THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 319 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Thrips or Achtmenes. — V. Y. — The leaves are infested with tlirip through 

 having been prown in. too dry an atmosphere. They have been exposed to the sun, 

 for some of the leaves are partly burnt. These plants require a moist atmosphere 

 when growing, and plenty of shade in bright weather. When in bloom, cool, 

 shaded, and a liberal amount of water, is best for prolonging the beauty of the flowers. 

 The best advice that we can give you is to dry them off gradually, and burn the 

 dead stems and foliage when they are cut away from the bulbs. 



Propagating Boxes. — Constant Reader. — It is a bad plan to have boxes for 

 striking cuttings too large. A good size is 3 feet long, 15 inche's wide, and 4 inches 

 in depth ; 9|-inch board will make capital boxes, and there will be very little waste 

 in cutting them up for boxe9 of the above-mentioned size. If the joints fit close 

 together, bore a few holes in the bottom to allow the free escape of the water. 

 These boxes will be invaluable for pricking off all kinds of seedlings and cuttings 

 in the spring. 



Red Grapel. — Grape Grower.— Overloading the vines, or not giving sufficient 

 air when colouring, would account for the reddish appearance of your grapes. In 

 cold and rather wet borders we seldom see well-coloured grapes. When the foliage 

 is too dense overhead to admit a proper proportion of light, it is an impossibility 

 to colour grapes well. 



Propagating Manetti Stocks. — A Young Eosarian. — You can easily obtain 

 a stock of these by cutting the strong shoots into lengths of eight inches in the 

 autumn. Remove the lower buds, and plant them in rows in the open ground an 

 inch or so apart ; but if you want good roses, grow them on their, own roots. 



Outdoor Vine. — A. B. — If you want fine bunches thin them regularly, 

 removing the bunches entirely where they are crowded together, and thinninf out 

 the berries in the branches with a small pair of scissors to allow them to swell. 



Gathering Everlasting Flowers. — W. C. — All everlastings should be 

 gathered before they expand fully. To preserve the whitness of the white ones, we 

 suppose attention to the rule just given to be of the first importance, and, next, to 

 keep them always protected from dust. The white everlastings of the shops are 

 probably bleached by means of sulphur vapour. 



Fuchsia-Buds Dropping. — X. Y. Z. — Most likely the plants have quite ex- 

 hausted the soil in which they are growing ; this is a very common cause at this time 

 of the year. Shift the young and middling-sized plants you mention at once into 

 good soil, consisting of fibrous loam, leaf-mould, rotten dung, and silver sand • 

 after a few weeks' growth they will bloom finely through the latter end of the 

 autumn. Try a little guano-water, mixed at the rate of half an ounce to the 

 gallon, on the old plants. If they are too far gone, and it foils to have a salutary 

 effect, set them out of doors in a shady position to ripen their wood. Those grown 

 out of shape, and not wanted for propagating, destroy at once. 



Culture of Agavas. — A Lover of Succulents.— All the Agavas and Yuccas 

 require a soil composed of rich loam, a little old, dry, chippy dung, leaf- 

 mould, and a good admixture of broken crocks, lumpy charcoal, and brick rubbish. 

 The pots should be well drained with large crocks at the bottom, then a layer of 

 smaller ones, and then some of the' roughest of the soil. They are propagated by 

 suckers, which may be taken off now if of moderate size, and struck in sandy 

 peat and loam. They like sun, and during the summer plenty of water ; in winter 

 very little, or none at all. Broken leaves may be cut off close with a sharp knife' 

 but the less the plants are cut or injured the better. Do not shift to laro-er pots 

 unless the pots are already full of roots, but, if they really require more 

 room, shift at once without breaking the ball, and give plenty of water and shade for 

 a week. When growing, an occasional sponging of the leaves with soft tepid water 

 will do them good, but they must not be exposed to sun while the foliage is wet. 



Abutilon Thompsoni.— A Lady Gardener. — The following extract from Hib- 

 berd's " Beautiful-leaved Plants " will afford you the information in which you are 

 in search of. It is the best and fullest account of this beautiful plant, yet published ■ 

 " The normal or specific form of the beautiful plant here figured is a verv old and 

 lightly-esteemed inhabitant of our greenhouses, which was once in bad repute as' an 

 unmanageable stove plant. While treated to a greater heat than was consistent 



