36 
JOURXAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  11, 1895. 
Orchids,  amongst  which  were  noticed  Eria  Clarki,  Cattleya  citrina, 
Laelia  tenebrosa,  Cynorchis  grandiflora,  Dendrobium  thyrsiflorum,  and 
Cypripediums  in  variety.  Messrs.  F.  Sander  &  Co.,  St.  Albans,  showed 
Orchids  in  splendid  condition  and  great  diversity.  Particularly  pro¬ 
minent  were  Cattleyas,  Ltelias,  Laelio-Cattleya  D.  S.  P.rown,  Cypri¬ 
pediums,  Cirrhopetalum  picturatum,  Uendrobiums,  Lycaste  Oyeriana, 
Catasetum  Christyanum,  and  Odontoglossums  (^silver  Banksian  medal). 
J.  Gurney  Fowler,  Esq.,  Woodford,  sent  blooms  of  Laelia  tenebrosa 
Glebeland’s  variety. 
The  group  of  Orchids  arranged  by  Messrs.  Hugh  Low  &  Co,, 
Clapton,  was  very  bright  and  beautiful.  Cypripediums,  Oncidiums, 
Aerides,  and  Odontoglossums  were  conspicuous  (Banksian  medal).  Mr. 
H,  J.  Chapman,  gardener  to  K.  I.  Measures,  Esq.,  Camberwell, 
showed  Masdevallia  Coradelli,  Lmlio-Cattleya  Schilleriana,  Vanda 
tricolor  superba,  and  Cattleyas  in  variety.  Only  two  Orchids  were 
staged  by  Messrs.  J.  Veitch  <Sc  Sons,  Chelsea,  these  being  Cypripedium 
Dominianum  albicans  and  Dendrobium  porphyrogastrum.  A  plant  of 
Laelia  tenebrosa  came  from  J.  F,  Allcock,  Esq.,  Northchurch,  Herts  ; 
Mr.  W.  H.  White,  grower  to  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence,  Dorking,  sending 
a  very  interesting  collection  of  Masdevallias.  Mr.  Johnson,  gardener 
to  G.  Marshall,  Esq.,  Grimsby,  staged  several  handsome  Cattleyas, 
and  a  very  fine  pan  of  Epidendrum  vitellinum  majus  (silver  Banksian 
medal), 
De  Barri  Crawshay,  Esq.,  Sevenoaks,  showed  Brassia  verrucosa  in 
splendid  condition,  and  a  spike  of  Odontoglossum  crispum,  Mrs.  De  B, 
Crawshay,  Orchids  of  botanical  interest  came  from  Mr.  E.  Hill, 
gardener  to  Lord  Rothschild,  Tring,  while  Mr.  W.  Buckell,  gardener  to 
M.  S.  Cooke,  Esq.,  Kingston  Hill,  sent  spikes  of  Cattleya  gigas. 
Certificates  and  Awards  op  Merit. 
Arnehia  cornuta  (Dobbie  &  Co.). — This  plant  grows  to  a  height  of 
about  a  foot,  and  carries  yellow  blooms,  on  each  petal  of  which  is  a  rich 
velvety  brown  blotch.  Fig.  4,  page  29,  sketched  at  the  Drill  Hall, 
represents  the  fiowers  and  foliage  (first-class  certificate). 
Begonia  carminata  (J.  Veitch  &  Sons). — This  is  the  result  of  a  cross 
between  B.  coccinea  and  B.  Dregei,  The  habit  of  flowering  is  very 
pleasing.  The  blooms  are  rose  coloured  (award  of  merit). 
Begonia  Mr.  F.  Bostock  (J.  Laing  &  Sons). — A  fine  double  scarlet 
variety  of  erect  habit  (award  of  merit). 
Brassia  verrucosa  (Da  Barri  Crawshay). — This  Orchid  is  too  well 
known  to  need  any  description  here  (award  of  merit). 
Calochortus  luteus  comolor  (R.  Wallace  &  Co.). — At  the  base  of  this 
yellow-flowered  variety  are  dull  crimson  markings  (award  of  merit). 
Calochortus  macrocarpus  (R,  Wallace  &  Co.). — This  is  an  old  sort, 
though  rarely  seen,  with  silvery  purple  flowers  (award  of  merit). 
Carnation  Mrs.  W.  Bright  (Miss  McRonald). — This  is  a  large  scent¬ 
less  variety  with  yellow  blooms  (award  of  merit). 
Godetia  Marchioness  of  Salisbury  (Daniel  Bros.). — This  is  a  new 
free-blooming  variety  with  scarlet  blooms,  each  having  a  broad  silvery 
edge  (award  of  merit). 
Eemerocallis  aurantiacus  (R.  Wallace  &  Co.). — This  is  a  superb  form 
of  the  Day  Lily.  The  colour  is  rich  orange-yellow,  and  the  flowers 
measure  upwards  of  6  inches  across  (first-class  certificate). 
Ltelio- Cattleya  B.  S.  Broion  (F.  Sander  &  Co.). — This  bigeneric 
hybrid  is  very  handsome.  It  is  from  a  cross  between  Cattleya  Trianre 
and  Laelia  elegans.  The  sepals  and  petals  are  deep  purplish  rose.  The 
lip  is  rich  crimson-purple,  with  a  yellow  throat  (award  of  merit). 
Melon  Epicure  (R.  Mortimer). — This  is  exceedingly  handsome,  and 
of  superb  flavour.  The  flesh  is  firm,  juicy,  and  of  a  very  pale  green 
colour  (award  of  merit). 
Melon  Nugget  (R.  Mortimer). — This  is  a  very  handsome  variety  with 
medium  sized  fruits.  The  flesh  is  bright  scarlet,  and  of  a  rich  luscious 
flavour  (award  of  merit). 
Miltonia  vexillaria  Constance  Wigan  (Sir  F,  Wigan). — This  is  a 
grand  flower.  The  lip  is  broad  and  pure  white  in  colour,  the  sepals  and 
petals  being  delicate  rose  (award  of  merit). 
Bose  Haileyhirya  (Paul  &  Son). — This  is  a  Hybrid  Perpetual  with 
sweetly-scented,  good  shaped  flowers  of  a  rich  crimson  colour  (award  of 
merit). 
Streptocarpus  multicolor  (J.  Laing  &  Sons).— This  variety  is  very 
floriferous,  and  carries  blue  flowers  of  large  size  that  have  dark 
markings  in  the  lower  parts  (award  of  merit). 
Vanda  tricolor  superha  (H.  J.  Chapman). — This  is  a  great  improve¬ 
ment  on  the  type  in  all  ways  (award  of  merit). 
DRY  ROT  IN  POTATOES. 
My  first  acquaintance  with  “  dry  roi  ”  was  in  1844  on  the  alluvial  or 
warp  land  abutting  on  the  Ouse  (Yorkshire)  near  where  the  River 
Wharfe  pours  in  its  spasmodic  floods.  Two  forms  of  “  rot  ”  were  then 
recognised  by  Potato  growers  :  1,  Dry  rot,  which  aflected  the  sets, 
sometimes  causing  their  decay,  so  that  no  growth  appeared  above  ground, 
while  in  other  cases  the  tops  pushed  through  the  soil  and  collapsed  when 
a  few  inches  high,  2,  Wet  rot,  a  disease  that  infested  the  tubers  in  the 
ground  in  autumn,  causing  them,  in  some  instances,  especially  in  the 
wet  part  of  the  fields,  to  be  scarcely  worth  taking  up,  while  many  of  the 
apparently  sound  tubers  at  lifting  time  rotted  in  the  pies,  which  were 
of  considerable  proportions,  large  tracts  of  land  being  under  the  Potato 
crop,  alternating  with  Wheat — that  one  year  and  Potatoes  the  next. 
That  was  the  farmers’  practice,  but  the  small  growers  grew  Potatoes  on 
the  same  ground  year  after  year,  sometimes  taking  two  crops  of  early 
Potatoes  on  the  same  ground,  one — an  early  crop — Ashleaf  from  large 
sets,  and  a  second  crop  from  small  sets  which  produced  the  “  seed  ”  for 
another  year.  As  all  the  land  was  not  required  for  “  seed,”  Turnips 
were  grown  on  the  other  part  of  the  land.  Now  two  things  happened 
in  1845,  and  put  an  end  to  this  system  of  culture  : — 1,  The  Potato 
disease  fungus  (Phytophthora  infestans)  became  rampant,  and  we  lost 
all  our  stock  of  Ashleaf  Potatoes,  and  nearly  all  that  of  York  Regents. 
2,  The  Turnips — both  Red  Globe  and  Yellow  Bullock — were  eaten  up 
by  the  commonly  called  slime  fungus  (Plasmodiophora  brassicas). 
Many  times  since  1844  both  dry  and  wet  rot  have  infested  the 
Potato  crops,  and  invariably  when  (a)  the  sets  have  been  diseased  to 
commence  with  ;  (S)  where  the  land  was  rich  in  organic  matter,  as 
FIG.  5.— SECTIONS  OF  POTATO  TISSUE  AFFECTED  WITH  CURL  ANI> 
DRY  OR  WET  ROT  FUNGI. 
A,  tissue  affected  with  curl  fungus  (Macrosporium  commune  var.  solani) ;  a,  mycelial 
hyphse;  h.  haustoria  in  invaded  cells;  c,  perfect  cells;  d,  cell  wall  (cellulose); 
e,  protoplasm;  /,  starch  grains;  g.  nucleus;  /i,  epidermal  cells;  i,  stoma;  coni- 
diophores  of  curl  fungus;  k,  gland;  I,  simple  hair;  m,  jointed  hairs.  B,  dry  or 
wet  rot  fungus  (Fusarium  solani);  n,  mycelial  hyphaa;  o,  outgrowths;  p,  coni- 
diophores;  g,  conidia;  r,  spore. 
heavily  manured  garden  ground  and  the  warp  or  alluvial  soils  adjacent 
to  our  tidal  rivers  ;  (c)  on  land  recurrently  cropped  with  Potatoes. 
In  18G9  I  was  struck  with  the  coincidence  of  the  dry  and  wet  rot  of 
Potatoes  in  the  Mersey  valley  (on  the  Cheshire  side),  with  those  of  the 
Humber  valley  (Yorkshire  side),  and  was  not  then  acquainted  with  the 
cause,  apart  from  the  cultural  one,  of  the  diseases,  nor  that  they  were 
one.  In  1873  our  garden  Potatoes  at  Grinkle  Park  were  affected  with  both 
dry  and  wet  rot,  our  favourite  Lapstone  being  worst,  and  that  year  our 
Tomatoes  were  affected  by  a  similar  disease  (see  page  481).  The 
examination  of  these,  the  Potatoes  and  the  Tomatoes,  proved  con¬ 
clusively — 1,  “  Curl  ”  was  distinct  from  dry  and  wet  rot  ;  2,  Dry  rot 
and  wet  rot  were  the  same  thing.  “Curl”  was  produced  by  the  curl 
fungus  (Pleospora  herbarum,  conMial  condition  Macrosporium  solani, 
fig.  87,  page  481),  the  collapse  fungus  prevalent  in  1894  in  various 
parts  of  England  being  the  same.  To  this  I  will  direct  attention 
on  a  future  occasion.  Dry  rot  and  wet  rot  were  the  product  of 
Fusarium  solani,  a  fungus  with  three  conditions,  which  will  be  described 
and  figured.  Now,  all  these  things  are  not  new%  Kiihn  failed  to  detect 
any  trace  of  fungi,  as  I  did  in  Mr.  Arabia’s  Tomato  plants,  while 
Halliar  and  Reinke,  with  Berthold,  found  fungoid  growths,  and  Schenck 
connected  curl  with  Pleospora  herbarum  or  P.  polytrichia,  thus 
confirming  the  views  of  Haliier.  But  a  difficulty  arises — namely, 
the  harmonising  of  the  views  of  the  observers,  for  Reinke’s 
and  Berthold’s  Verticillium  atro-album  cannot  belong  to  the  same 
fungus  as  Hallier’s  and  Schenck’s  Sporidesmium  (Macrosporium) 
solani,  yet  the  two  are  sometimes  associated,  hence  the  confusion 
by  observers  and  the  bewilderment  of  cultivators.  This  is  not  pleasant 
reading,  but  it  is  far  less  distasteful  than  writing  on  matters  interfering 
with  the  classification  of  authorities,  which  renders  work  of  this  kind 
extremely  unpalatable  and  the  labourer  unpopular.  Facts,  however, 
are  stubborn  things,  and  it  is  necessary  to  give  a  verdict  according  to 
the  evidence  when  questions  of  vital  importance  to  cultivators  come  up 
for  judgment,  being  bound  by  no  tie  but  that  of  truth — nature  as 
revealed  by  the  microscope.  These  are  : — 1,  There  is  “  curl  ”  disease 
separate.  2,  Dry  rot  and  wet  rot,  the  same,  distinct  from  “  curl.” 
3,  “  Curl  ”  and  dry  rot  are  often  associated  in  the  same  plant.  4,  In 
addition  to  those  we  may  find  slime  fungus  and  bacteria  in  wet  rot. 
This  will  give  an  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  assigning  to  these  bodies  their 
proper  position  as  regards  cause  and  effect.  It  is  necessary,  however, 
that  this  be  done,  and  I  now  have  the  pleasure  to  lay  before  the  readers 
of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  the  section  of  a  bit  of  Potato  tissue  with 
both  curl  and  rot  (dry  and  wet)  fungi  (fig.  5). 
