December  1,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  '  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
415 
ns  doing  material  injury  until  August,  1897,  and  then  simultaneously 
in  the  United  States,  Isle  of  Man,  various  parts  of  Great  Britain,  and 
in  Italy.  Of  these  infections  I  have  specimens  of  the  first  that  came 
to  hand  on  the  variety  niveum,  and  also  of  all,  including  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  primary  attacks,  excepting  that  of  the  United  States,  whence, 
I  believe,  the  parasite  was  introduced  into  this  country  in  the  tissues 
of  new  varieties  of  Chrysanthemums  as  mycoplasma,  E . 
This  differs  from  hyphse  or  mycelial  threads  in  not  having  a  definite 
cell-wall,  but  an  Amoeba-like  form,  and  capable  of  living  in  the  tissues 
■of  the  host  plant,  as  shown  in  F  at  f.  In  this  form  the  fungus  may 
remain  a  considerable  time,  even  in  the  embryo  of  the  seed,  or  in  a  leaf, 
no  sori  or  pustules  appearing  until  the  growth  of  the  host  plant 
becomes  sufficiently  developed,  and  the  climatic  circumstances  are 
favourable  for  the  purposes  of  effective  reproduction.  Thus,  in  the 
tissue  of  a  Chrysanthemum  leaf,  rust  fungus  may  be  transported  to  any 
part  of  the  world. 
When  the  host  plant  becomes  active  the  mycoplasma  will  also 
■develop,  giving  an  unusual  greenness  to  the  leaf  of  the  Chrysanthemum, 
and,  forming  masses  of  mycelium  in  the  tissues  at  certain  points,  give 
rise  to  sori  or  pustules,  containing  the  uredo  or  summer  spores,  which 
continue  the  increase  of  the  parasite  during  the  growing  season.  The 
fungus  also  prepares  for  emergencies  by  producing  teleuto  or  winter 
spores,  practically  drought,  wet,  and  frost-proof.  Teleuto  spores  do 
not  vegetate  at  once,  but  remain  dormant  until  the  following  spring, 
then  (in  the  case  of  Puecinia  tanaceti,  and  no  doubt  also  of  P.  chrys- 
anthemi)  produce  the  pro-mycelium  growths  bearing  sporidia  (spore- 
like  bodies)  on  short  sterigmata  (stalks),  C  at  d. 
Such  by  analysis  appears  the  history  of  the  Chrysanthemum  leaf- 
rust  fungus.  It  lives  its  whole  life  on  the  Chrysanthemum  sinense 
vars.,  solely  and  absolutely.  This  fact  I  consider  conclusive  of  the 
rust  fungus  being  entirely  new  to  Chrysanthemums  in  Europe,  of 
its  introduction  on  new  varieties  from  the  United  States,  and  of  its 
spread  from  trade  establishments  to  certain  private  and  public  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  growing  places  in  Great  Britain  and  the  continent  of 
Europe. 
The  rust  fungus  certainly  cannot  be  of  any  British  or  Continental 
form,  otherwise  all  Chrysanthemums  would  be  laid  unler  contribution 
in  all  places,  instead  of  only  particular  ones,  and  these  singularly 
where  it  had  not  appeared  until  new  varieties  or  fresh  stock  con¬ 
taining  it  had  been  introduced  within  the  last  three  years.  Such  are 
the  simple  facts — the  germs  have  come  from  somewhere,  and  where 
they  exist  the  collection  is  infected  more  or  less,  and  in  1898  it  has 
been  worse  than  it  was  in  1897  in  extent  and  malignity. 
The  means  to  adopt  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  disease  suggest 
themselves.  1,  Destroy  all  infested  plants  entirely,  roots  as  well  as 
tops,  by  fire.  This,  if  done  before  the  pustules  have  become  ruptured, 
will  prevent  any  further  trouble. 
2,  The  destruction  of  affected  plants  wholly  may  mean  the 
annihilation  of  certain  very  desirable  or  indispensable  varieties.  The 
alternative  is  to  remove  and  burn  every  infested  leaf  as  soon  as  the 
pustules  of  the  fungus  are  recognisable,  and  always  before  the  uredo 
spores  become  mature  or  have  broken  through  the  epidermis. 
3,  No  substance  whatever  will  destroy  the  fungus  in  the  tissue  of 
the  host  without  killing  the  latter;  still,  methylated  spirit  appears 
to  sink  into  the  pustules  and  destroy  the  uredo  spores.  This  can 
easily  be  applied  by  means  of  a  small  brush.  Then  the  spores  do  not 
survive  subjection  to  water  heated  to  135°  to  145°  for  five  minutes. 
Of  course  this  cannot  be  practised  on  Chrysanthemum  plants,  but  may 
be  useful  in  cleansing  houses  where  the  disease  has  been  prevalent, 
scald iug  every  part  so  as  to  destroy  any  uredo  or  teleuto  spores. 
For  preventing  attacks  from  without  Bordeux  mixture  is,  all  points 
considered,  the  best  liquid  to  use.  The  preparations  in  powder  are, 
however,  equally  efficacious.  All  fungicides,  nevertheless,  are  useless 
against  the  mycoplasma,  and  the  mycelial  hyphae  in  the  tissues  of  the 
plant,  therefore  the  infested  plant  must  bo  prevented  from  producing 
spores  by  destroying  these  before  attaining  ripeness  in  the  pustules. 
Where  there  are  no  germs  there  cannot  be  any  continuation  of  the 
Chrysanthemum  leaf  rust. — G.  Abbey. 
OUTDOOR  CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
I  send  a  few  Chrysanthemum  blooms  for  your  inspection.  They 
were  a  1  grown  outside  in  an  exposed  garden  in  the  south  end  of 
Liverpool  and  ckse  to  the  River  Mersey,  and  illustrate  the  mildness 
of  the  season.  The  varieties  enclosed  are  Chevalier  Domage, 
Precoci'e,  Go  rge  Smds,  Margot,  Madame  Darier,  Madame  Lacroix, 
Mons.  R.  Bahuant,  Mrs.  Eor.-yth,  Florence  Percy,  President,  Princess 
of  Wales,  Soeur  Melanie,  Viviand  Mi  rel,  and  W.  Holmes,  also  Source 
d’Or.  The  garden  has  been  quite  aglow  with  “  Mums,”  of  which  we 
have  130  plants  in  twenty-six  varieties. — An  Old  Subscriber. 
[We  are  obliged  by  the  bouquet  of  variously  coloured  flowers,  all 
of  good  quality.  In  the  south  outdoor  Chrysanthemums  are  still 
abundant,  for  we  have  had  little  frost  and  no  snow.  The  season 
■  verywhere  seems  to  have  been  most  favourable  for  these  valuable 
juturan  flowers.  .... 
NATIONAL  CHRYSANTHEMUM  SOCIETY. 
[  On  Monday  evening  last  the  Executive  Committee  of  this 
Society  held  a  meeting  at  Carr’s  Restaurant,  Strand,  when  Mr. 
T.  W.  Sanders  occupied  the  chair.  After  the  usual  preliminaries  of 
reading  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  and  various  matters 
arising  out  of  the  correspondence  had  been  disposed  of,  the  Foreign 
Secretary,  Mr.  Harman  Payne,  read  a  letter  which  had  been  received 
from  Mr.  Briscoe  Ironside  giving  some  interesting  details  concerning 
the  progress  of  Chrysanthemum  culture  in  Italy.  There  was  also  a 
communication  from  the  Secretary  of  the  French  N.C.S.  thanking  the 
Committee  for  the  cordial  reception  accorded  to  their  representative  to 
the  recent  Aquarium  Show,  and  expressing  a  hope  that  a  deputation 
of  the  Englisn  Society  might  visit  the  Conference  at  Lyons  next  year. 
A  report  was  read  from  the  Sites  sub-Committee  setting  forth  the 
proposed  arrangements  with  the  Aquarium  Company  for  holding  next 
year’s  series  of  exhibitions  there,  and  the  same  was  agreed  to. 
It  was  announced  that  the  prize  money  awarded  at  the  November 
Show  amounted  to  £330  19s.  6d.,  and  that  one  gold,  seven  silver-gilt, 
ten  silver,  and  ten  bronze  medals  had  been  awarded.  For  miscellaneous 
Fig.  70.— Puccinia  chrysanthemi  and  P.  tanaceti. 
Reference?. — A,  teleuto  spores  of  Puccinia  Chrysanthemi  ;  a,  mycelial  hyphse.  B, 
teleuto  spore  oi  Puccinia  tanaceti ;  b,  pro-mycelial  tubes.  C,  teleuto  spore 
of  Puccinia  tenaceti  producing  reproductive  growths  ;  c,  septa  or  joints  ;  d, 
sporidia  or  pro-mycelium  spores.  D,  sporidium  germinating;  e,  germina 
tube.  E,  mycoplasma  from  tissue  of  young  Chrysanthemum  leaf.  b\  section 
of  portion  of  Chrysanthemum  leaf  more  advanced,  showing  f,  mycoplasma  of 
fungus  in  tissue.  (A,  B,  and  E,  enlarged  2S0,  C  and  D  520,  and  b’  130  dia¬ 
meters). 
groups,  the  Arbitration  Committee  had  awarded  the  following Large 
gold  medal  to  Messrs.  Cannell  and  H.  J.  Jones;  small  gold  to  Messrs. 
Williams  &  Son,  and  Cutbush  &  Son;  silver-gilt  to  Messrs.  J.  Laing, 
Godfrey  and  Owen;  large  silver  to  Messrs.  Reid  and  Russell ;  small 
silver  to  Messrs.  T.  S.  Ware. 
A  rough  statement  of  assets  and  liabilities  was  then  submitted, 
and  considered  satisfactory.  It  was  resolved  that  the  Floral  Com¬ 
mittee  should  fix  the  dates  of  its  meetings  for  1899,  and  that  that 
Committee  be  invited  to  dine  together  at  the  conclusion  of  the  meet¬ 
ings,  as  in  former  years.  Several  oilers  of  special  prizes  were  con¬ 
sidered,  and  the  meeting  closed  with  the  election  of  sixteen  new 
members. 
THE  INTEREST  IN  CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
If  one  stops  but  for  a  moment  to  consider  how  widespread  is  the 
cult  of  the  Chrysanthemum  one  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  enormous 
progress  that  has  been  made  by  this  flower  within  so  few  years.  Tho 
flower  itself  is,  of  course,  ancient  enough  with  the  Celestials,  and  when 
we  speak  of  the  last  few  years  we  refer,  of  course,  to  the  growth  of 
interest  in  Europe  and  America.  The  horticultural  papers  from 
abroad  devote  many  columns  at  this  season  of  the  year  to  Chrysan¬ 
themum  news.  There  are  societies  of  importance  in  nearly  all  the 
European  countries,  and  in  England  alone  the  National  Society  is  in 
active  affiliation  with  as  manv  as  141  subsidiary  exhibitions.  It  also 
co-operates  with  branches  in  New  Zealand,  Tasmania,  and  Timaru,  at 
which  last  place  the  exhibition  season  is  May.  Fancy,  Chrysan¬ 
themums  in  May  !  Franco  has  a  journal  devoted  entirely  to  the 
Chrysanthemum,  and  Italy  is  not  behind  in  this  respect,  the  first 
number  of  its  publication  having  just  appeared.  In  the  face  of  all 
this  expansion  what  can  be  said  of  those  who  annually  tell  us  that 
the  Chrysanthemum  fever  is  in  its  last  stage  ?  And,  by-the-by,  our 
French  brothers  have  coined  a  useful  if  cumbrous  adjective  which  can 
bo  rendered  in  English  “Chrysanthemical.”  How  do  our  readers 
fancy  “  Chrysanthemical  Congress  ?”■ — (“  American  Gardening.”) 
