November  14, 1895. 
453 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
at  the  moment  the  male  element  collides  with  and  pierces  the 
female  body,  and  this  gives  rise  to  what  is  called  the  teleutospore. 
It  grows  on  an  erect  stalk  or  branch  from  the  mycelium,  is  two- 
celled,  and  remains  long  united  to  it — that  is,  it  may  abide  on  the 
dead  Asparagus  stem  all  the  winter,  and  when  mature  is  wet-proof 
and  frost-proof.  It  remains  for  a  considerable  time  without 
germinating,  continuing  unchanged  during  the  winter.  On  germi¬ 
nating  in  the  early  summer,  which,  as  far  as  I  have  observed,  is 
uniformly  at  the  close  of  May  or  early  in  June,  a  germinal  tube  is 
pushed  out  from  one  or  both  of  the  cells  ;  but  usually  only  one, 
and  that  the  lower.  This  tube  grows  a  considerable  length  before 
becoming  septate  (divided  by  cross  walls),  and  then  forms  cells, 
from  which  spring  small  branches,  each  bearing  at  its  top  a  small 
roundish-oval  body  called  a  sporidium.  This  has  an  air  cavity  or 
vacuolum  near  its  upper  end,  and  perforce  of  certain  chemical 
changes  and  mechanical  action  becomes  so  light  as  to  float  in  dry 
air,  and  by  some  instinct  makes  for  the  stems  of  growing  Asparagus 
plants.  This  sporidium  pushes  a  growth-tube,  and  that  enters  the 
Asparagus  stem  either  by  directly  piercing  the  epidermis,  which  it 
does  by  means  of  a  secretion  acting  as  a  solvent  on  the  hard  cuticle, 
or  by  intruding  through  a  stomata. 
Now  we  lose  sight  of  the  fungus  altogether,  and  it  grows 
between  the  cuticle  and  underlying  cells,  permeates  the  intercellular 
spaces,  and  becomes  much  branched  and  restricted  to  a  small  area 
on  account  of  the  resistance  on  tbe  part  of  the  Asparagus,  so  that 
it  forms  a  mass  of  mycelial  hyphae,  and  a  pustule  about  three 
times  as  long  as  broad.  From  this  hyphae  oval,  single-celled 
bodies  spring,  and  are  protected  by  the  epidermis  of  the  Asparagus 
until  they  are  perfectly  developed,  when  the  epidermis  bursts,  and 
the  bodies  called  uredospores  are  set  free.  They  are  produced 
singly  on  erect  branches,  and,  when  ripe,  fall  off,  being  blown  by 
wind  hither  and  thither,  but  usually  fall  on  Asparagus  stems, 
branches,  or  leaves,  which  are  often  made  almost  entirely  black  in 
appearance.  This  is  the  “  rust  ”  stage  of  the  fungus. 
From  the  same  substratum  of  mycelium  as  the  uredospores 
spring  teleutospores  are  produced,  but  later  in  the  season,  being 
most  plentifully  and  often  only  developed  in  late  summer.  They 
grow  on  erect  stalks,  are  two-celled,  and  considerably  thicker- 
walled  and  darker  in  colour  than  the  “  rust  spores.”  This  is  the 
mildew  or  final  stage  of  the  fungus,  which  lives  over  the  winter,  as 
before  described.  Thus  the  cycle  or  life  history  of  the  parasite  is 
completed. 
Prevention. — It  may  be  as  well  to  say  that  there  is  no  cure  for 
this  or  any  other  fungus  living  in  the  internal  tissues.  The  most 
that  can  be  done  in  cases  of  infection  is  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
the  disease  and  hinder  its  spreading.  Attention,  therefore,  should 
be  given  mainly  to  preventive  measures. 
1,  Destroy  every  portion  of  the  dead  “  grass  ”  by  burning,  not 
leaving  a  particle  of  it,  and  it  would  be  wise  to  scrape  off  the 
surface  soil  lightly  and  burn  that  also,  or  bury  it  deeply  in  the 
spaces  between  the  rows  or  beds,  making  trenches  or  pits  about  a 
foot  deep  and  covering  with  at  least  6  inches  of  bottom  soil. 
It  is  no  use  attempting  to  do  anything  more  for  the  winter,  and 
instead  of  wasting  money  in  sulphate  of  iron  and  other  nostrums 
for  killing  the  resting  spores,  save  it  for  investing  when  the 
Asparagus  heads  begin  to  appear  in  a  spraying  machine  or  a 
powder  distributing  apparatus  and  a  stock  of  sulphate  of  copper 
and  lime  for  making  Bordeaux  mixture,  or  lay  in  a  supply  of  anti¬ 
blight,  Fostite,  or  other  fungus  powder.  Be  ready  for  the  fungus 
not  later  than  the  beginning  of  June  in  the  South  and  by  mid¬ 
summer  in  the  northern  parts  of  the  kingdom,  cutting  the  “  grass  ” 
as  usual,  and  not  being  flurried  or  alarmed  until  the  cutting  ceases, 
and  the  Asparagus  plant  is  fairly  developed  in  stem,  branch, 
and  leaf. 
2,  When  the  grass  has  formed  its  leaves  or  growths,  which  will 
vary  according  to  the  age  of  the  plants — that  is,  young  plants  before 
“  cutting  ”  age  will  make  growth  fit  for  spraying  by  the  beginning 
of  June,  and  “  cut  ”  plants  by  the  end  of  that  month  or  at  latest 
early  in  July  ;  but  whenever  it  may  be,  spray  or  dust  the  plants 
with  either  a  2  per  cent.  Bordeaux  mixture,  or  a  powder  prepara¬ 
tion  containing  10  per  cent,  of  sulphate  of  copper.  Choose  a  dry 
day  and  prospect  of  fine  weather  for  spraying  ;  such  weather,  but 
on  a  morning  when  the  grass  is  moist  with  dew,  for  distributing 
the  powder.  Let  the  spraying  or  the  dusting  be  done  both  ways — 
up  the  rows  and  back  again,  so  as  to  coat  the  “  grass  ”  on  all  sides, 
under,  over,  everywhere,  with  the  finest  possible  film  of  moisture 
or  lightest  even  coat  of  powder,  remembering  that  is  not  the 
quantity,  but  the  regular  and  thorough  administration  of  the 
preparations  that  are  effective. 
(a)  Again  spray  or  dust  the  plants  three  weeks  or  a  month  after 
the  first  dressing.  Do  it  well  so  as  to  reach  all  the  new  “  grass  ” 
that  has  been  made,  and  under  ordinary  circumstances  this  will  be 
all  that  is  required  to  stave  off  disease  from  this  most  valuable  of 
all  spring  vegetables. 
(1)  In  certain  seasons  Asparagus — young  plants  and  “hard-cut” 
beds  or  plats — push  “  grass”  in  August  and  even  September.  The 
uredospores  or  “  rust  ”  revel  in  these  late  growths,  hence  a  third 
spraying  or  dusting  may  be  necessary.  If  so,  give  it ;  let  there  be 
no  tampering  with  the  enemy,  but,  as  an  invading  foe  it  ought  to  be 
met,  let  all  rise  in  their  strength  and,  contesting  every  inch  of 
invaded  ground,  expel  the  devastating  hordes  from  the  land  and 
crops. — G.  Abbey. 
FIG.  70.— ME.  S,  T.  WEIGHT. 
MASSING  SHRUBS. 
Fashion  in  the  various  departments  of  horticulture  changes 
almost  as  frequently  and  erratically  as  do  the  vagaries  in  dress  to 
which  civilised  communities  subject  themselves.  In  the  latter 
instances  these  fleeting  fancies  do  not  generally  leave  any  objec¬ 
tionable  feature  behind,  although  perhaps  they  frequently  demand 
the  sacrifice  of  a  considerable  amount  of  personal  comfort.  In 
horticultural  matters,  however,  the  case  is  totally  different,  espe¬ 
cially  in  that  branch  of  it  which  deals  with  the  laying  out  and 
planting  of  gardens,  shrubberies,  parks,  woods,  and  even  public 
roads  and  their  immediate  surroundings. 
How  beautiful  many  of  our  English  landscapes  are,  though  not 
as  might  at  first  sight  appear,  because  of  their  thorough  natura^ess, 
but  rather  because  some  master  mind  of  a  past  generation  used  art 
in  planting  to  lend  an  added  beauty  to  that  of  Nature  s.  Look  at 
that  distant  hill  rising  in  wavy  undulations  to  the  horizon,  cl^hed 
as  it  is  with  the  deep  green  colour  of  thousands  of  sturdy  Firs  . 
What  a  bold  feature  is  thus  created  !  Turn  again  in  the  opposite 
direction,  where  a  long  stretch  of  verdant  grass  is  backed  up  by 
forests  of  Beech  and  Oak,  whose  brown  and  yellow  leaves  give  a 
wealth  of  colour  which  brightens  up  the  whole  landscape.  No 
haphazard  method  of  planting  would  create  such  distinctive 
scenes  as  these.  It  is  the  broad  masses  of  each  species  of  tree  or 
shrub  that  give*  the  boldness  to  the  landscape  when  the  area  is 
great  as  well. 
The  same  principle  applies  to  the  gardens  and  grounds  that 
surround  the  mansions  of  Britain.  The  larger  the  space  to  be  planted 
the  greater  should  be  the  masses  of  each  kind  of  shrub.  The  great 
landscape  gardeners  of  bygone  days  had  thoroughly  grasped  this 
principle,  and  have  left  splendid  monuments  of  their  practical 
achievements  in  that  direction  behind.  Marnock  in  particular 
seemed  to  have  a  characteristic  way  of  carrying  out  these  ideas,  and 
whenever  I  pay  a  friendly  visit  to  a  brother  of  the  craft  i  can 
generally  detect  his  work  if  he  happened  to  have  laid  out  any  part 
of  the  grounds  there.  When  it  was  necessary  to  raise  banks  and 
mounds  for  screens  these  would  be  covered  with  beautiful  spreadmg 
Yews,  than  which  nothing  is  more  suitable  for  the  purpose.  He 
planted  for  posterity,  and  not  altogether  for  rapid  effect. 
All,  however,  cannot  do  that  in  these  “  express  days,  but  can 
