October  13,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
287 
received  at  Kew,  and  they  were  invariably  accompanied  by  the  state¬ 
ment  that  “this  plant  was  perfectly  healthy  until  a  few  days  ago,” 
when  this  was  entirely  wrong,  for  the  plant  must  have  been  ill  for 
months. 
The  “black  smut  of  Oats”  was  employed  by  the  lecturer  to 
illustrate  the  way  in  which  many  fungoid  pests  worked.  The  spores 
lay  upon  or  in  the  ground,  and  entered  the  tissues  of  the  Oat  seed 
when  the  latter  was  germinating.  It  had  been  proved,  indeed,  that 
this  was  the  only  time  in  the  history  of  the  Oat  plant  that  it  could  be 
infected  with  the  smut.  The  plant  was  thus  diseased  from  its  infancy, 
for  the  fungus  wanted  to  enjoy  its  own  life  for  six  or  seven  months, 
and  only  used  the  host  plant  to  accomplish  its  own  ends.  The 
germinating  spore  gave  rise  to  the  mycelium,  or  the  vegetative  part  of 
the  fungus,  and  the  mycelium  in  its  turn  gave  rise  to  the  spores  or 
fruits.  The  spores  being  disseminated  only  left  one  victim  to  pass  on 
to  the  next. 
It  was  not  important,  however,  to  know  when  the  plant  was 
affected  ;  the  thing  to  do  was  to  anticipate  this  condition,  and  to  spray 
as  a  preventive.  All  the  spraying  in  the  world  would  not  kill  a 
disease,  but  “  prevention  was  better  than  cure.” 
The  gardener  looked  upon  the  whole  thing  as  a  mystery.  If  one 
plant  was  affected  it  was  not  a  disease;  it  was  only  when  whole 
batches  of  plants  went  off  that  he  acknowledged  that  it  might  he  a 
disease. 
Nearly  every  kind  of  parasite  had  two  kinds  of  spores,  and  the 
Chrysanthemum  rust  (Puccinia  Ilieracii)  was  a  veiy  simple  plant 
indeed.  The  specific  name  “  Hieracii”  was  given  because  the  rust  had 
first  been  found  upon  the  Hawk  weed  (Hieracium).  The  uredo  or 
summer  spores  were  produced  right  through  the  spring  and  summer, 
and  to  the  beginning  of  autumn.  The  snuff-coloured  pustules  were 
colonies  of  spores,  the  individual  spore  being  round  in  shape.  From 
five  to  six  days  after  the  entry  of  a  uredospore  into  the  tissue  of  a 
leaf  the  bundle  of  spores  or  pustules  makes  its  appearance.  The 
function  of  fhe  uredo  or  summer  spores  was  to  enable  the  fungus  to 
extend  its  geographical  range,  and  this  it  did  very  speedily,  for  in 
addition  to  the  crowding  of  the  plants  together  the  gardener  kindly 
helped  to  distribute  the  spores  by  syringing.  The  spores  from  two 
or  three  pustules  were  driven  all  over  the  place  with  the  syringe,  and 
besides,  the  leaves  being  damp  placed  every  spore  under  favourable 
conditions  for  germinating.  Two  hours  sufficed  for  the  germination  of 
a  uredospore. 
At  this  time  of  the  year,  when  the  leaves  begin  to  fade,  they 
underwent  a  chemical  change,  and  the  mycelium  that  the  infected 
plants  contained  underwent  a  change  likewise.  Thus  the  teleuto  or 
winter  spore  was  produced.  This  was  different  from  the  uredospdre, 
because  it  did  not  germinate  at  once,  but  lay  dormant  until  spring, 
when,  with  the  warmer  weather  and  suitable  hosts,  it  germinated  and 
produced  mycelium,  which  in  its  turn  bore  uredospores,  the  life  cycle 
thus  being  complete. 
Chrysanthemums  in  houses  were  exposed  to  an  additional  danger, 
however,  for  some  of  the  plants  were  carrying  green  leaves  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  year,  so  that  the  production  of  the  uredospores  took 
place  for  the  same  length  of  time.  lie  advised  the  careful  destruction 
of  all  old  leaves  and  stems,  not  according  to  the  gardeners’  idea  of 
destruction,  for  he  had  often  seen  gardeners  pick  off  an  infected  leaf, 
crumple  it  up  in  their  hands,  and  throw  it  under  the  stage,  thinking 
they  had  destroyed  the  pest  when  in  reality  they  had  only  helped  to 
distribute  it. 
Houses  that  had  no  plants  in  green  leaf  in  them  might  be  sprayed 
with  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  iron,  and  leaves  in  a  dormant  condition 
might  even  be  treated  thus  without  injury. 
The  resting  spores  must  bo  destroyed  if  the  fungus  was  to  be  got 
rid  of.  The  life  history  of  the  “rust”  was  well  known,  and  it  did 
not  produce  perennial  mycelium. 
He  really  wondered  why  the  “rust”  had  not  appeared  before,  for 
it  was  one  of  our  commonest  parasitic  fungi,  since  it  was  to  be  found 
on  no  less  than  ten  genera  and  thirty  species  of  British  plants,  whilst 
it  was  common  in  Europe  and  Australia,  Asia  and  America.  It  was 
confined,  however,  to  Composite.  He  urged  the  necessity  of  the 
cultivator  being  on  his  guard  against  infection  from  wild  plants.  In 
the  case  of  the  wild  plants,  however,  it  did  not  monopolise  all,  because 
the  balance  of  Nature  was  not  disturbed  as  it  had  been  in  the  case  of 
the  Chrysanthemum.  Also,  out  of  doors  many  leaves  were  dry  at  the 
time  of  the  rupturing  of  the  pustules ;  many  of  the  leaves  were  dry, 
and  thus  millions  of  the  spores,  not  finding  the  conditions  of  moisture 
essential  to  their  germination,  perished.  There  was,  moreover,  no 
congestion  amongst  wild  plants,  and  thus  the  parasite  did  not  run 
riot  among  them  as  it  was  doing  amongst  their  Chrysanthemums. 
The  Discussion. 
A  brisk  discussion  followed,  in  which  a  number  ol  leading  growers 
took  part. 
Mr.  Wells  of  Earlswood  Nurseries,  Redhill,  Surrey,  spoke  of  the 
urgent  necessity  there  was  to  find  something  to  kill  the  spores.  He 
first  found  the  rust  last  year  in  the  month  of  August,  Pride  of 
Madford,  Modesto,  and  Georgina  Pitcher  being  the  varieties  that  were 
attacked  the  worst,  and  yet  curiously  enough  a  plant  of  Georgina 
Pitcher  that  was  the  worst  afflicted  of  any,  gave  him  the  three  best 
flowers  of  the  variety  he  had.  He  had  found  syringing  the  plants 
with  a  tablespoon 'ul  of  paraffin  in  2  gallons  of  water  an  effectual 
remedy,  and  advised  all  to  try  it.  He  did  not  think  that  they  had 
much  to  far  from  the  rust  if  syringing  with  this  specific  were 
systematically  carried  out. 
Mr.  H.  j.  Jones  of  Ryecroft  Nursery,  Lewisham,  said  that  he 
did  not  know  how  to  cure  the  “lust,”  for,  like  other  growers  in  the 
vicinity  of  London,  he  had  not  been  troubled  with  it. 
Mr.  Nobman  Davis  of  Framfield,  Sussex,  said  that  he  thought 
the  spores  of  the  “rust”  were  carried  from  the  roofs  and  gutters'"  of 
the  greenhouses,  and  distributed  among  the  plants  by  means  of  the 
syringe.  He  thought  also  that  the  dry  weather  had  been  the  chief 
means  of  aggravating  the  malady,  for  it  had  been  scarcely  heard  of  in 
Scotland,  Wales,  and  the  moister  part  of  England.  The  disease  of 
Golden  Wedding  was  something  quite  distinct ;  he  should  describe  it 
as  collapse.  He  had  never  seen  the  rust  until  last  year.  He  was  of 
opinion  that  the  continual  crossing  of  varieties  had  weakened  the 
constitution  of  the  plants  and  rendered  them  liable  to  infection,  whilst 
the  fungus,  after  first  attacking  the  weak  constitutioned  plants,  had 
gathered  strength  to  attack  the  stronger  ones. 
Mr.  T.  Bevan  of  East  Finchley,  N.,  averred  that  neither  he  nor 
his  friends  in  the  North  of  London  had  seen  the  rust  amongst  their 
plants.  It  might,  he  thought,  have  been  initially  imported  from 
France  with  some  of  the  many  cuttings  obtained  from  thence. 
Mr.  H.  Cannell  of  Swanley  said  he  had  not  been  troubled  by  the 
rust.  He  thought  climatal  conditions  had  more  to  do  with  the  spread 
of  the  pest  than  anything  else,  for  he  bad  found  that  the  Potato- 
disease  invariably  came  when  certain  conditions  of  moisture  and 
temperature  obtained. 
In  replying  to  the  various  points  raised  in  the  discussion  Mr. 
Massee  said  that  the  distribution  of  the  spores  by  syringing  with  rain 
water  was  exceedingly  probable.  Wind  was  also  an  important  agent. 
The  reason  why  the  “  rust  ”  had  taken  their  Chrysanthemums  with  such 
a  rush  was  that  it  was  a  new  host  plant,  for  it  was  a  most  curious 
thing  that  in  the  East  the  wild  Chrysanthemum  is  not  affected  by  it. 
He  advised  them  to  have  a  care  for  their  Dahlias,  which  were  also 
Composites,  for  they  might  well  be  the  next  thing  that  the  “  rust  ” 
would  select  as  victims.  The  fungus  had  its  likes  and  dislikes,  and 
just  as  he  personally  liked  round  Radishes  better  than  long  ones,  so 
it  probably  preferred  one  variety  to  another.  Sj  raying  with  sulphide 
of  potassium  was  an  excellent  preventive,  but  sulphate  of  potassium 
(as  stated  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture,  page  268,  last  week)., 
was  of  no  use  whatever.  In  conclusion,  he  advised  them  to  get  rid 
of  the  teleuto  or  resting  spores,  that  being  the  one  thing  to  remember. 
On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Geo.  Gordon,  Mr.  P.  Waterer  and  Mr.  G. 
Massee  received  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  for  their  instructive  lectures. 
Mr.  R.  Dean  moved  that  the  thanks  of  the  meeting  be  accorded  to  the 
directors  of  the  Royal  Aquarium  for  their  kindness  in  letting  them 
have  the  use  of  the  hall  that  evening.  The  thanks  having  been 
giveD,  Mr.  J.  W.  Wilkinson  responded  for  the  directors,  Baying  that 
they  were  always  glad  to  do  what  they  could  for  the  N.C.S.  Mr. 
T.  W.  Sanders  was  also  thanked  for  presiding,  on  a  proposal  by  Mr.  T. 
Bevan. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS  IN  THE  NORTH. 
This  year  has  provided  its  usual  crop  of  perplexities  in  bud 
formation.  Even  experienced  growers  from  the  beginning  of  August 
onwards  were  answering  inquiries  with  the  retort  that  they  never 
remembered  a  season  when  the  indications  of  bud  format’on  were  so 
erratic,  and  generally  speaking  the  buds  have  been  later  than  usual  in 
showing.  The  low  temperature,  especially  the  extremely  low  night 
temperature  during  May,  June,  and  July,  retarded  growth  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  cause  considerable  anxiety  as  to  the  quality  of  the  blooms 
from  buds  formed  considerably  later  than  usual.  However,  if  every 
season  has  its  drawback,  compensations  are  usually  brought,  sooner  or 
later,  setting  matters  straight  again. 
This  season  has  been  a  case  in  point,  and  we  may  fairly  congratulate 
ourselves  on  the  finest  September  (with  a  similar  promise  for  a  good 
part  of  October)  experienced  for  many  years.  Day  by  day  we  have 
been  favoured  with  genial  temperature  accompanied  by  nearly  con¬ 
tinuous  sunshine,  with  gratifying  results  now  seen  of  fine  plump  buds 
giving  promise  of  high  quality,  and  cultivators  are  looking  forward 
with  greater  confidence  than  what  they  could  scarcely  hope  for  at  any 
earlier  period  of  the  season. 
Sedgwick  House. 
This  estate  is  situated  on  the  margin  of  the  picturesque  English 
Lake  country  and  within  sight  of  Morecambe  Bay.  The  climate  is 
evidently  well  adapted  to  general  gardening,  and  to  Chrysanthemum 
culture  in  particular,  as  is  evidenced  from  year  to  year  by  the  fine- 
results  obtained  by  Mr.  Ireland,  the  genial  chief  of  the  gardens,  which 
