_kainit_ have been found very useful for ridding the soil of these
pests. About 2lbs. of nitrate of soda or kainit to a square rod (30-1/4
square yards) has been found an ample dressing. It should be distributed
evenly over the surface of the soil, when the latter is in a moist--but
not sodden--condition.
=Lime and Soot.=--Slugs and snails are great marauders among the young
growths of bulbous and other plants, and may be kept in check by the use
of nitrate of soda, and kainit, as well as by birds. These remedies may
be supplemented, or even supplanted, by the use of lime and soot. These
substances are always easy to obtain, and will be found of great use not
only in keeping the garden free from insect pests, but also because of
their manurial value.
When lime is used for checking the attacks of slugs or snails it should
be freshly slaked, that is, a little caustic or quick-lime should be
broken down into a fine white powdery mass by having a little water
poured over it. When the heat has subsided the powdered lime may be
sprinkled around and between the crowns of the plants that are being
attacked by slugs. Should it come in contact with the slimy bodies of
these it will soon kill them. Soot that has been exposed to the air for
several weeks will be found a good preventive also against these pests,
and it has the advantage of not being so conspicuous amongst the plants
as lime. Fresh soot from the chimney should on no account be strewn
amongst the young crowns or growths of plants, as the poisonous matters
in it may kill them as well as the slugs.
Slaked lime and seasoned soot may be mixed together, and then strewn
over the surface of the soil. Even common salt is a good slug destroyer,
and may be applied in either a liquid or solid form. Lime-water is also
an excellent cleanser, and may be given to the soil freely without
injury to the plants. Where large numbers of Daffodils are grown one
must keep a watch for the grub of the Narcissus fly (_Merodon equestris_
or _Narcissi_), an insect resembling a small and slender bumble-bee in
appearance. It lays its eggs in the early summer months in the Narcissi,
and the grubs from these bore their way into the fleshy part of the
bulb, damaging the growths and flower stems for next season. When the
bulbs are being lifted or planted, any that are soft to the touch are
very likely affected, and should be examined for the pest. Any badly
affected should be burned. Those not so badly injured may be steeped in
water in July or August, for about a week, to drown the maggots which at
this period have caused but little mischief. When the perfect Merodon
insects are on the wing from about the middle of May to the middle of
July they may be enticed to drown themselves in saucers containing
strong solutions of sugar or treacle, placed amongst the plants.
Although most birds in the garden may be looked on with a friendly eye,
one must make an exception in the case of _Passer domesticus_,--otherwise
known as the common sparrow. He will tear your Crocuses--especially
the yellow ones--to tatters out of sheer mischief. If he would only
eat the petals or make a nest of them there would be some excuse; but
no, he simply tears them to pieces and flings them, so to speak, in
your face. Mrs. Sparrow is no doubt just as bad, and therefore should
have her nest and the eggs therein confiscated and destroyed on every
possible occasion. A few strands of _black_ cotton thread stretched
over the Crocuses will be found to yield a certain amount of protection
against attack.
=Fungoid Diseases.=--Of the fungoid diseases affecting bulbous plants
happily there are few; and even these are not troublesome to any
alarming extent in the open air.
Snowdrops are sometimes attacked with a kind of mildew known
scientifically as _Botrytis galanthina_. The fungus attacks bulbs,
leaves, and flower-stems one after the other, and effectually stops the
plants from flowering. As soon as this disease is seen on the plants,
the affected portions should be carefully picked off and burned. Once
the disease reaches the black spot-like stage, there is little hope for
the plants so that they had better be burned straight away.
Colchicums, Crocuses, Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, Gladioli, and others
are affected from time to time with one fungoid disease or another,
probably because the soil in which they grow has not been particularly
well-prepared, and is full of some organic matter that can only be
disposed of by the addition of freshly-slaked lime, and deep digging at
the earliest opportunity. When any of the plants referred to are badly
attacked with any fungoid disease, the simplest and best remedy is to
burn them--and thus kill the spores and prevent them spreading. It will
be cheaper to buy new bulbs the following season, and to grow them in
_another_ portion of the garden, rather than try to reclaim the old ones
whose doom in any case is only a matter of time.
Perhaps one of the worst diseases affecting bulbous plants is that which
for some years past has ravaged plants of the Madonna Lily (_Lilium
candidum_). The bulbs seem to be fairly free from the disease, but the
leaves and stems become so badly affected in some parts of the country
that they cannot perform their functions, with the result that no
blossoms are borne, or only misshapen ones. There is at present, I
believe, no effectual remedy against the Lily disease, and once it
appears in a garden, the culture of the Madonna Lily is doomed from that
moment. As a preventive, the plants might be sprayed several times
during the season, from January onwards, with a solution made by
dissolving one ounce of liver of sulphur in a gallon of hot water, and
adding 2-1/2 gallons more of water. This should be applied with a
fine-sprayed syringe, and is a good preventive against many kinds of
fungoid attacks. If used near white woodwork and comes in contact with
it, the paint will be discoloured. Of late years, the bulbs that are
imported in such large numbers from Japan have been more or less
afflicted with a fungoid disease that appears to be very difficult to
check. This disease may be the result of over cultivation, or too
intense cultivation to secure large quantities of plants in a
comparatively short time. The Bermuda Lily disease is probably the
result of similar efforts to get rich too quickly. So that one natural
remedy against the disease would be to grow the bulbs more naturally and
allow them to ripen fully before disturbing them. However, as people in
Europe must have Lilies, they take the best that can be provided. On
arrival of the bulbs they should be carefully examined, and any diseased
or decayed portions taken off and burned. As a preventive against any
spores germinating, the bulbs may be well rolled in freshly slaked lime,
and allowed to dry in a cool airy place for a day or two before planting
or potting. Mr. Massee, in his book on "Plant Diseases," recommends
submerging the bulbs in a 1 per cent. solution of salicylic acid for 20
minutes, and after thoroughly drying them, to kill the spores of the
fungus.
PLATE 33. CROCUS MEDIUS (117) COLCHICUM SPECIOSUM (118) STERNBERGIA
LUTEA (119) STERNBERGIA MACRANTHA (120) CROCUS OCHROLEUCUS (121) CROCUS
SPECIOSUS (122)
A peculiar fungoid disease, known as "basal rot," attacks Daffodils and
Narcissi in soil that is cold and heavy or badly drained. It causes the
leaves to become brown at the tips, and the bulbs to become rootless and
swollen, while the tunics are soft and rotten at the base. The best way
to check this disease is to have the bulbs lifted, and if they can only
be grown in the same soil again, this should be deeply dug to let the
water pass away from it, and some road grit and leaf-soil should be
incorporated with it before re-planting. Some freshly slaked quicklime
may be afterwards pricked into the top with the fork.
MANURING BULBOUS PLANTS.
When bulbous plants, like Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, &c., are planted
and lifted annually, they can hardly be said to require any special
manuring during the period of their growth, as the soil in which they
are planted is, or ought to be, usually well prepared and manured in
advance in the way recommended at p. 16. But even when such bulbs are
planted and lifted every year, they might be considerably improved by
the application of a little artificial manure at the right time. For
instance, in December or January a little _basic slag_ (10 to 20 pounds
to about 30 square yards) would supply phosphatic food to roots later on
in the season when it would be useful for the development of the
blossoms. A little _superphosphate of lime_ at the rate of four to eight
pounds to 30 square yards, would also be useful, applied about March or
April. _Kainit_ is a cheap potash manure, and may be applied at the same
time as the basic slag at the rate of one or two pounds to the same
area--either by itself or mixed with the slag.
It contains a good deal of common salt, and should therefore be applied
_before_ root-action commences, otherwise it may prove injurious to the
new roots.
The necessity for manuring becomes more important in the case of bulbous
plants that are to be left in the same soil for several years. Like
other plants, of course, they rob the soil of a certain amount of food,
and unless this is returned in some way the soil gradually becomes
poorer and the plants less vigorous. One of the best ways, perhaps, to
supply fresh food for the roots of the bulbous plants is to give the
soil a good top-dressing or mulching of well-decayed manure in the early
autumn months. This will gradually decay during the ensuing winter and
spring months and yield up its food. During this period it will also
prevent the heat, that was taken into the soil in the summer, from
escaping too rapidly by radiation. It would be more harmful than useful
to apply a mulching of manure in the depth of winter or early spring, as
it would prevent the sun's rays from warming the roots.
Where Lilies, Tulips, Daffodils, Crocuses, Snowdrops, and many other
kinds of bulbous plants are naturalised in the grass, in flower borders,
or amongst trees and shrubs, a good dressing of well-decomposed manure
in the early autumn will prove highly beneficial each year. The basic
slag, kainit, and superphosphate may be also applied at the seasons
mentioned, if considered desirable.
Transcribers Note
1. Preface Hynenoclis changed to Hymenocalis
2. Page 50 End of first paragraph word added
"umbels form on the top of the that spring out of the bulb" changed
to "umbels form on the top of the _shoot_ that spring out of the
bulb"
3. Page 56 "three or fours seasons" changed to "three or four seasons"
4. Page 57 "(also known a _Calliprora lutea_)" changed to
"(also known as _Calliprora lutea_)"
5. Page 57 "rose-red to to pinkish-purple;" changed to
"rose-red to pinkish-purple;"
6. Page 110 "when the leaves have begun to turn yellow, Seeds may"
changed to "when the leaves have begun to turn yellow. Seeds may"
7. Page 134 "a large flowering bulbs," change to
"a large flowering bulb,"
8. Page 75 Closing bracket added "(finely figured in "FLORA AND SYLVA")"
9. Throughout ligature [oe] changed to oe
10. Page 175 Madame de Graaf changed to Madame de Graaff
11. PLATE 25 TERMIFOLIUM changed to TENUIFOLIUM to match list of
plates and text.
End of Project Gutenberg's Beautiful Bulbous Plants, by John Weathers