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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  20,  1901. 
Tomatoes. — Planted  out  under  glass,  or  in  pots  stood  on  stages  in 
the  greenhouse,  frequent  attention  is  necessary  in  supplying  water,  and 
to  those  bearing  heavy  crops  liquid  manure  should  be  given,  in  addition 
to  frequently  top-dressing,  to  induce  the  emission  of  fresh  surface  fibres. 
The  constant  rubbing  out  of  side  shoots,  as  the  leaders  extend,  is 
essential,  keeping  the  plants  mainly  to  one  stem.  Loam,  manure,  bone 
meal,  and  a  little  artificial  manure  form  a  good  mixture,  which  shoqld 
be  applied  at  intervals,  as  new  fibres  are  formed  on  the  surface  of  the 
old  dressing  and  are  ready  to  enter  more.  Keep  the  outdoor  Tomatoes 
duly  supplied  with  moisture,  trained  to  one  stem,  and  superfluous  shoots 
kept  down. 
Asparagus. — The  sooner  outting  ceases  the  better  now,  in  order  that 
good  growth  may  be  made.  Clear  the  beds  of  weeds,  and  give  a  dressing 
of  artificial  manure  and  a  thorough  copious  soaking  of  water  or  liquid 
manure. 
Summer  Lettuce. — Lettuce  in  growth  will  require  plenty  of  water 
should  the  weather  be  dry.  Cos  varieties  forming  hearts  may  be 
tied  up  in  dry  weather  to  blanch.  Succession  beds  should  be  sown 
preferably  in  drills,  but  if  the  soil  is  extremely  dry  water  the  drills 
well  before  sowing,  and  cover  the 
seed  with  dry  soil.  It  is  best  not  to 
transplant  now  unless  the  weather  is 
showery,  the  extreme  heat  making  it 
difficult  to  establish  young  plants. 
The  early  plants  which  have  bolted 
to  seed  may  be  pulled  up,  as  they 
impoverish  the  ground. 
TO  CORRESPONDENTS 
Clydesdale  Fruit  Crops. — 
Strawberries  promise  well  along  the 
Tale  of  Clyde,  and  ripe  fruit  may 
probably  be  a  fortnight  earlier  than 
last  year.  Owing  to  the  “  short  ” 
crop  last  season,  the  jam  manufac¬ 
turers  are  nearly  sold  out  of  their 
last  year’s  stock,  and  are  already  more 
inclined  to  buy  larger  than  formerly 
at  a  slight  advance  on  last  year’s 
prices.  Some  few  sales  have  taken 
place  at  £23  and  £24  per  ton,  and  it 
is  generally  expected  that,  with  the 
continuance  of  the  good  weather,  and 
the  influx  of  visitors  to  the  Glasgow 
Exhibition,  prices  will  have  an  upward 
tendency  on  the  local  market.  Goose¬ 
berries,  while  of  an  average  crop,  are 
not  up  to  expectations.  Prices  for 
this  class  of  fruit  have  fallen  very 
low  within  recent  years,  but  sales 
are  taking  place  at  an  advance  of  £1 
to  £2  per  ton  compared  with  last 
year’s  prices.  In  some  places  the 
various  varieties  of  Currants  are  a 
complete  failure.  Raspberries  at  the 
first  appearance  gave  every  promise 
of  a  good  crop,  but  considerable 
damage  has  been  done  to  the  oane  by 
the  presence  of  the  green  fly,  which 
has  wrought  much  mischief.  The 
strong  east  winds  of  the  past  week 
have  done  much  to  spoil  the  “  setting  ” 
of  the  larger  fruits,  which  showed  in 
blossom  indications  of  a  plentiful 
■  crop.  Plums,  which  were  very  good 
last  year,  have  suffered  most  in  this 
respect.  The  Tomato  growing,  which 
has  become  very  popular  in  •  these 
districts  within  the  last  few  years  or  so,  shows  every  evidence  of 
a  good  crop.  Last  season,  what  with  the  backward  season  and 
disease  among  the  plants,  many  of  the  larger  growers  suffered  a 
heavy  pecuniary  loss. 
IXIOLIRION  MONTANUM. 
Phenological  Observations. 
June 
21st  to  27th. 
Plants  dedicated  to  each  day. 
21  Fri. 
Longest  day. 
Viper’s  Bngloss. 
22  Sat. 
Six-spot  Burnet  moth  seen. 
Canterbury  Bells. 
23  Sun. 
Wheat  flowers. 
Lady’s  Slipper. 
24  Mon. 
Midsummer  Day. 
St.  John’s  Wort. 
.25  Tu. 
Common  wasp  abounds. 
Sweet  William. 
.26  Wed. 
Privet  hawk  moth  seen. 
Blue  Sowthistle. 
7  Thr. 
Cuckoo  departs. 
Perforated  St.  John’s  Wort. 
All  correspondence  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  Journal,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable 
trouble  and  expense. 
Xxiolirion  montanum  (B.  A.). — We  have  thought  your  flower  worthy 
of  being  illustrated,  aB  certainly  few  spring  or  early  summer  flowers  are 
so  superior  in  their  brightness  and 
grace.  It  belongs  to  the  Narcissus 
and  Amaryllis  order  (Amaryllidaoeee), 
and  is  bulbous.  It  is  a  native  of 
Western  Asia,  and  the  flowers  are 
bright  lilac  coloured.  The  variety 
named  I.  tataricum  is  even  hand¬ 
somer,  for  the  flowers  are  deep,  rever¬ 
berating  blue  ;  it  also  has  more  slender 
stems.  There  are  a  number  of  speoies 
all  suitable  for  the  hardy  flower 
border  or  rook  garden.  They  prefer 
a  warm,  sunny  position,  and  deep, 
well  drained,  rich  sandy  loam. 
Pears  Dropping  Off  ( Irish  Fruit 
,  Grower) . — The  Pears  are  infested  with 
the  Pear  scab  fungus,  Fusicladium 
pirinum,  one  of  the  most  injurious 
of  fungus  parasites  attacking  the 
Pear,  in  many  instances  spoiling  the 
entire  crop,  in  addition  to  doing  per¬ 
manent  injury  to  the  trees.  It  affeots 
the  young  fruit,  even  the  blossoms, 
and  often  prevents  setting,  or  if 
setting,  the  recentlv  set  fruit  drops, 
as  in  your  case.  It,  later  on,  gives 
rise  to  the  well  known  scabbing  and 
cracking  of  the  Pears.  The  leaves  and 
young  shoots  are  also  attacked.  It 
first  appears  under  the  form  of  small, 
roundish,  dark  spots,  which  soon  in¬ 
crease  in  size,  and  run  into  each  other, 
forming  large,  irregularly  shaped, 
blackish  blotches,  and  when  conditions 
are  favourable  for  the  growth  of  the 
parasite  the  leaves  and  fruit  are  killed 
while  quite  young  :  the  dark  coloured 
mycelium  spreads  in  the  leaf  or  fruit 
between  the  cuticle  and  the  epidermis, 
the  cuticle  being  eventually  ruptured, 
and  myriads  of  very  short  branches 
protrude,  eaoh  bearing  a  oonidium  or 
spore  at  its  tip.  The  disease  is  extended 
hy  means  of  these  conidia  or  spores, 
and  it  is  tided  over  the  winter  by 
means  of  the  mycelium  present  in  fallen 
fruit,  an  ascigerous  form  being  pro¬ 
duced  on  the  diseased  patches,  which 
matures  the  following  spring.  The 
following  method  of  preventing  the 
disease  is  advised  by  Prof.  Galloway  : — 
“  Spray  with  Bordeaux  mixture;  first,  just  as  the  flower  buds  begin  to 
open  ;  second,  when  the  petals  of  the  flowers  are  falling  ;  and  third, 
when  the  fruit  is  the  size  of  Peas  or  slightly  larger.  If  the  season  be 
rainy  a  fourth  treatment  should  be  given  twelve  days  after  the  third. 
Four  ounces  of  Paris  green  added  to  each  fifty  gallons  of  the  mixture 
at  the  time  of  the  third  spraying  will  hold  the  codlin  moth  in  check. 
The  Paris  green  should  first  be  made  into  a  thin  paste  by  adding  a 
little  water.  This  paste  readily  unites  with  the  mixture,  and  does  not 
decrease  its  value  in  any  way.”  In  this  country,  however,  ordinary 
Bordeaux  mixture  is  apt  to  scorch  the  foliage  of  Apple  and  Pear  trees, 
especially  when  the  leafage  is  young,  hence  it  is  necessary  to  dilute 
the  mixture  to  a  safe  strength,  say  1  lb.  copper  sulphate  and  1  lb. 
freshly  burned  lime  to  12J  gallons  of  water,  though  it  is  best  to  ascer¬ 
tain  a  safe  strength  by  experiment,  as  the  foliage  varies  in  different 
seasons.  It  is  also  not  advisable  to  use  more  than  ozs.  of  Paris 
green,  preferably  procured  in  paste  form,  to  50  gallons  of  the  dilute 
Bordeaux  mixture.  In  the  winter  the  trees  should  be  sprayed  with 
simple  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper,  1  lb.  to  25  galls.  of  water,  applying 
in  mild  weather  when  the  trees  are  dry  and  the  buds  quite  dormant. 
