THE FARM INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 400, 8 January 1909, Page 2

THE FARM INDUSTRY.

■ — -*T— FOR GARDENERS. STUDIES FOR TO-MORROW. It was Just like the good genie who pre- v sides over our gardens to send us those warm showers of Wednesday. Ho has given. ua a wonderful season all through. - The showers : will, however, arouse an anxiety among por / tato growers lest the bjieht shall break out; The potato blight, which appears in large ■ brown spots or patches on tne-foliage, is at _tributed to a fungus, .'of which there lare several varieties that attack our - -potatoes.' : This fungus is propagated by spores —its " seeds. f Thoy are invisible.except -.under.. .ji microscope.; '."-'-''V Warfare of Potato's Enemy. : Through the winter they lie dormant, and even in, warm weather, if dry, they are bs> lieved to pino in vain for a taste of lifer— • and potato leaf. The wind carries them from -.; Nplace to place as easily as it carries thistle seeds,. and deposits' them s where . it listeth. Sometimes this is on the bare roads, ou tho grass paddocks, on the cabbage leaves; on .tho bare ground away ' from. -the\ r potato patch, and no harm.thereby is dono. - ■ Baffled by Tempest. - For the little sporules,'when thcy-send-out" their little invisible rootlet, find no potitd j leaf—their_ natural soil—to nourish 'them'j and in this critical condition they- quickly perish. Millions and millions of tbeni thui die overy year. It is those only that lodge' on the potato_ leaves that matter, or per ■ haps'those which soak down through the soi to tho tubers below. If fierce winds or heavy rains come, . they, prevent, the'.spores"' from lying on the leaves, and thus that bo'ig; terous sort of weather does some good among . all its evil. • . , ■ ' . Mischief in Muggy Weather. ; : s > But tho weather that, suits- the ; potate blight is that oppressive, warm, close; drizzlj weather,- that doesn't rain much, -but-rainj. for a long time.; These little misty-spots vol • .. . rain :that smite upon the; leaves with the gentle touch of a baby's kiss glue the. spores. on to the leaves, rather than hustlo them off . The warmth and moisture tempt the spore, to make its great bid for the brilliance, of .. , life. Feels for a Foothold. . It sends out: a minute root —so slender, so short, yet not so ; short that it. cannot . feel about- for one of; the leaf's Ereathing : ; spores or stomata: for every garden leaf is 1 covered with, "multitudes . of 1 little 'mouths through- which they breathe. They are -visible only; through a microscope, but they ' '• , nevertheless exist.; Well; the -littje rootlet, 1 '01 the tiny blight seed feels about for one - of these holes,. and when it has found it . without ceremony it penetrates. '.. .'. ..- -.: Plunders and Spoils. ~ Then it spreads a.network of roots'inside the tissue of the potato leaf, extracts cer- .' tain choice delicacies' from the leaf sap, and converts the ; rest:; into-'poison. . The leqf accordingly dies at that ..spot , and turns' brown.- Then the blight organism casts,forth "!• its thousands of seeds to infect^'the ad- : \ joining leaves liridi.carry its species -forward - -.' to ,the future years. It has only one vul- V' . - nerable' spot,- and the. enthusiastic gardener who wahts to save his potato patch is -told ■ to attach it at this spot with a copper poison called Uortleaux mixture. :' " -. r .'. One Vulnerable Spot. - . t ' .That .vulnerable: spot is the tip of. tho . first little root' that it. puts forth; 1 when -iV. feels out for the breathing spore, of - thi. ' . potato leaf. That may. seem .to be a .ludi- ■ crously' impossible task; :'. For* who'could . : mount guard with a microscope, -in a drizzling ram, all day—and night—oyer every . one of the thousand spores: that may beproposing .to attack a leaf, ? 'and' then,'.. at the ; critical, moment,dab him' .'-with : One may - venture to- say ; that under such conditions potato culture would' be-—well, ;tej. . : . dious. The price of potatoes - would- go up': ; - But happily the': fungus-fighting ' have sa,ved : us a-11-.this koee-drilbbyvpresorifr;;-ing a'.very simple" ruse.- .cr.--" The One Medicine. ; - : Spray : the plants;, they, say/ with Bordeaux"' . mixture,, so' -that- each 'spore," in trying' . • gain admittance to a stoma, will - touch t{j< ;y----poison\and,' dio.. .'.The spray must -.be -yery fine, such as onty a proper spray-pump and ' ; proper nozzle . will; provide.' It must .be • ' sprayed on as-lightly as a mist—just enough - ; v . to completely cover every leaf'without -rajj' .' ning into drops. The Bordeaux'mixture can ■■ . be bought ready made at the' plant, shops. ■ It is . doubtful 'if .Hhet ordinary- smaU.,gafdej', : potato plot is worth all the botheir and ; - pense of .it. Most , gardeners will prefer w> let the merry little blight spores',carry: on. - tldeir revelries .unmolested. Still, it is nico to know all : about it. -yDetail Work. •Beyond those considerations one may safely . attend to. the sowing of seeds', of tho follow-ing-plants, if wanted:— * V iv- :• Sow. • . :n Beans. Endive. l'eas. Mustard. ,-.-..v - .■; *. Radish. ■ Cress. l- . Turnip. Broccoli. • : Swede. Cauliflower. ■ Spinach. ; Cabbage. .v. Plant. Cabbage. - Leeks. ; Broccoli. Cauliflower.; Brussels Borecole, ... -. ; Sprouts. Eto. '. Celery. '• : . "t..-r?-