April  1,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
265 
The  foregoing  was  penned  in  response  an  “  Anxious  Inquirer,” 
who  wished  me  to  specially  advise  upon  the  treatment  of  diseased 
plants. 
The  “  yellow  spot,”  or  cladosporium,  though  not  so  troublesome 
as  it  was  six  or  more  years  ago,  has  still  to  be  reckoned  with  by 
both  market  and  private  growers.  It  would  really  appear  that 
private  gardeners  have  more  cause  for  complaint  than  market 
growers,  this  being  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  not  always  in  a 
position  to  give  Tomatoes  special  treatment.  When  Tomato  plants 
have  to  be  grown  in  vineries,  Peach  houses,  and  forcing  pits 
generally,  they  cannot  always  be  treated  to  a  warm,  dry,  airy 
atmosphere.  They  get  the  heat,  but  it  is  accompanied  by  too  much 
moisture,  and  that  is  just  what  favours  the  spread  of  the  mildew¬ 
like  cladosporium.  Before  this  disease  was  introduced  from 
America  (that  is  where  I  say  it  came  from,  with  Tomato  seed)  I 
could  grow  Tomatoes  with  Cucumbers  and  Melons  ;  but  it  cannot 
be  done  now — at  least,  not  by  me.  Luckily,  this  highly  contagious 
disease  seems  to  be  “wearing  itself  out,”  or  may  I  say  that  an 
improvement  in  our  methods  of  culture  of  market  growers’  plants 
is  responsible  for  the  comparative  immunity  from  it  ?  It  is  now 
generally  known  that  an  excess  of  moisture  in  the  atmosphere  leads 
to  the  appearance  and  favours  the  spread  of  this  once  much-dreaded 
disease  ;  but  if  by  affording  fire  heat  and  ventilating  freely,  we  can 
bring  it  to  a  standstill,  who  will  be  foolish  enough  to  begrudge  the 
cost  of  the  fuel  or  neglect  this  timely  attention  ?  Market  growers 
are  particularly  warned  against  any  false  economy  in  the  matter  of 
fuel  for  these  and  other  reasons  which  will  presently  transpire. 
A  few  hours’  stagnation  in  the  atmosphere  sends  the  disease 
rapidly  through  a  crowded  house  of  plants,  and  there  are  days  when 
this  cannot  be  prevented  without  the  aid  of  fire  heat.  Some  of  the 
disease  will  find  its  way  to  the  plants  in  spite  of  all  preventive 
measures — at  least,  such  is  my  experience — and  the  question  is, 
What  is  ihe  best  that  can  be  done  towards  eradicating  it  ?  Spraying 
with  the  Bordeaux  mixture  was  to  have  been  as  effective  against 
cladosporium  as  it  has  proved  against  the  Potato  disease  ;  but  one 
trial  of  that  remedy  was  quite  enough  for  me.  All  things  con¬ 
sidered,  it  did  more  harm  than  good.  Such  a  mess  it  made,  too,  of 
the  fruit  and  everything  else  it  lodged  on.  Next  I  tried  what  could 
be  done  with  sulphate  of  copper  and  lime  in  a  powdered  form,  and 
by  means  of  bellows  distributors  coated  the  foliage  and  fruit  of 
hundreds  of  plant*  with  this  pungent  mixture.  My  man  were  not 
sorry  to  hear  that  none  of  the  sulphate  of  copper  and  lime  mixture 
was  to  be  applied  last  season,  and  the  boys  missed  the  tedious 
occupation  of  wiping  the  ripe  fruit  before  it  was  packed.  I  believe 
it  checked  the  disease,  and  so  it  did  the  growth  of  the  plants,  and 
if  it  is  ever  used  again  it  will  be  as  a  last  resource. 
Sulphuring  the  hot-water  pipes  and  turning  on  the  heat  so  as  to 
generate  fumes  strong  enough  to  make  the  eyes  tingle  is  more  to 
the  purpose,  and  so  is  making  the  pipes  hot  on  a  warm  day.  A  dry 
heat  of  100°  or  rather  more,  accompanied  by  a  little  top  air, 
actually  kills  the  fungus,  and  that  is  our  principal  remedy.  It  is 
applied  as  often  as  the  disease  threatens  to  spread  again.  The 
plants  mu»t  not  be  kept  dry  at  the  roots  in  order  that  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  may  also  be  constantly  dry ;  if  a  mulching  of  *trawy  manure 
i»  applied  there  will  not  be  much  moisture  arising  from  the  soil, 
the  straw  drying  quickly  and  preventing  evaporation. 
Scarred  fruits  have  been  much  in  evidence  of  late  years.  As  a 
rule  the  scars  are  only  skin  deep,  and  may  be  easily  removed  by 
those  who  eat  the  fruit ;  but  all  the  same  it  sells  badly.  Once  more 
the  microscope  brings  to  light  a  disease,  but  I  forget  whether  or 
not  it  has  a  distinctive  name.  Anyway,  if  a  name  has  been  found 
a  good  remedy  has  not  been  given.  The  Bordeaux  mixture  and 
the  sulphate  of  copper  and  lime  in  a  powdered  state  have  been 
suggested  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  these  are  doubtful  remedies — 
they  are  next  to  worthless  in  fact.  Whether  right  or  wrong  in 
the  conclusions  I  have  arrived  at,  I  have  yet  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  the  preventive  measures  we  adopted  “worked  well.” 
I  noticed  particularly  that  large  quantities  of  fruit  showed  the  scar, 
and  worse  still,  that  many  more  showed  signs  of  decaying  at  the 
point  after  a  short  spell  of  extra  bright  weather.  When  basket 
after  basket  of  fruit  with  decaying  centres  have  to  be  gathered, 
mixed  with  lime,  and  buried,  it  sets  us  thinking. 
Clear  cold  nights  frequently  follow  the  hottest  days,  and  unless 
fire  heat  is  given  the  fruits  become  very  cold.  Try  them  against 
the  cheek  at  six  o’clock  in  the  morning.  Directly  the  sun  strikes 
on  the  houses  the  temperature  rises  rapidly,  moisture  condensing 
on  the  cold  fruit  only  to  be  rapidly  evaporated  directly  the  venti¬ 
lators  are  set  wide  open.  What  follows  ?  The-  fruit,  tough  in  the 
skin,  scars,  while  much  of  that  less  advanced  scalds,  a  soft  shrunken 
patch  being  the  first  indication  of  this,  and  if  there  is  any  disease 
this  is  an  effect  not  the  cause  of  those  black  patches  of  decay  that 
follow.  It  is  simply  a  repetition  of  what  sometimes  occurs  with 
Grape  berries. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  discontinuing  the  fires  during  hot  weather 
I  gave  orders  to  start  them  at  4  p  m.,  and  to  keep  the  pipes 
moderately  warm  all  through  the  night.  A  “  notch  ”  of  top  air 
has  always  been  left  on  during  the  summer  ;  but  this  is  not  enough, 
and  I  had  them  opened  wider  not  later  than  6  a.m.,  an  hour  earlier 
if  possible,  thereby  preventing  any  condensation  of  moisture,  and 
obviating  the  equally  injurious  rushes  of  cold  air.  The  result  of 
this  simple  change  of  treatment  more  than  equalled  my  expecta¬ 
tions.  The  remedy  was  found. 
Mr.  Abbey  may  explain  this  away  how  he  may,  but  he  will 
have  his  work  cut  out  to  convince  me  that  a  new  disease  or  a 
disease  of  any  kind  has  been  responsible  for  those  losses  of  tons  of 
fruit  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
several  growers  who  sent  boxes  of  decayed  fruit  to  me  last  season 
will  read,  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest  what  I  have  just 
advanced  on  this  portion  of  my  subject.  It  should  also  be  added 
that  those  who  ventilate  early  and  gradually  will  find  that  there 
will  be  far  less  difficulty  in  keeping  down  the  temperatures  during 
the  hottest  part  of  ihe  day  than  is  the  case  when  ventilation  is 
deferred  till  the  temperatnre  of  a  house  is  risen  considerably,  and 
for  which  the  remedy  is  opening  the  ventilators  widely  at  one 
time. 
One  of  the  penalties  attached  to  a  free  employment  of  fresh 
loam,  especially  that  taken  from  the  surface  of  meadows,  is  a 
plentiful  and  most  unwelcome  supply  of  wireworms.  What  these 
are  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  ;  what  they  do  is  only  too  evident  to 
those  who  have  used  loam  in  which  they  abound.  They  bore  into 
the  centre  of  the  underground  portion  of  the  stem  of  Tomato 
plants,  and  then  eat  their  way  upwards,  this  meaning  death  to 
the  plants.  Wireworms  are  easily  found  in  the  centre  of  the 
stems,  that  is  if  they  are  responsible  for  the  drooping  of  the 
leaves,  so  that  their  attack  can  be  readily  distinguished  from  all 
other  destructive  agencies. 
When  only  a  few  plants  are  grown  in  pots,  it  is  a  simple  matter 
to  hunt  out  and  destroy  the  wireworms  abounding  in  the  soil, 
breaking  up  the  lumps  of  fibrous  loam  in  particular.  This  plan  of 
pulling  fibrous  loam  into  small  pieces  may  not  commend  itself  to 
those  who  attach  so  much  importance  to  having  their  loam  in  a 
coarse  condition  ;  but  if  it  is  a  question  of  fine  soil  and  no  wire- 
worms,  or  the  retention  of  coarse  lumps  and  what  wireworms  it 
may  contain,  decide  in  favour  of  the  fine  soil.  Small  ridges  of  soil 
may  be  similarly  treated,  but  hunting  for  wireworms  in  the  long 
borders  covered  by  market  growers’  houses  is  a  “  horse  of  another 
colour.” 
A  light  surfacing  of  gas  lime  left  on  the  surface  for  a  month 
to  sweeten,  and  forked  in  two  months  prior  to  planting,  or  a 
dressing  of  salt,  may  be  of  service  in  freeing  the  soil  of  wireworms, 
but  may  also  be  easily  overdone,  more  harm  than  good  resulting. 
I  have  never  tried  feeding  the  wireworms  with  rape  cake  or  other 
delicacies  till  they  burst  from  repletion,  nor  have  I  ever  dug  in  a 
crop  of  green  mustard  with  a  view  to  making  it  too  hot  for  the 
pests.  There  is  some  sense  in  soaking  the  ground  with  hot  water, 
and  still  more  in  not  depending  upon  any  nostrums.  “  Catch  ’em 
and  kill  ’em  ”  is  the  best  motto.  Nothing  easier,  nothing  safer, 
nothing  surer.  When  the  plants  are  put  out,  plant  baits  at  the 
same  time.  Insert  short  labels  or  pointed  sticks  in  2-inch  lengths 
of  Carrots  in  preference  to  Potatoes,  plunge  these  just  below  the 
surface  midway  between,  or  not  far  from  the  plants,  and  every 
second  day  draw  out  of  the  ground,  remove  all  wireworms  pro¬ 
truding  from  them,  and  return  the  baits  to  the  ground.  Wire- 
worms  much  prefer  Carrots  to  Tomato  stems.  I  have  had  two 
boys  at  this  kind  of  work  morning  after  morning,  and  whole 
potfuls  of  wireworms  to  destroy.  It  was  a  case  of  death  to  the 
wireworms,  or  no  Tomatoes.  Can  anyone  suggest  a  better  remedy  ? 
If  so,  please  let  us  have  it. 
One  more  trouble  and  then  I  have  done  for  the  present,  always 
provided  I  am  allowed  to  remain  quiet.  Woodlice  and  crickets  are 
an  “  awful  nuisance  ”  in  many  market  growers’  houses,  the  strawy 
mulchings  and  excellent  cover  afforded  by  the  hot-water  pipes 
resting  on  the  soil  favouring  the  increase  of  these  destructive  pests 
by  millions.  As  a  rule  they  are  slow  in  eating  young  Tomato 
plants,  but  will  “  bark  ”  them  wholesale  if  no  other  food  is  avail¬ 
able,  while  Cucumbers  seem  exactly  to  their  liking.  I  have  tried 
drenching  with  insecticides,  including  petroleum  mixtures,  but  they 
seem  uninjured  by  these,  and  woodlice  actually  crawl  out  of  crude 
petroleum.  Hot  water  rolls  them  over,  as  well  as  crickets,  and  is 
by  far  the  best  remedy  I  have  tried.  All  the  heat  is  turned  on  to 
a  flow  and  return  pipe  in  the  houses  we  wish  to  clear  of  woodlice 
and  crickets,  and  if  a  good  fire  is  going  the  water  quickly  becomes 
hot  enough  to  kill  these  insects.  Their  favourite  haunts  are 
drenched  with  it,  and  in  the  Cucumber  houses  heaps  of  dry  moss 
placed  for  their  special  benefit  are  also  drenched.  If  this  is 
followed  up  it  is  not  many  that  will  survive. — W.  Igguldex. 
