502 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  1903. 
*  All  corresporidenee  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “  The  Editor,”  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E.C.  It  is  requested  that  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  matters 
discussed  in  this  Jom-nal,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable 
trouble  and  expense. 
COMMON  BLUEBELL  (W.  L.).— The  English  Bluebell  is 
Scilla  nutans :  the  Scottish  Bluebell  (of  song  and  story)  is  Cam¬ 
panula  rotundifolia,  also  called  the  Harebell.  Your  flower  sent  is 
Orchis  mascula. 
APPLYING  THOMSON’S  VINE  MANURE  (T.  Q.)._The 
manure  may  be  applied  at  the  rate  of  4oz  per  square  yard  as  soon 
a.s  the  Grapes  are-  set,  the  border  having  previously  been  made 
properly  moist  by  watering,  if  necessary,  washing  the  manure  in 
moderately.  Instructions  for  ai>plication,  however,  are  given 
with  the  manui’e,  and  to  those  you  should  adhere. 
TOMATOES  WITH  LEAVES  CURLED  (E.  C.).— “I  enclose 
specimen  of  Tomato  with  the  leaves  curled.  The  plants  are 
planted  out  in  vinery,  not  growing  too  strong,  and  setting  their 
fruit  well ;  they  have  an  abundance  of  air  at  all  times.  The 
ijipes  are  kept  warm.  Can  you  suggest  cause  and  remedy 
for  it  ?  ” 
[There  is  not,  so  far  as  we  can  discover,  any  trace  of  disease 
in  the  leaves  and  stems,  but  the  foliage  has  the  dull  colour 
indicative  of  “  sleeping  ”  disease,  which  is  probably  as  yet  con¬ 
fined  to  the  lower  part  of  the  stem,  or  even  the  root  stem,  the 
curling  and  drooping  being  consequent  on  flow  of  sap  arrested  by 
the  destruction  of  the  vascular  bundles  by  the  mycelium  of  the 
fungus.  There  is  no  cure  for  sleeping  disease,  as  it  is  internal, 
and  fungicides  are  of  no  avail.  Probably,  however,  the  curling 
or  even  flagging  of  the  leaves  is  due  to  the  bright  weather  follow¬ 
ing  on  the  recent  cold  and  dull  period,  especially  as  the  plants 
are  not  growing  too  strong  and  are  setting  the  fruit  well. 
Being  iilanted  in  the  vinery,  the  conditions  of  shade  and  also  of 
temperature  and  ventilation  are  against  the  Tomatoes  doing 
well.] 
PEACHES  SHRIVELLING  BEFORE  STONING  (A.  W.). 
— As  a  many  years  reader  of  your  valued  paper,  may  I  ask  your 
advice  about  a  disease  that  is  playing  sad  work  with  our  inside 
Peaches  here?  The  trees  are  to  all  appearances  perfectly 
healthy,  every  leaf  perfect ;  we  have  never  had  them  more 
vigorous.  Houses  started  January  1,  February  1,  March  1  with 
45deg.  Temperatures  as  usually  practised  under  noted  fruits- 
men.  Stoning  temperatures  a  steady  GOdeg  at  night,  Godeg 
day.  Trees  flower  splendidly  and  set  well,  without  the  least 
sign  of  any  disease,  but  as  the  Peaches  get  to  size  of  small  Hazel 
nuts  they  commence  to  shrivel  up  and  drop.  This  goes  on  until 
past  the  stoning  stage,  when  what  is  left  of  the  crop  finish  satis¬ 
factorily.  This  has  been  going  on  for  three  years,  during  which 
time  I  have  never  seen  the  least  trace  of  mildew  on  the  trees. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  have  looked  very  healthy,  and  matured 
the  wood  well.  I  have  never  seen  anything  like  it  before,  and 
your  valued  opinion  would  be  greatly  esteemed. 
[We  are  unable  to  find  any  direct  evidence  of  disease,  and 
though  the  affection  has  been  attributed  to  that  known  as  brown 
rot,  and  caused  by  the  fungus  named  Monilia  fructigena,  there 
is  not  any  trace  of  it  discoverable  on  your  specimens.  The 
disease,  however,  is  common  enough  in  both  Peaches  and 
Nectarines  at  a  later  stage  or  after  stoning,  the  fruit  being 
usually  assailed  at  the  apex,  and  the  shrinkage  and  browning 
proceeding  downward  towards  the  stalk.  In  your  case  the  fruit 
is  shrunken  at  the  stalk  end,  being  much  depressed  there,  brown 
and  shrivelled.  We  have  experienced  similar  disaster,  and 
almost  always  in  the  case  of  very  vigorous  trees,  the  growth  and 
foliage  being  perfectly  clean  and  healthy  and  the  cultural 
management  all  that  is  desired.  Albeit  the  fruit  does  not  stone, 
and  this  is  the  real  defect  in  your  case.  What  it  arises  from, 
apart  from  over-luxuriance,  we  do  not  know.  Probably  the 
nitrogenic  and  potassic  elements  are  in  excess  of  the  phosphoric, 
which  receives  some  countenance  from  the  fact  of  dressings  of 
dissolved  bones  in  conjunction  with  double  sulphate  of  potash 
and  magnesia  or  refined  kainit,  three  parts  dissolved  bones,  dry 
and  crumbling,  and  one  part  of  the  double  sulphate,  mixed  and 
applied  at  the  winter  dressing  at  the  rate  of  4oz  per  square  yard 
and  pointed  in  lightly,  having  a  good  effect.  But  in  stubborn 
cases  we  have  found  the  most  advantage  from  lifting  the  trees, 
operating  carefully  as  soon  as  the  leaves  commence  falling,  and 
replanting  without  delay,  adding  about  a  sixth  part  of  old  mortar 
rubbish  to  the  soil,  the  material  being  broken  up  fine  and  passed 
through  a  T^-in  sieve,  making  the  soil  quite  firm  under,  about,  and 
over  the  roots.  Done  carefully  there  is  no  danger  of  losing  a 
crop,  and  the  trees  so  subjected  usually  set  and  stone  the  fruit 
well.  This  practice  we  have  often  found  necessary  to  repeat 
every  third  or  fourth  year  in  order  to  effect  satisfactory  stoning 
of  the  fruit.] 
SPRAYING  POTATOES  WITH  SULPHATE  OF  COPPER 
MIXTURE  (J.  T.  D.). — We  do  not  know  of  anything  as  effectual 
against  the  Potato  disease  as  the  sulifliate  of  copper  mixture, 
that  is,  Bordeaux  mixture,  at  the  same  time  not  so  poisonous 
or  dangerous  to  use.  The  Bordeaux  mixture,  or  bouillie 
bordelaise,  is  certainly  a  poison  when  taken  into  the  stomach, 
but  there  is  no  real  danger  from  inhaling  sulphate  of  copper 
while  spraying,  not  any  authenticated  instance  of  its  injurious 
effects  on  the  human  or  animal  system  being  recorded,  and  it 
is  used  extensively  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  and  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  many  other  countries  all  over  the 
civilised  world.  In  this  country,  and  iiarticularly  in  Ireland, 
the  Bordeaux  mixture  has  been  used  for  spraying  Potatoes  w'ith 
good  results  as  regards  mitigating  the  attacks  and  severity  of 
the  Potato  disease  fungus,  Pnytophthora  infestans;  and  applied 
by  means  of  a  proper  spraying  apparatus,  such  as  the  knapsack 
pump  “  Eclair,”*  which  an  ordinary  labourer  can  use,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  danger  of  injurious  effects  to  mankind.  The  con¬ 
clusions  drawn  from  repeated  experiments  with  ordinary 
Bordeaux  mixture  or  bouillie  bordelaise,  and  treacled  Boa-deaux 
mixture  or  bouillie  bordelaise  sucree,  are:  1.  That  neither  the 
ordinary  bouillie  bordelaise,  nor  the  bouillie  bordelaise  sucree,  has 
an  entirely  preventive  effect,  though  both  of  them,  when  applied 
early  and  before  disease  appeared,  succeeds  in  lessening  the 
extent  to  which  disease  proceeds ;  2.  That  neither  dressing  when 
applied  after  disease  appears  has  any  material  effect  in  curing 
the  disease  ;  3.  That  the  addition  of  sugar  to  the  ordinary  bouillie 
bordelaise  does  nof  constitute  an  advantage,  but  only  adds  to 
the  expense ;  4.  That  the  effect  of  either  dressing  upon  the 
weight  of  produce  is  uncertain,  but  tends,  in  the  majority  of 
cases,  to  increase  rather  than  to  diminish  the  crop ;  5.  That, 
in  view  of  the  lessening  of  disease  and  the  increase,  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  of  the  crop,  the  application  of  the  ordinary 
bouillie  bordelaise  is  to  be  recommended  as  a  remunerative  one. 
With  these  data  and  the  fact  that  the  Bordeaux  mixture  costs 
about  5s.  per  acre,  and  a  man  equipped  with  a  knapsack  sprayer 
can  treat  three-quarters  of  an  acre  of  main  crop  Potatoes  per 
day,  we  strongly  advise  early  spraying  as  reducing  risk  of  disease 
to  a  minimum,  and  also'  preserving  the  vigour  of  the  haulm 
as  to  increase  the  weight  of  produce.  In  the  south  of  England 
the  Potato  disease  seldom  appears  before  midsummer,  though 
Jersey  tubers  are  often  found  diseased  in  late  May  or  early 
June,  therefore  a  spraying  about  that  time^ — midsummer — and 
a  second  application  about  the  third  week  in  July  will  carry 
the  plant  on  to  the  end  of  the  season,  though  in  some  cases  a 
third  dressing  may  be  necessary  about  the  middle  of  August. 
Early  Potatoes  lifted  as  soon  as  fit  for  use  do  not,  as  a  rule, 
require  spraying,  but  if  for  seed,  or  still  growing  after  the  end 
of  June,  they  should  be  treated  in  the  same  way  as  the  later 
varieties.  For  prevention  spraying  over  the  tops  is  enough, 
but  where  the  disease  has  started,  a  thorough  application  to  the 
under  as  well  as  u^iper  surface  of  the  foliage  should  be  made. 
We  say  spray  early,  and  use  ordinary  Bordeaux  mixture,  a  simple 
preparation  consisting  of 
Copper  sulphate  ..  ,.  .  ..  1  lb. 
Freshly  burned  lime . 1  lb. 
Water . 10  gallons. 
Dissolve  the  copper  sulphate  in  the  water  and  slake  the  lime 
in  sufficient  water  to  form  a  cream  readily  passing  through  a 
hair  sieve.  Add  the  limewash  to  the  copper  sulphate  solution, 
stir  well,  and  the  mixture  is  ready  for  use.  For  the  bouillie 
bordelaise  sucree  :  — • 
Copper  sulphate  . 1  lb. 
Freshly  burned  lime . 1  lb. 
Treacle . 1  lb. 
Water . 10  gallons. 
Dissolve  the  copper  sulphate  in  the  water  and  boil  the  lime  and 
treacle  with  a  quart  of  water  for  half  an  hour.  W’hen  the  copper 
sulphate  has  all  dissolved  and  the  lime  and  treacle  liquid  fairly 
cool,  pour  the  latter  into  the  copper  sulphate  solution.  Stir 
well,  and  it  is  ready  for  use.  Both  are  1  per  cent,  solutions 
of  sulphate  of  copper,  and  the  advantage,  if  any,. of  the  bouillie 
bordelaise  sucree  is  that  it  becomes  most  firmly  and  intimately 
adherent  to  the  foliage.  The  2  per  cent,  mixtures  are  :  — 
BoriLLE  Bordelaise. 
•20  lbs . sulphate  of  copper. 
20  lbs . lime  (unslaked). 
Ido  gallons  . water. 
Bouille  Bordelaise  Sucrse. 
20  lbs . sulphate  of  copper. 
20  lbs . lime  (unslakecl). 
20  lb" . molasses. 
100  gallons  . water. 
The  foregoing  data  will  be  trite  and  useful  to  other  growers  of 
the  “  noble  tuber”  as  well  as  to  our  correspondent. — G.  A. 
*  Sold  by  Chas.  Clark  &  Co.,  20,  Great  St.  Helens,  E.C. 
