76 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  27,  1898. 
In  renovating  and  re-levelling  some  old  tennis  lawns  at  a  minimum 
of  expense  and  labour,  the  same  turf  was  relaid  upon  a  top-dressing 
of  fresh  soil,  the  action  of  cutting  the  sods  being  sufficient  to  kill  off 
the  coarse  weeds  which  had  hitherto  heeu  conspicuous.  Various 
kinds  of  chemical  manures  Inve  been  employed  in  the  endeavour  to 
re-vitalise  exhausted  lawns  in  the  simplest  manner,  but  the  virtues  of 
superphosphate  of  lime  have  for  the  purpose  surpassed  them  all ;  such 
at  least  is  the  experience  and  opinion  of — A  Worker. 
COMBATING  EELWORMS  AND  SUPPORTING 
PLANTS. 
Practice  with  Soluble  Phenyle. 
Some  of  my  friends  remember,  and  not  unfrequently  make  allusions 
to,  some  experiments  I  once  conducted  in  the  direction  of  feetTng 
Grajie  Vines  “  through  the  bottle.”  Large  glass  open-necked  jars  or 
bottles  filled  With  water  were  suspended  close  up  to  joints  from  which 
bunch-bearing  laterals  sprung.  Moss  was  packed  somewhat  tightly 
about  the  joints  and  between  the  tops  of  the  bottles,  capillary  attraction 
doing  the  rest.  As  a  result  of  being  kept  constantly  moist  roots  were 
quickly  pushed  out  by  the  rod,  and  were  not  long  in  finding  their 
way  down  into  the  bott'es.  From  the  long  straight  roots  quickly 
sprung  numerous  fibres,  the  interior  of  the  bottles  becoming  filled 
with  a  netw'ork  of  roots.  When  the  Vine  leaves  w'ere  fully  developed, 
and  the  days  bright  and  sunny,  the  water  was  drawn  out  of  the 
bottles  at  an  astonishing  rate,  as  much  as  3  prints  being  talien  out  of 
one  bottle  in  a  single  day. 
During  the  time  I  was  content  to  use  clear  water  only  everything 
went  smoothly,  but  directly  feeding  with  liquid  manure  was 
commenced  the  roots  ceased  to  perform  their  functions,  the  majority  of 
the  fibres  perishing  in  a  few  hours.  Changing  the  water,  pruning 
the  roots,  and  starting  again  with  clear  water  resulted  in  fresh  thickets 
of  fibres  forming,  and  after  repeated  experiments  the  conclusion 
arrived  at  was  that  we  may  easily  err  in  applying  manures  too  strongly 
to  delicate  roots.  Not  only  are  the  latter  incapable  of  absorbing 
manures  of  any  bind  other  than  in  infinitesimal  quantities,  but  they 
may  easily  be  injured  by  an  overdose. 
What  has  that  to  do  with  celworm  destruction  ?  would  be  a  fair 
question.  My  reply  would  be.  Much,  very  much,  in  my  case.  Those 
simple  experiments  have  influenced  my  views  on  applying  manures  or 
insecticides  to  the  soil  ever  since.  It  is  not  the  heavy  supplies  that 
do  the  most  good;  comparatively  light  dressings  or  weak  liquid 
manure,  applied  at  the  right  time.,  doing  far  better  service  without  risk 
of  injury  to  tender  roots.  No  doubt  roots  confined  in  water  are  most 
susceptible  of  injury  from  an  overdose  of  anything,  but  according  to 
my  experience  not  so  very  much  more  so  than  root  fibres  confined  in 
small  ridges,  boxes,  or  pots  of  soil.  No  liquid  manure  and  no  dis¬ 
infectant  should  be  applied  when  the  soil  is  in  a  dry  state.  It  is 
safer  and  far  more  effectively  given  when  the  soil  is  just  moist. 
“  Halogen,”  and  any  other  clever  student  of  chemistry,  may  laugh 
at  the  idea  that  Little’s  soluble  phenyle  contains  any  appreciable 
manurial  properties,  and  may  go  on  doing  so  to  their  heart’s  content, 
so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  but  this  will  not  prevent  my  using  it  freely — 
primarily  as  a  remedy  for  eelworm,  but  also  because  it  is  a  good 
fertiliser.  Our  row  of  1  gallon  drums  just  delivered  speak  for  them¬ 
selves.  If  I  had  neglected  to  order  them  my  foreman  would  have 
refreshed  my  memory,  as  he  had  commenced  doing  every  day  we 
transacted  business  together.  Scientists  have  done  much  for  us  in 
various  ways,  but  too  often  they  prove  either  too  much  or  too  little. 
Many  of  those  puny  experiments  about  which  we  hear  so  much,  and 
upon  which  such  great  expectations  have  been  founded,  when  put  into 
actual  practice  not  infrequently  prove  most  disappointing.  Nor  is 
this  to  be  wmndered  at,  seeing  how  much  conditions  vary. 
Not  till  I  saw  the  effects  of  wetting  some  of  the  Tomato  leaves 
with  diluted  soluble  phenyle  did  I  fully  realise  how  strong  the  stuff 
is.  If  phenyle  used  at  the  rate  of  1  gallon  to  1000  gallons  of  water 
will  injure  foliage,  then  the  same  strength  may,  though  not  necessarily 
so,  be  equally  injurious  to  tender  root  fibres.  The  quantity  used  for 
either  Tomatoes  or  Cucumbers  has  been  gradually  reduced  until  by 
lair  testing  w'e  decided  that  1  gallon  of  phenyle  is  enough  for  2000 
gallons  of  water,  and  that  is  the  rate  at  wdfich  it  will  be  used,  as  a 
rule,  this  season.  We  certainly  applied  it.  very  much  stronger  to  the 
Cyclamens,  owing  to  the  eelworm  having  become  strongly  established 
in  their  roots  before  we  were  aAvare  what  was  ■wrong.  In  this  instance 
it  was  a  case  of  kill  or  cure.  It  answered  well,  but  I  ought  to  have 
added  that  ■when  root-fibres,  instead  of  a  few  swollen  roots  were 
becoming  abundant,  the  phenyle  was  applied  in  a  much  more  diluted 
state. 
Each  season  we  have  forked  into  the  surface  of  newdy  dug  borders 
intended  for  Tomatoes  a  dressing  of  either  kainit  4  ozs.,  superphos 
phate  4  ozs.,  and  soot  about  8  ozs.  per  square  yard ;  or  4  ozs.  of 
kainit,  8  ozs.  of  basic  slag,  and  8  ozs.  of  soot.  These  dressings  are 
supplemented  by  frequent  waterings  with  clear  soot  w’ater  and  nitrate 
of  soda  dissolved,  and  used  at  the  rate  of  quarter  of  an  ounce  to  a 
gallon  of  water  occasionally.  Solid  maniue  is  mixed  with  the  second 
spit  at  the  rate  of  about  a  cartload  to  4  rods  of  ground — not  a  heavy 
dressing  by  any  means,  but  just  enough  to  supply  the  needful 
humus.  The  natural  and  artificial  manures,  coupled  with  abundance 
of  w'ater,  ajapear  to  suit  Tomatoes,  the  plants  forming  stout  hard 
stems  and  a  fairly  disease-resisting  growth,  but  cannot  be  depended 
upon  to  destroy  eelworms. 
We  now,  in  addition  to  the  natural  and  artificial  manures  named, 
give  a  good  soaking  with  pi  enylc  when  the  plants  are  about  2  feet 
high  and  well  set  with  fruit  by  way  of  a  preventive,  and  on  the  first 
signs  of  drooping,  whether  from  eelworm  or  an  attack  of  fungus, 
a  second  dose  of  phenyle  is  applied.  Altogether  the  plants  in  all  the 
houses,  ■whether  they  are  in  pots  or  j)lanted  out,  get  a  phenyle 
watering  about  six  times  in  a  season,  and  if  at  the  end.  of  1898  ■we  can 
say  our  failures  were  no  more  numerous  than  in  the  two  preceding 
years,  then  the  £2,  or  rather  more,  spent  on  Little’s  soluble  phenyle 
(tought  in  quantities  at  6s.  6d.  per  gallon  drum)  will  have  proved  a 
good  investment. 
As  I  hove  previously  asserted,  dryness  at  the  roots  is  not  only 
most  injurious  to  Tomato  and  Cucumber  plants,  especially  when 
these  are  carrying  heavy  crops,  but  it  al.'^o  favours  the  increase  of 
eelworms.  It  is  along  the  pathways  that  the  most  failures  with 
Tomatoes  are  likely  to  occur,  because  it  is  there  where  the}"  are  most 
liable  to  suffer  from  dryness.  The  paths  ought  to  be  mulched  more 
heavily  than  the  rest  of  the  borders,  and  also  loosened  ■with  a  fork 
occasionally.  Cucumbeis  show  the  effect  of  dryness  at  the  roots  more 
quickly  than  do  Tomatoes  in  borders,  owing  to  their  limited  rooting 
area,  and  the  roots  are  also  more  easily  injured  by  an  overdose  of 
phenyle,  or  a  dressing  of  chemical  or  too  strong  liquid  manure. 
We  use  phenyle  as  a  preventive  of  eelworm,  anil  if  the  ]4ants 
subsequently  commence  flagging  from  an  attack,  an  application  of  it 
saves  the  greater  portion.  So  tenacious  of  life,  however,  is  this 
fearful  pest,  that  we  have  not  succeeded  in  wholly  clearing  plants 
and  the  soil  of  it,  but  if  successful  in  keeping  the  plants  in  a  profitable 
condition  through  several  months  that  satisfies  me. 
There  is  nothing  gained  by  keeping  Cucumber  plants  about  a 
whole  season,  and  1  prefer  to  have  a  quick  heavy  crop,  and  then  plant 
afresh.  When  our  first  batch  was  turned  out  last  season,  many  of 
them  were  affected  by  eelworm.  Wholly  changing  the  soil  in  a  house 
120  feet  long  meant  much  labour  at  a  busy  time.  Instead  of  this  the 
old  soil  was  levelled,  well  soaked  with  diluted  phenyle  no  stronger  than 
usual,  and  made  to  serve  as  a  foundation  for  fresh  mounds  of  soil.  If 
this  did  not  show  confidence  in  phenyle,  nothing  I  can  say  or  do  will 
emphasise  the  point.  'I’hose  plants  succeeded  as  well  as  any  second 
crop  Cucumbers  ever  did  with  me,  and  kept  bearing  freely  as  long  as 
it  paid  to  expend  fire  heat  and  labour  upon  late  crops  generally. 
Kainit  may  be  a  remedy  for  eelworm,  but  the  only  time  it  "W'as 
tried  at  my  expense  the  remedy  proved  ■wwse  than  the  disease.  The 
young  man  in  charge  of  the  house  was  a  little  too  zealous,  and  did  not 
wait  for  full  instructions.  He  wished  afterwards  that  he  had.  As  far 
as  I  could  ascertain,  about  8  ozs.  were  applied  to  every  yard  run  of 
ridge,  or  enough  to  just  w-hiten  it ;  hut  it  played  sad  havoc  with  the 
Cucumher  plants.  As  far  as  Cucumbers  are  concerned,  we  will  dispense 
with  kainit,  if  you  please.  Kainit  applied  too  strongly  injures  the 
tender  stems  of  young  Tomato  and  Cucumber  plants,  and  poisons  the 
soil.  It  is  safe  enough  in  moderate  quantities  well  mixed  with  the 
top  spit  of  a  Tomato  border,  but  should  be  kept  out  ot  the  small 
mounds  of  soil  that  Cucumbers  ought  to  be  planted  in.  We  sxvear  by 
soot,  but  even  this  had  better  be  applied  “  little  and  often,”  and  in  the 
form  of  clear  soot  water,  than  very  strongly  in  the  compost. 
On  referring  to  my  Journal  I  find  that  something  more  ought  to 
be  said  concerning  the  manurial  properties  of  phenyle  If  the  marked 
improvement  repeatedly  observed  in  the  colour  of  the  foliage  and  the 
progress  of  the  plants  very  shortly  after  applying  phenyle  is  not  due 
to  the  manurial  jrroperties  contained  in  it,  to  what  else  can  it  be 
attributed  ?  I  am  inclined  to  think  there  is  something  in  it  which 
“  Halogen  ”  has  not  discovered.  Let  him  try  again.  If  the  results 
of  his  investigations  had  appeared  two  years  ago  and  I  had  acted  in 
accordance  therewith  it  is  certain  that  I  should  not  have  had  such 
healthy  plants  generally  and  profitable  crops  of  Cucumbers  and 
Tomatoes  as  I  have  been  able  to  prodtice;  in  fact,  I  should  have  been 
misled  by  laboratory  teaching.  Applied  as  xve  apply  it,  Little's  soluhle 
phenyle  is  worth  all  it  costs  us  as  a  manure  alone. — W.  Iggulden. 
[How  iioaV,  “  Halogen  ”  and  IMr.  Dyke  ?  When  one  person  kills 
his  plants  with  Little’s  soluble  phenyle  and  another  cures  them  of 
eelworm  by  its  use  ;  ■when  one  says  it  contains  practically  no  manurial 
properties,  while  another  avers  that  it  produces  “marked  improve¬ 
ment  ”  in  the  f  Jiage,  we  I'epeat  there  is  somi  thing  wrong  somewhere. 
Has  it  been  used,  in  the  case  of  fatalities,  when  the  soil  was  too  dry  ? 
Is  it  like  somebody’s  tea,  “  always  good  alike  ”  when  distributed  by 
vendors  ?] 
