Journal  oP  horticulture  and  cottage  gardener. 
February  2?, 
198 
White  Canadian. — The  whitest,  thinnest  skinned,  and  best 
quality  of  all ;  heavy,  but  not  so  prolific  as  the  above  named. 
White  Tartarian — Long  in  the  Btraw,  but  the  corn  very 
light,  only  suitable  for  weak  land,  or  where  rabbits  abound 
Catterich  Hero. — White,  good  quality,  long  in  the  straw; 
prolific,  and  not  easily  storm-broken. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Another  fine  week,  and  spring  seems  almost  with  us.  Migratory 
birds  make  their  appearance  quite  a  fortnight  earlier  than  usual,  and 
rooks  are  already  busy  housebuilding.  Pastures  are  assuming  a  summer 
tint,  but  how  long  will  they  keep  it  up  without  spring  rams  ?  Already 
February  is  nearly  gone,  but  it  bas  sadly  belied  its  cognomen  of  “  fill 
dyke,”  and  rain  will  soon  be  badly  wanted  ;  indeed,  in  the  Midlands 
there  is  outcry  now.  Let  us  hope  it  may  come  and  that  soon. 
Spring  work  proceeds  merrily  without  a  check.  Already  we  hear  of 
Oat  drilling  and  Potato  planting,  50  acres  of  the  latter  having  been  got 
in  by  one  Midland  grower  early  in  the  month.  This  may  be  right  for 
late  kinds  like  “  Bruce,”  but  with  earlier  sorts  the  risk  is  too  great. 
Fallows  are  working  splendidly,  and  another  fortnight’s  drought  will 
leave  little  work  for  early  summer.  This  should  result  in  a  great  saving 
of  labour,  and  a  long  spell  of  well-earned  and  fully  needed  rest  for  the 
horses  of  the  farm.  Fencing  should  now  be  completed  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  ponds  cleaned  out  when  necessary,  as  every  available 
gallon  of  water  may  be  required  during  the  Bummer. 
Working  of  land  intended  for  Mangolds  should  be  finished  at  once, 
and  the  soil  allowed  a  rest  until  sowing  time,  as  there  will  be  then  a 
greater  certainty  of  a  plant.  If  a  good  dressing  of  short  manure  can  be 
got  on  now,  and  ploughed  in,  all  the  better.  Mangolds  cannot  be 
overdone  with  “muck”  if  it  is  well  decayed  and  worked  in  during 
the  winter.  Spring  Vetches  may  be  sown,  3  bushels  per  acre  where  wild 
birds  are  plentiful,  otherwise  would  be  sufficient. 
This  season  nitrogenous  manures  are  very  cheap,  especially  sulphate 
of  ammonia,  which  can  be  bought  at  something  like  7s.  6d.  per  unit  of 
ammonia  (what  a  contrast  to  the  18s.  6i.  of  twenty  years  ago),  and  as 
it  is  thus  cheaper  per  unit  than  nitrate  of  soda  it  may  be  used  with 
advantage  for  top-dressings.  Where  required  for  Wheat,  however,  we 
should  advise  its  being  put  on  at  once  and  harrowed  in,  as  it  is  much 
slower  in  its  action  than  nitrate. 
STORAGE  OF  CORN. 
I  desire  to  call  attention  to  an  admirable  and  short  article  in  the 
“  Nineteenth  Century  ”  of  February  suggesting  the  storage  of  corn. 
It  argues  that  if  the  United  States  and  Russia  were  at  war  with  us 
we  should  get  practically  no  corn.  They  could  keep  the  immense 
supplies  we  now  get  from  them  at  home,  and  fear  of  capture  would 
prevent  neutrals  sending  theirs  in  any  quantity.  There  were  only 
15  millions  to  feed  in  the  last  great  war  ;  there  are  40  now.  Other 
nations  accumulate  gold  for  use  in  war  time  ;  why  should  not  we  have 
a  war-chest  of  corn  1  What  we  shall  want  at  the  outbreak  of  a  great 
war  is  time — time  to  tide  over  the  first  months  of  enforced  famine  ;  time 
to  grow  Wheat  again.  What  we  want  is  corn  stored  up  in  the  country 
enough  to  last  for  twelve  months.  We  should  buy  25,000,000  quarters, 
which  would  cost  £30,000,000.  The  money  could  be  raised  by  the  issue 
of  Imperial  Corn  Bonds  at  3  per  cent,,  amounting  to  £900,000  per 
annum,  which  one  penny  on  the  income  tax  would  pay,  and  also  provide 
buildings.  "  We  provision  Gibraltar,”  says  Mr.  R.  B.  Marston,  “  for  two 
years,  and  this  country,  the  citadel  of  the  Empire,  with  a  week’s 
supply  !  May  I  hope  you  will  give  your  wide  circle  of  readers  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  this  epitome  of  his  article  ?— A.  C. 
NOTE  ON  EXPERIMENTS  ON  “FINGER  AND  TOE.” 
The  nature  of  the  disease  known  as  “Finger  and  Toe”  has  been 
often  described,  but  many  points  remain  to  be  explained  with  reference 
to  the  reaction  of  Plasmodiophora  to  its  surroundings,  and  the  following 
experiments  are  of  interest  as  bearing  upon  the  life  history  of  this 
fungus  :  — 
At  what  Depth  in  the  Soil  can  the  Spores  of 
Plasmodiophora  retain  their  Vitality  ? 
It  is  well  known  that  the  countless  micro-organisms  inhabiting  the 
soil  are  generally  found  comparatively  near  the  surface,  but,  as  far  as  I 
am  aware,  there  are  no  investigations  on  this  point  with  special  reference 
to  Plasmodiophora.  In  order  to  determine  at  what  depths  the  spore*  of 
Plasmodiophora  can  be  buried  and  still  retain  their  power  of  germina¬ 
tion,  on  April  19tb,  1894,  a  series  of  parallel  trenches,  each  8  inches  wide 
and  4  feet  long,  and  of  varying  depths,  were  dug  in  a  bed  in  the  small 
botanic  garden  attached  to  the  Durham  College  of  Science.  The  bed 
employed  had  been  carefully  protected  from  the  introduction  of  spores 
of  Plasmodiophora  ;  in  the  year  previous  it  had  been  sown  with  Rye,  and 
before  that  for  some  years  had  formed  part  of  a  bed  of  Gooseberry 
bushes,  and  no  cruciferous  weeds  had  been  allowed  to  grow.  It  may, 
therefore,  be  considered  to  have  been  sterile  as  regards  Plasmodiophora, 
and  in  a  fit  condition  for  experiment.  The  first  trench  was  dug  at  a 
depth  of  12  inches,  the  others  at  10,  8,  6,  4,  and  2  inches  respectively. 
On  the  bottom  of  the  trenche*  was  sown  soil  infested  with  Plasmodio¬ 
phora  obtained  from  badly  diseased  roots  of  the  previous  year,  great  care 
being  taken  that  none  of  this  soil  came  in  contact  with  the  sides  of  the 
trenches.  The  trenches  were  then  filled  in,  and  white  Turnips  sown 
above  them.  The  Turnips  were  thinned  by  hand,  and  allowed  to  grow 
until  September,  when  they  were  carefully  dug  up.  No  trace  of  “  finger 
and  toe  ’’  was  found  where  the  spore*  had  been  buried  to  depths  of 
8,  10,  and  12  inches;  at  6  inches  a  little  “finger  and  toe”  was  found, 
while  at  the  depths  of  2  and  4  inches  the  majority  of  the  plants  were 
infected  with  the  disease. 
With  a  view  to  ascertaining  whether  the  spores  had  been  killed  by 
burying  to  the  greater  depth*,  or  whether  they  were  merely  dormant 
and  would  return  to  activity  when  brought  nearer  to  the  surface,  the 
bed  in  the  next  year  was  dug  over,  bringing  up  the  infeced  soil  from 
below  to  the  surface,  and  it  was  again  sown  with  white  Turnips  in  the 
following  spring.  It  should  be  remarked  that  the  bed  received  no 
manure,  and  was  isolated  as  far  as  possible.  On  examination  of  the 
Turnips  at  the  end  of  October,  the  distribution  of  “  finger  and  toe  ”  was 
found  to  correspond  exactly  with  the  result  of  the  previous  year,  the 
roots  on  the  ground  above  the  2  and  4  inch  trenches  were  badly  diseased  ; 
those  over  the  8,  10,  and  12  inch  trenches  were  entirely  free,  while  only 
one  root  was  infected  at  the  site  of  the  6-inch  trench. 
From  this  experiment  we  may  perhaps  infer  that  the  spores  of 
Plasmodiophora,  when  buried  to  a  depth  of  at  least  6  inches,  are 
destroyed,  and  therefore  unable  to  affect  the  succeeding  crop.  The 
practical  application  as  a  remedy  for  “  finger  and  toe  ”  might  possibly 
be  carried  out  on  a  larger  scale  by  deep  ploughing,  and  thus  burying  the 
spores  ;  and  should  the  experiment  be  confirmed  in  actual  practice,  we 
have  a  means  of  preventing  a  recurrence  of  the  ravages  of  Plasmodio¬ 
phora.  In  a  letter  to  the  “  Agricultural  Gazette,”  August,  1894,  Miss 
Ormerod  recommends  deep  ploughing  as  a  treatment  for  “  finger  and 
toe,”  and  the  above  experiments  support  the  soundness  of  the  advice,  and 
supply  a  sufficient  reason  for  a  belief  in  its  efficacy.  Whether  it  is  always 
practicable  or  desirable  to  plough  sufficiently  deep  to  insure  the 
burying  of  the  spores,  is  a  question  which  individual  experience  must 
decide. 
In  the  Becond  place  we  learn  that  any  dressing  applied  to  the  soil  as  a 
cure  for  “  finger  and  toe”  cannot  be  effective  unless  its  influence  extends 
to  a  depth  of  6  inches,  and  perhaps  the  various  contradictory  statements 
as  to  the  value  of  certain  dressings  may  be  explained  by  supposing  that 
their  effect  was  too  superScial. 
When  we  consider  the  innumerable  spores  of  Plasmodiophora  left  in 
the  soil  from  a  single  diseased  Turnip  root,  and  the  enormous  multiplica¬ 
tion  of  these  in  a  whole  diseased  crop,  it  would  seem  to  be  well  nigh 
impossible  to  apply  any  dressing,  and  so  thoroughly  mix  and  incorporate 
it  with  the  superficial  6  inches  of  the  soil  as  to  insure  the  destruction  of 
all  Plasmodiophora  spores,  or  render  the  soil  unfit  for  their  development. 
Yet  this  mu9t  be  done  if  the  dressing  is  to  be  thoroughly  effectual. 
In  this  connection  it  is  very  important  to  bear  in  mind  the  part  played 
by  various  micro-organisms  in  the  soil ;  for  example,  those  connected 
with  nitrification,  with  the  fixation  of  nitrogen  from  the  air,  and  those 
which  affect  beneficially  the  yield  of  cereal  plants,  as  has  been  recently 
shown  by  Caron.  Any  dressing  applied  to  kill  the  spores  of  Plasmodio¬ 
phora  would  in  all  probability  destroy  also  these  useful  organisms.  This 
destruction  would  certainly  take  place  from  the  application  of  highly 
poisonous  substances,  and  these,  though  removing  the  cause  of  the 
“  finger  and  toe  ”  disease,  might  act  in  a  manner  detrimental  to  the  soil 
by  eradicating  also  the  very  beneficial  micro-organisms.  These  con¬ 
siderations  lead  us  to  question  the  advantage  of  such  remedial  treatment, 
and,  recognising  its  very  uncertain  character,  to  place  more  reliance 
on  other  methods  of  prevention. — M.  C.  Potter,  Durham  College  of 
Science. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
OAMDEN  SQUARE,  LONDON. 
Lat.51°  32' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1896. 
February. 
|  Barometer 
i  at  32°,  and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
d 
13 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
1  foot. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Q-rass. 
Sunday  ..  18 
Inchs. 
30-618 
deg. 
3r9 
deg. 
36-2 
N.E. 
deg. 
41-8 
deg. 
41-7 
deg. 
37-0 
deer. 
46*L 
deg 
36-4 
Inchs. 
Monday  ..  17 
30-547 
31-8 
34-6 
N. 
41-0 
42-7 
35-8 
64-9 
35-3 
— 
Tuesday  ..  18 
30-311 
32-8 
32-7 
N.E. 
40-0 
39-9 
321 
45-4 
29-2 
— 
Wednesday  19 
28-906 
39  9 
39-7 
E. 
39-4 
54-4 
31-7 
70-9 
26-3 
0-014 
Thursday . .  20 
Z9-718 
49*0 
47-3 
S. 
40-6 
52-9 
40h 
56-1 
35-8 
0-076 
Friday  ..  21 
29-785 
45-6 
45-6 
N.W. 
42-2 
47-9 
45-6 
5 1-9 
43-1 
0-064 
Saturday  . .  22 
2S-978 
36-4 
33  2 
E. 
42-2 
44-4 
35-0 
76-6 
29  0 
— 
29-985 
39-9 
38  5 
410 
4. -3 
3  3-8 
58-8 
33-6 
0-154 
REMARKS. 
16th.— Overcast  all  day. 
17th.— Fine,  and  generally  sunny  after  10  A.M. 
18th. — Overcast  throughout.  ' 
19th.— Fog  early  ;  almost  unbroken  sunshine  from  9  A.M.  to  sunset ;  spob3  of  rain 
at  night. 
20th. — Dull,  damp  day,  with  occasional  spots  of  rain,  and  rain  in  evening. 
21st. — Frequent  drizzle,  and  slight  showers;  high  fog  about  4  P.M, 
22nd. — Almost  cloudless  day  and  night. 
Another  fine  week.— G.  J.  Symons. 
