September  4,  1902.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
221 
Diseased  Melon  Plants. 
Having  seen  a  bad  case  of  this  troublesome  pest,  and  from 
attacks  of  which,  from  my  own  observation,  I  have  concluded 
few  places  comparatively  are  entirely  immune,  it  may  not  be  un¬ 
interesting  to  record  my  own  experience  with  it.  I  do  not 
remember  ever  having  seen  the  disease  treated  on  from  a  scien¬ 
tific  point  of  view,  and  enlightenment  in  that  direction  would 
perhaps  place  preventive  or  remedial  measures  in  our  hands. 
My  first  acquaintance  with  it  was  in  a  house,  which  up  to  a 
certain  stage,  1  considered  then  and  now,  held  the  most  promis¬ 
ing  crop  I  had  ever  grown.  The  varieties  numbered  seven,  and 
the  seed  was  obtained  from  three  sources.  The  plants  were 
grown  in  the  old  fashioned  way — i.e.,  on  a  hotbed  of  manure, 
but  with  hot-water  pipes  underneath,  and  in  good  yellow  loam 
of  a  somewhat  retentive  nature,  but  in  no  way  greasy.  -I  much 
regretted  at  the  time  I  had  no  rubble  to  keep  it  open.  The  plants 
grew  very  strongly,  but  set  a  good  crop,  and  the  fruits  were 
Mr.  Henry  Cannell,  V.M.H. 
(  (See  page  219.) 
swelling  finely,  but  excepting  a  little  artificial  in  the  top-dressing 
no  manure  had  been  given,  and  the  white  roots  were  much  in 
evidence  all  over  the  border. 
After  a  practically  sunless  week  with  heavy  rains  at  the  end 
of  May,  during  which  little  water  was  given,  I  noticed  the  surface 
roots  were  fast  disappearing,  and  on  brighter  weather  making  its 
appearance  the  plants  commenced  flagging,  and  ultimately 
collapsed  entirely  before  the  fruits  were  finished,  which,  as  it 
was,  were  of  good  size,  but  naturally  lacking  flavour.  I  could 
not  hear  of  any  such  collapse  taking  place  before.  It  would  seem 
as  if  the  extra  vigour  of  the  plants,  combined  with  sunless 
weather,  which  prevented  consolidation  of  growth,  made  them 
an  easy  prey  to  disease.  But  how  did  it  originate  ? 
The  following  season  I  was  in  another- part  of  the  country,  in 
a  garden  where  I  believe  Melons  had  been  well  grown,  but  had 
not  been  satisfactory  for  a.  season  or  so*  past,  excepting  in  heated 
pits  where  a  good  hotbed  of  some  depth  was  employed,  and  these 
were,  of  course,  summer  crops.  I  may  say,  too,  only  one  variety 
was  grown,  and  seed  had  been  home-saved  for  years.  For  a 
reason  it  is  not  necessary  to  state  here,  a  fresh  stock  had  not  been 
obtained.  A  little  seed,  however,  was  procured  from  an  outside 
source  which  Avas  believed  to  be  free  from  suspicion  of  disease. 
The  plants  in  earliest  house  were,  with  the  exception  of  four  or 
five,  all  raised  from  home  saved  seed.  Perhaps  I  ought  in  fair¬ 
ness  to  say,  these  four  or  five  occupied  a  somewhat  better  posi¬ 
tion  when  planted  out  than  some  of  the  others,  although  this  in 
itself  was  not  sufficient  to  account  for  the  difference  which  after- 
wards  ensued.  Some  time  after  planting  I  noticed  a  kind  of 
rust  on  the  edges  of  the  lower  leaves  on  all  but  those  plants  raised 
from  what  I  may  term  foreign  seed,  and  none  of  these  so  affected 
had  the  same  vigour  as  the  others.  The  rusted  leaves  gradually 
assumed  a  burnt  up  appearance  long  before  the  fruit  was  ripe, 
the  stems  up  to  the  first  wire  were  quite  denuded  of  foliage. 
Occasionally  a  leaf  on  the  higher  part  of  the  plants  would  appear 
as  if  badly  scorched  by  sun,  although  no  general  scorching  took 
place. 
Many  of  the  young  fruits  directly  on  the  commencement  of 
swelling  became  pitted  all  over  and  turned  yellow,  and,  of  course, 
ceased  swelling,  making  it  a  somewhat  difficult  matter  to  secure 
a  crop  at  once,  although  there  was  an  abundant  set. 
As  time  went  on  there  was  the  same  mysterious  disappear¬ 
ance  of  surface  roots  previously  noted,  which  could  not  be 
accounted  for  by  strong  liquid  or  artificial  manures,  and  none,  not 
even  those  plants  apparently  healthy  would  stand  bright  sun¬ 
shine  all  day  without  flagging,  which  seemed  to  point  that  all  were 
now  affected.  The  fruits  finished  fairly  well  for  an  early  crop, 
and  were  said  to'  be  generally  of  good  flavour,  but  curiously  enough 
while  the  ripening  process  was  going  on,  from  time  to  time  I 
would  find  a  fruit  with  the  juice  exuding  from  the  netting,  and  on 
cutting  there  was  an  escape  of  gas,  suggesting  that  germination 
had  taken  place.  The  flavour,  too,  was  anything  but  pleasant, 
giving  one  the  idea  that  cayenne  pepper  had  been  applied  to  the 
lips. 
Was  this  the  sequel  to  the  disease?  Does  the  actual  presence 
of  the  germ  of  the  endophyte  in  the  plant  set  up  germination  in 
the  fruit?  I  had  previously  heard  of  fermentation  taking  place 
in  fruits  on  plants  which  had  had  to  be  shaded,  and  I  believe 
old  groovers  look  on  the  shading  of  Melons  as  rank  heresy. 
Further,  on  five  occasions  we  attempted  to  obtain  a  second 
crop  from  one  house  in  the  same  season,  and  in  each  case  it  was 
more  or  less  unsatisfactory.  It  did  not  seem  to  make  a  great, 
difference  whether  the  beds  and  soil  were  partially  or  wholly 
renewed.  The  latter  gave  the  best  results,  but  in  neither  case  was 
it  a  success.  It  appeared  inexplicable,  except  on  the  ground  of 
infected  house  and  soil,  and,  of  course,  the  increased  debility  of 
the  plants  as  the  season  progressed,  as  I  think  I  may  say  the 
earlier  batches  were  well  up  to-  the  average  in  crop,  size,  and 
flavour,  although  obviously  diseased.  In  no  case  either  could 
we  induce  the  plants  to  grow  sufficiently  strong  to  mature  a  good 
crop  unless  grown  upon  a  bed  of  leaves  and  manure.  The  latter 
seemed  to  give  them  the  necessary  vigour  to  .struggle  against 
disease. 
Eelworm  was  present  in  all  the  soil  we  used,  but  at  no  time 
did  I  see  any  Melon  roots  infected  with  it,  although  Cucumbers 
usually  collapsed  from  the  ravages  of  that  pest. 
I  used  sulphate  of  iron,  both  in  soil  and  in  the  water,  as  a 
remedy,  but  the  result  was  not-  very  marked.  My  own  experience 
would  tend  to  show  that  the  disease  is  primarily  embryonic,  but 
that,  as  well,  infection  can  take  place  from  without,  probably 
through  the  medium  of  the  roots,  but  to  be  certain  on  these 
points  requires  a  far  greater  scientific  knowledge  than  I  possess. 
— D. 
We  reprint  the  following  replies  bearing  on  disease  in  Melon 
plants,  which  have  been  given  on  three  several  occasions: — 
Sclerotinia  sclerotiorum,  Mass.,  is  the  stem  canker  of  Cucum¬ 
ber  and  Melon  plants,  “  sudden  collapse”  disease  of  Potatoes  and 
Tomatoes.  On  the  latter  it  is  frequently  confounded  with  “  black 
stripe,”  “  drooping,”  and  “  sleepy  ”  disease,  and  occasions  the 
destruction  of  the  plants  in  a  similar  manner.  On  the  stem  of 
the  plant  forwarded  there  Avere  the  white  threads  of  the  fungus, 
and  in  the  destroyed  portion  of  the  stem  oval-shaped  black 
bodies,  someAvhat  elongated — the  sclerotia  or  resting  stage  of 
the  parasite.  The  fungus  subsists  on  organic  matter,  especi¬ 
ally  vegetable,  in  a  dead  or  diseased  state.  Quicklime  acts  more 
promptly-than  chalk  or  limestone,  and  is  the  most  effectual  pre¬ 
ventive  of  stem-choking  fungus,  also  of  root  or  root  stem  fungi. 
“  Stone  ”  is  better  than  “  chalk  ”  lime,  but  the  lime  must  not  be 
“  magnesian  ”  unless  for  applying  to  land  made  sour  by  heavy 
manuring,  or  surcharged  Avith  vegetable  matter,  as  bog  or  moor¬ 
land.  As  a  precautionary  measure  lib  per  square  yard  should 
be  employed,  slaking  without  delay,  and  Avhilst  floury  spreading 
evenly  and  mixing  Avith  the  soil  to  a  depth  of  4in  to  Gin.  This 
should  be  done  Avlien  the  ground  is  in  good  Avorking  order,  prefer¬ 
ably  dry  rather  than  Avet,  and  afterwards  using  another  dressing 
of  air-slaked  lime  at  the  rate  of  ^lb  per  square  yard,  say  when  the 
crop  is  above  ground,  or  as  soon  as  set  plants  become  established, 
will  prove  thoroughly  effectual  against  this  fungus  in  the  matter 
of  Cucumbers  and  Melons;  at  least,  such  is  our  experience  of 
them  in  manure-heated  frames  and  in  houses.  In  case  of  attack, 
seldom  seen  until  the  plants  are  too  far  gone  to  admit  of  remedy, 
but  usually  noticeable  by  their  being  checked  in  growth,  the  stem 
becomes  rough  at  the  collar,  as  if  affected  Avith  dry  canker, 
promptly  use  quicklime  at  that  part  and  for  Gin  distance  from 
the  stem,  when  the  soil  being  dry  and  the  surface  more  or  less 
open,  some  of  the  lime  will  pass  into  it  and  coming  in  contact, 
with  the  mycelium  destroy  it.  When  the  plants  collapse,  re¬ 
move  the  roots  carefully  and  burn  the  AA'hole  of  the  plant,  then 
disinfect  the  places  where  they  have  been  Avith  quicklime,  Avorking 
it  Avell  into  the  soil  with  a  fork.  Infested  soil  should  be  dressed 
