RUST AND PERPETUAL CARNATIONS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVIII, Issue 21, 20 November 1912, Page 39

RUST AND PERPETUAL CARNATIONS.

This disease has used up as much printer’s ink as any disease I know, and yet to-day our knowledge of it is but very limited. Certain varieties are more prone to this disease than others. This is particularly noticeable by those who raise seedlings, as some plants become affected and others remain perfectly healthy under precisely the same conditions. Of course, any seedling prone to disease should be destroyed, for no matter how good its flowers may be, it is constitutionally weak.

Rust is developed in nearly all cases by either excessive moisture on the foliage or in the atmosphere, and it can hardlv exist in a dry, buoyant air. The best remedy for rust is, in every case, first to remove all affected leaves, and then to dust the plants with a mixture of equal parts of sulphur and air-slaked lime. This will work marvels. I do not favour any liquid remedy, as the principle of the whole thing seems contrary to plants with glaucous foliage. Some growers of repute, however, recommend Bordeaux mixture; and liver of sulphur, used at the rate of about loz. to 10 gallons of soft water, with a little soft soap in it, is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. This mixture should be sprayed on when the sun is shining. MONTAGU C. ALLWOOD.