Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-14
Gardening i'm Washington
AND ITS ENVIRONS


; II allowed to remain on the trees
until the succeeding Spring, the knots
| give rise to vast quantities of spores,
which carry the disease to healthy
limbs and trees. For this reason all
knots should be cut out as soon as
discovered and burned or otherwise de-
stroyed. With careful attention to this
removal control is possible, but 1t is
not possible to eradicate the disease on
account of the presence of wild plums
and cherries in the woodlands. Spray
ing the dormant trees with lime sui
phur will help to prevent the spread
Of the plum knot disease, but chief
reliance should be placed on cutting
out the diseased tissues.
Tomato Leaf Spot.
Tomatoes. despite their generally Wig
orouS growth. are beset with several
serious foliage diseases which may
cause defoliation and immature death
of the plants. These diseases may re-
suit in much the same abnormal ap-
pearance of the leaves and are, there
fore, difficult TO diagnose accurately.
Leaf blight or leaf spot, known scicn-
tifically as Septoria lycopersici, IS one
of the most common of the tomato dis
eases. Starting usually with the lower
leaves, the disease gradually works up
ward until there Is little left but the
bare stem and few partly developed
fruits. Fortunately 1t is not difficult to
combat this disease and others OF SINH
lar nature. Spraying with bordeaux or
any OF the various proprietary bordeaux
materials. such as pyrox. bordo-lead.
etc, will help wonderfully to keep the
tomato plants healthy.
Lack of water is capable or inlurng
v~1o &c IN
NAV also lead to failure. Probably dis
ease is often blamed unjustly yet 1t
may almost be accepted as general
fact that tomatoes need spraying, This
is especially true in home gardens,
where Ii is difficult to practice long ro-
tations. with a result that the disease
problem becomes increasingly serious.
The Honey Dew Melon.
The fine white melons that are now
beginning to arrive in our markets
under the name of Honey Dew have had
an interesting history. Grown for many
years in Southern Europe and Northern
Africa under the variety name OF White
Antilles, the Honey Dew was renamed
by some enterprising American with
propensity to advertising The Honey
Dew is really a very fine melon X one
gets them ripe. but too often they are
not ripe. leading to disappointment and
dissatisfaction.
The Honey Dew melon is not adapted
to local culture, apparently needing
long season of hot days and hot nights
to develop real quality. In fact, the
Honey Dew, with its Mediterranean an
cestry. may be considered almost sub
tropical fruit Under the burning sun
of Arizona and southern California 1t
ripens to perfection and its culture in
these States has assumed large proper
lions. Like the citrus fruits, we will
likely have to be content to accept our
Honey Dew melons from more Southern
chimes.
Garden Items.
Most insects have a season In which
they do injury and then give the gar
dener a rest, but with the aphids there
is no rest while the leaves are on the
plants. The aphids prefer new growth
and may be now found on the fresh
shoots of the rose and grape and on
nasturtium plants in abundance. Spray
ing with tobacco extracts. such as black
leaf 40, gives the quickest result, eSpe-
'cially If a little pure soapsuds are
added.
Red raspberries are now finishing
their season, unusually satisfactory be-
cause of the copious rains. Cuthbert is
still the acme of quality In red rasp-
berries. This variety has peculiar
aromatic favor that cannot be found in
any other red raspberry. Other good
varieties are Herbert and Latham.
There Is no reason, according to disease
experts, why red raspberries cannot now
be grown with success II one starts with