414 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  1,  1891 
tempest  rage  never  so  fiercely,  I  shall  stick  to  my  ship,  comforted 
by  the  knowledge  that  “  after  the  storm  comes  a  calm.”  ’Tis 
only  in  our  calm  moments  that  we  can  think  clearly,  and  a  little 
reflection  on  the  points  I  have  raised  will,  I  trow,  cause  many  to 
say,  “  Ab,  sure,  there  is  something  in  them.” — H.  D. 
DRESSINGS  FOR  CANKERED  TREES. 
Tar  and  Petroleum. 
Two  years  ago  a  friend  of  mine  told  me  that  some  of  his 
Apple  trees  cankered  badly,  and  that  he  was  advised  by  a  mole 
catcher  to  use  gas  tar.  He  said  he  followed  the  advice,  and  with 
good  results. 
About  a  year  since  I  noticed  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  that 
you  advised  a  correspondent  to  be  very  careful  with  gas  tar.  About 
that  time  I  painted  all  the  cankerous  parts  I  found  on  my  trees. 
I  applied  the  tar  as  you  would  knotting.  I  have  watched  the 
parts  carefully  since  then,  and  am  pleased  to  say  that  not  the  least 
injury  was  done  ;  that  apparently  there  was  absorption  much 
beyond  the  parts  painted ;  that  the  dead  parts  become  finely 
demarked  from  the  sufficiently  healthy,  and  at  the  lines  of  demarca¬ 
tion  the  healing  has  been  strong  and  sound,  and  I  think  no 
molecular  changes  are  going  on.  The  tar  has  acted  as  a  preserva¬ 
tive,  much  in  the  same  way  as  creosote  acts  on  large  wounds  of 
other  trees. 
I  have  thought,  with  regard  to  canker,  that  if  the  disease  is 
stopped  in  the  soft  tissues  it  breaks  out  again  from  infection  by 
the  disease  not  being  quite  stopped  in  the  deeper  parts.  Besides, 
the  gas  tar  not  only  arrests  disease,  but  preserves  until  the  resisting 
powers  have  recovered  and  repaired.  The  preserving  and  pene¬ 
trating  effects  are  as  important  as  the  destroying  powers. — R.  C., 
Appleton. 
[Gas  tar  has  been  used  many  years  both  in  this  country  and  on 
the  Continent  for  dressing  wounds  in  trees  with  good  results,  as  it 
acts  antiseptically  and  prevents  fungal  germs  gaining  a  seat 
therein,  and  from  thence  pushirg  mycelial  hypbse  into  the  adjacent 
living  tissues.  When  the  gas  tar  is  applied  carefully  to  the  wound, 
evenly  without  running  on  to  the  live  bark,  no  injury  accrues 
provided  the  dressing  is  given  during  the  resting  period  of  the 
trees.  We  have  known  it  applied  in  summer  after  the  removal  of 
large  branches  without  doing  harm.  When,  however,  the  gas  tar 
is  applied  to  the  live  smooth  bark  of  young  trees  and  Yine  rods 
the  tar  sinks  into  and  destroys  the  cambial  layer  (inner  bark  and 
outer  young  wood),  thus  arresting  the  flow  of  the  sap,  and  the  part 
above,  in  case  the  calls  are  affected  all  round  the  stem,  perishes  for 
lack  of  nutrient  elements.  For  those  reasons  we  advised  the 
“  careful  use  ”  of  gas  tar  as  a  dressing  for  the  wounds  of  trees, 
whether  caused  in  pruning  or  by  fuDgi. 
As  regards  gas  tar  destroying  canker  fungus  (Nectria  ditissima) 
there  is  no  question,  as  the  mycelial  hyphse  does  not  penetrate 
deeply  into  the  tissues,  and  therefore  is  easily  reached  by  an  appli¬ 
cation.  Confining  the  dressing  to  the  wounds  and  using  tar  in  the 
winter,  or  when  the  cells  are  not  growing,  there  is  nothing  cheaper 
or  better  for  preserving  the  wood,  preventing  the  access  of  fungi, 
or,  in  case  of  infection,  arresting  the  progress  of  canker  in  forest 
or  fruit  trees.  It  is  practically  useless,  however,  against  fungi  that 
push  the  mycelial  hyphse  many  inches,  even  feet,  into  the  stems  of 
the  trees.  When  the  gas  tar  is  very  thin  and  liable  to  “  run,”  it 
can  be  thickened  by  adding  dry  finely  powdered  clay,  forming  a 
sort  of  cream  that  can  be  applied  with  a  brush. 
Petroleum,  preferably  soluble,  may  be  used  in  a  similar 
manner,  and  it  will  also  destroy  the  canker  fungus  (Nectria 
species),  adding  dry  finely  powdered  clay  to  the  petroleum  to  form 
a  cream  for  applying  with  a  brush,  or  even  as  a  plaster  for  coating 
or  filling  cankerous  wounds.  Soluble  petroleum  is  easily  made  by 
dissolving  1  lb.  of  softsoap  in  8  lbs.  water  by  boiling,  then  adding 
1  lb.  of  petroleum  and  thoroughly  amalgamating.  This  can  be 
formed  into  a  plaster  by  adding  sufficient  dry  finely  powdered  clay, 
or  if  wanted  for  a  paint  thin  the  plaster  by  adding  boiling 
water  so  as  to  give  the  requisite  consistency.  Where  petroleum  is 
used  in  this  way  there  is  little  danger  of  the  oil  penetrating  the 
tissues  to  the  prejudice  of  the  tree,  as  the  clay  counteracts  the 
acid  reaction  of  fats  and  oils,  thus  preventing  induration  and 
damage  to  the  bark. 
Wood  tar  (Stockholm)  thinned  with  boiled  linseed  oil,  so  as 
to  form  a  cream-like  consistency,  is  a  good  dressing  for  wounds 
in  trees,  and  as  the  tar  sinks  somewhat  deeply  into  the  wood  it 
reaches  the  mycelia  of  some  fungi  of  the  genus  Polyporus  to  its 
destruction,  and  without  material  injury  to  the  tree.  When 
carefully  used  the  tar  varnish  acts  well  as  a  preserver  of  the  wood 
and  preventive  of  low  vegetable  growths.  Mr.  Smee  of  Carshalton 
grows  Orchids  in  baskets  and  on  blocks  dressed  with  Stockholm  tar, 
and  the  plants  seem  to  like  it  rather  than  otherwise.  As  we  have 
seen  both  Vines  and  young  trees  killed  through  the  incautious  use 
of  gas  tar,  we  are  induced  to  counsel  thought  and  care  in  its 
application.]  _ 
AURICULA  NOTES. 
My  kind  friend,  D.,  Deal  (page  398),  will,  I  am  sure,  understand 
my  reason,  when  I  give  it,  for  not  assimilating  all  the  credit  he 
gives  me  for  the  leading  stand  of  twelve  dissimilar  Auriculas  at  the 
London  show.  Ten  of  them,  and  not  “  the  whole,”  were  my  own 
seedlings.  The  exceptions  were  Mr.  Simonite’s  “  Heatherbell  ” 
(white  edged),  and  his  “  Shirley  Hibberd  ”  (green  edged),  which 
is  a  flower  of  great  constancy,  of  intense  purity  and  refinement, 
able  to  carry  a  dozen  pips  of  equal  merit — a  gift  that,  few,  if  any, 
of  the  old  green  edges  possessing,  necessitated  their  being  reduced 
to  seven  or  five  of  the  best  pips  they  had. 
The  Southern  show  is  usually  too  early  for  any  weight  of  our 
northern  blooms  to  catch  it  ;  and  if  I  may  say  so,  the  class-long 
victory  of  divers  old  sorts  may  be  due  in  part  to  others  not  being 
able  to  come  up  to  time.  Even  of  the  best,  a  plant  or  two  would 
not  be  sufficient  to  rely  on  for  having  the  flower  at  its  best  in 
quality  and  condition  on  a  given  day  ;  and  while  there  are 
quantities  of  George  Lightbody  and  shoals  of  Acme  among  the 
growers,  a  new  seedling  is,  for  often  a  long  time,  restricted  to  only 
a  specimen  or  two,  and  so  the  odds  in  numbers  are  against  it. 
To  those  not  familiar  with  the  little  ways  of  the  Auricula  it 
may  seem  that  a  few  days  earlier  or  later  cannot  make  much 
difference,  but  in  April  indeed  they  do.  The  third  week  in  April 
is  worth  double  the  second  for  speed  of  the  Auricula  bloom,  and 
the  fourth  week  is  more  rapid  still.  Many  a  beginner,  who  thinks 
on  All  Fools’  Day  how  comfortably  in  time  such  and  such  a  flower 
will  be,  lives  to  find  its  beauty  past  before  the  show  day  ;  while 
heads  of  buds  that  to  his  impatience  seem  to  have  no  chance  of 
being  out  get  nicely  in.  It  is  impossible  to  hurry  on  the  flower 
with  any  good  result.  It  must  have  its  time,  and  we  need  patience 
with  it,  and  confidence  in  it. 
One  feature  of  this  season’s  bloom,  little  to  have  been  expected 
in  so  mild  a  spring,  has  been  the  determined,  curious  lateness  of 
the  seifs.  This  has  been  the  case  in  several  collections,  from  Mr. 
Simonite’s  and  my  own  in  Yorkshire  to  that  of,  I  fear,  almost  the 
only  old  and  enthusiastic  Scottish  grower  left  among  us,  Mr.  Kilgour 
of  Blair  Drummond.  Selfs  are  usually  so  early  that  they  leave 
the  latest  edged  flowers  unsupported  by  the  relief  of  their  calm 
reposeful  contrasts.  Hence  for  some  years  past  I  have  worked  for 
a  few  worthy  seifs,  able  to  flower  late  and  long  enough  to  meet 
the  latest  edges,  among  which  are  some  of  the  best.  This  season 
some  of  these  late  seifs,  which  are  of  exceeding  petal  substance, 
are  even  yet  not  in  flower  (May  4th).  Mr.  Simonite  also  has  one 
such  in  his  fine  dark  self  “  Raven,”  late  and  lasting.  The  pink  self 
— i  e  ,  in  Peach  blossom  and  Primula  rosea  types  of  colour — is  a 
very  tantalising  flower.  It  comes,  and  goes,  not  by  death,  but  by 
a  change  for  the  worse  after  the  first  or  sometimes  second  year.  I 
have  had  many  hopes  raised  and  disappointed  by  it,  as  also  has 
Mr.  Simonite.  In  bud  these  pink  seifs  are  charming,  and  in  their 
young  expanded  bloom  ravishingly  beautiful,  a  rich  gold  tube  being 
a  constant  quality.  But  as  a  rule  they  do  not“  die  well,”  as  all  good 
seifs  should  do.  Their  velvet  textures  wear,  as  it  were,  to  calico, 
and  their  colour  fades  like  that  of  fishes  out  of  water. 
I  have  three  or  four  pink  seifs  only  out  of  many  failures,  Rosy 
Morn  the  best  of  them,  but  of  deeper  pink  than  P.  rosea,  and  they 
have  kept  up  the  freshness  of  their  colour  for  several  years. 
Also  a  white  edge  with  a  steadfast  pink  body  colour,  but,  alas  !  too 
much  like  the  flesh  tint  of  boiled  ham.  It  is  otherwise  very 
brilliant  and  refined,  and  I  know  not  how  it  came,  neither  how  to 
improve  upon  it,  except  by  trusting  it  to  evolve  a  better  seedling 
out  of  its  own  inner  consciousness  and  polleD.  To  cross  it  with  a 
red  self  would  be  to  lose  the  edge,  and  with  an  edge  of  any  other 
body  colour  the  pink  would  either  be  affected  or  disappear. 
The  second  year’s  bloom  of  a  seedling  Auricula  is  a  crisis 
common  to  all  the  edged  ones  and  also  seifs.  It  is  a  period  that 
Ben  Simonite  and  I  call  “  the  distemper  year.”  Some  beauties 
never  have  it  ;  some  beauties  come  brilliantly  out  of  it ;  some 
beauties  sink  under  it,  not  in  life,  but  in  properties.  How  often 
have  we  said,  “  You  remember  that  lovely  new  grten  of  last  year? 
It’s  a  beast  this  time,  but  it  may  be  only  distemper.”  Then  if  it 
pulls  through  all  is  well  on  the  whole  until  that  period  of  age  shall 
come  upon  it,  though  perhaps  not  till  after  many  years,  under 
which  old  sort*  of  much  standing,  like  Lancashire  Hero,  Geo. 
Lightbody,  Colonel  Taylor,  John  Simonite,  Pizarro,  seem  to  have 
waxed  shaken  and  dim,  and  to  have  lost  their  cunning  more  or  less. 
Some  seem  to  become  more  difficult  to  grow,  and  others  that  still 
retain  their  leaf  vigour  seldom  flower  in  the  high-class  character  of 
their  more  youthful  years. — F.  D.  Horner,  Burton-in-Lonsdale, 
