  the 
danger  of  infection. 
I  cannot  grasp  the  idea,  much  less  the  fact  of  summer  spores 
surviving  the  winter,  except  on  living  tissues  in  hyphas  form,  or  on 
diseased  fruits  in  the  fruit  room,  and  after  being  thrown  on  the  rubbish, 
heap,  to  produce  conidia  or  summer  spores  in  the  spring.  I  think  no 
one  better  than  “  Y.  B.  A.  Z.”  will  fail  to  recognise  the  importance  of 
burning  all  affected  fruits  as  early  as  possible,  then  winter  spray  the 
trees  with  simple  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper,  though,  as  before 
stated,  it  may  not  do  much,  if  any  good,  but  it  certainly  will  kill  any 
lingering  Monilia  fructigena  spores,  and  there  is  no  harm  in  the 
application. 
For  the  summer  treatment  I  should  depend  on  dilute  Bordeaux 
mixture,  never  using  it  stronger  than  one  part  of  copper  sulphate  to 
125  parts  water,  and  of  course  one  part  lime.  This  1  lb.  copper 
sulphate  and  1  lb.  freshly  burned  lime  in  12^  gallons  of  water  is  quite - 
strong  enough  for  use  on  Apple,  Cherry,  Pear,  and  Plum  trees ;  and 
with  an  ounce  of  Paris  green  paste  added  to  the  mixture  for  Plum, 
trees,  or  three-quarter  ounce  for  Apple  and  Pear  trees,  is  as  good  as 
anything  for  fungi  and  biting  insects.  Spray  first  before  the  blossoms 
open,  then  as  soon  as  the  fruit  is  well  formed  spray  again,  and  repeat 
the  application  iwice  later  at  intervals  of  a  fortnight  if  wet,  or  three 
weeks- if  dry  weather  prevail. 
For  the  Pear  midge  I  should  dress  the  ground  with  a  mixture  of 
kaioit  and  bone  superphosphate  in  equal  parts,  7  lbs.  per  rod,  and  point 
in,  and  in  spring  when  growth  begins  use  If  lb.,  crushed  fiue,  nitrate 
of  soda  per  rod,  and  leave  for  the  rains  to  wash  in.  Another  thing, 
just  when  the  buds  commence  swelling  spray  the  trees  with  tar  water 
— half  a  pound  of  gas  tar  boiled  for  half  an  hour  in  2  gallons  of  water, 
and  then  dilute  to  50  gallons.  It  may  deter  the  Pear  midge  frcm 
visiting  the  trees  from  neighbouring  orchards  or  gardens,  for  with  the 
application  of  kainit  and  superphosphate  now,  and  the  nitrate  of  soda 
later,  I  do  not  expect  any  will  rise  from  “  Y.  B.  A.  Z.’s  ”  grounds  if 
the  mixture  extend  quite  a  yard  beyond  the  spread  of  the  branches 
of  infested  trees. — G.  Abbey. 
