228 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



March 16, 1912. 



ANSWERS TO 



CORRESPONDENTS. 



MAYUS PUMILIO.— C. F. M., Cliertsey : 

 I have some seeds of a New Zealand plant 

 nam^d Mayus pumilio, but as I know no- 

 thing of tiuch a subject, can you please en- 

 lighten nie and suggest the best method of 

 dealing with the seeds and subsequent plants ? 

 — ^Mayus pumilio belongs to the natural order 

 Scrophulariaceae, which contains the mimu- 

 lus, foxgloves, pentstemons, veronicas, and 

 other popular garden plants, but it is not a 

 specially attractive member of that order. 

 It is interesting and distinct, growing vigor- 

 ously and spreading freely by means of un- 

 derground stems; it is of lowly growth, 

 rarely exceeding a height of four inches, 

 and its violet and white flowers, borne on 

 slender stems, hardly rise above the spoon- 

 shaped foliage. Should l)e grown in the 

 rock garden in light soil and a sunny posi- 

 tion. Sow seeds at once in light soil and 

 place in a frame or cool greenhouse, prick 

 oft* the seedlings into boxes as soon as they 

 are large enough. Some of the seedlings may 

 be planted out later in the year, but a stock 

 should be grown in pots in a cold frame until 

 next spring when they may be plai\ted out 

 in the rock garden. 



DECAYED BULBS.— The question ad- 

 dressed to you by " A. B., Essex,'* regarding 

 the behaviour of his bulbs (p. 188) and your 

 comments thereon, remind me, says "Pedes- 

 trian," of a sad experience I once had, not 

 only with bulbs, but with seedlings and cut- 

 tings of various kinds, some 15 or 20 years 

 ago. Thinking that, perhaps, "A. B.'s" 

 failures may be traceable to something of 

 the same nature. I am induced to state the 

 facts in order that he and others may avoid 

 even such misfortune. At the period men- 

 tioned alterations on a rather large scale 

 were in progress in a part of the pleasure 

 grounds, when a band of silver sand, fairly 

 line, yet gritty, was struck, and, to the eye, 

 appear-^ at least ecjual to what we had been 

 buying to mix with composts for propagat- 

 ing and other purposes. A large quantity 

 of this was stored and used for various mix- 

 tures with the most disastrous results to 

 the plants. Seedlings developed their cotyle- 

 dens and then disappeared, cuttings would 

 not make roots, and the roots of bulbs re- 

 fused to permeate any compost to which this 

 sand had been added. Everything and every- 

 body was under suspicion, as, so far as we 

 could judge, the conditions were the same 

 as in former years. It was getting well into 

 spring when it dawned upon me that the 

 sand we had been using was the only item in 

 the mixture that varied from previous years, 

 and that it might be the source of our mis- 

 fortune, I had a sample analysed, i\ud 

 learned that it contained an excessive 

 amount of iron. I say excessive because I do 

 not now rememoer the quantity, but I think 

 it was about 12 per cent. In any case avo 

 discarded this sand, and returned to that 

 from the old source, with the usual good 

 results. 



SPRAY^ING FRUIT TREES.— H. R. S., 

 Seaton : I feel sure that if you could once 

 again draw attention to the value of ts-pray- 

 ing fruit trees, stating why and how it 

 should be done, such information would 

 greatly interest many readers. Your *'Wasted 

 Orchards of England," published many ^-eai s 

 ago, did a great deal of good, but there is 

 need for another good rousing up, at lea^it 

 in Devonshire. — As we are dealing with the 

 matter of spraying for insect and fungus 

 pestfl on fruit trees in the present iseue, we 

 need only refer you to the article and illus- 

 trations. 



NAMES OF PLANTS. 



W. H. C, Bury St. Edmunds,— 1, Acacia 

 arniata; 2, Boronia megastigma. 



F. I., Axminster. — 1, Saxifraga apiculata; 

 2, S. oppoeitifolia ; 3, S. Burseriana. 



A. L. J., Ware. — 1, Cydonia Manlei : 2, 

 Muscari oonicum; 3, Adiantum reniforma. 



S, P., Wells. — 1, Acalypha Macafeeana ; 2, 

 Phyllanthus (Reidia) glauceecene; 3, Dar- 

 lingtonia californica; 4, Cantua buxifolia. 



F. F., Todmorden. — 1, Begonia manicata ; 

 2, B. fuchsioides; 3, Haageana ; 4, B. Rex. 



M. T. B., Oswestry. — 1, Gleichenia dicarpa 

 longipinnata ; 2, Primula Kewensis ; 3, 

 Odontoglossum gloriopyum ; 4, a very poor 

 Cattleya Trianae; 5, Plumbago rosea. 



L. R. P,, Ware. — 1, Cypripedium aureum ; 

 2y a poor form of Dendrobium nobile ; 3, 

 Kleinia (or Cacalia) articulata; 4, not recog- 

 nised; 5, Sphagnum cymbifolium. 



Prudential Assurance Com- 

 pany, Lim. — Tlie directors state in their 



report for the year ended December 31 last 

 that in the ordinary branch the number of 

 policieis issued during the year was 60,012, 

 assuring the sum of ^5,396,721, and produc- 

 ing a new annual pi-emium income of 

 i;325,699. The premiumci received were 

 i;4,812,268, being an increase of ^6,147 over 

 the year 1910. The claims of the year 

 amounted to i-3,423,273. The number of 

 deaths was 8,471. The number of endow- 

 ment assurance^s matured was 20,862, the pre- 

 mium income of which was ^119,586. Tlie 

 number of policies in force at the end of 

 the vear was 901,693. In the industrial 

 branch the premiums received were 

 i^7, 631,408, being an increase of ^205,091. 

 Tlie claims of the year amounted to 

 i;2,976,058, including £277,083 bonus addi- 

 tions. The number of claims and surrenders, 

 including 4,488 endowment assurances ma- 

 tured, waci 373,641. Tlie number of free 

 policies granted to tho^e policy-holders of 

 five years' standing and upwards who desired 

 to discontinue their payments, was 140,617, 

 the number in force being 1,705,885. The 

 number of free policies which became claims 

 was 43,668. The total number of policies 

 in force in this branch at the end of the 

 year was 19,041,748: their average duration 

 exceeds twelve years. The assets of the com- 

 pany, in both branches, as shown in the 

 balance-sheet, after deducting the amount 

 written off securities, are :£'81, 239,682, being 

 an increase of i;3,710,456 over those of 1910. 



GARDENING ENGAGEMENTS. 



Mr. J. Chapman, of Ferry Hill, Chatteris 

 Cambridgeshire, has been appointed garl 

 dener to R. C. Harding, Esq., Bank Grove" 

 Richmond Road, Kingston-on-lTiames. 



'Mr. T. Gamago, for some years foreman in 

 the gardens of Ballyfin House, has been ap- 

 pointed gardener to Sir Anthony Weldon 

 Bart., Kilmorony, Athy, co. Kildare. 



Mr. W. Simpson, late gardener at Stoke 

 Rochford Hall, Grantham, has been ap- 

 pointed gardener to Major J. \S\ Dent 

 Ribston Park, Wetherby, Yorkshire. 



PORTHCOMTNG ENGAGEMENTS. 



TUESDAY March 19.— Royal Horticultural Society. 

 N a r ci^is u s Oom m i t te e te at 1 1 . 30. Fmiti 



Floral, and Orchid: Committees m^eet at 12 o'cloelt! 

 Lecture at 3 p.m. on " Feme," by Mr. H. b! 

 May, Y.M.H. Soientific Committee at 4 o'clock! 

 Horti'-ultuml OInb, H-otel Wtindfior, Wcistminfiter ; 

 Monthly dinner, commencing" at 6 o'clock, to be 

 f ol 1 0 w e (1 by a 1 eot u re on " W eed s , " by Mr. 

 Har'ild l.!)ii<>-. 



\VEI)NKSi).\Y. March 20.— Royal Meteorological 

 Socit'tv. 



THl KSDAY. March 21.— Ferpetual Flowering Carna- 

 tion Society'* exhibition, at Koyal Horticulture! 

 Hall, We-tiTiin»ster ; two day«. 

 Linnean Society Meeting*. 



ilancheeter and North of En^g^land Horticultural 

 Society. 



• V • 



CONTENTS. 



A Diseafie of Sweet Peas, etc 



Bo rder A Mr ic til i ? 



Cta-Sfiia C'orymboea 



KxhTbitioTiri and Meetin^-^ ... 



F:mcy Perpetnal-flowering C^arnatione 



Gazania:< in fh<' Garden 



Horticultural Education 



Jaitanese Ani;mo i-^s ( Illu^ ) 



Libonia floribundi 

 Lyeaste Balli;^ (lHu«.) 

 Note of the AVeeik 

 X-t w rinnts. etc. dllu.'^.) 

 Outdoor Fetich -s 



Portrait: Mr William Hall ... ■ 



Hare Snowdrops 



Savoys iiriu,s.) 



Sprinjr in the Sliady Garden ... 



S1:ai>hylea col-^hica (lllurs.) 



Vine Borders 



Whi n and How to Spray Fruit Trees 



■ ■ 



* ■ 



■ > ■ 



- ■ 



■ > ■ 



P - ■ 



■ i 



■ • • 



■ ■ • 



PAGE 



21G 

 21" 

 214 

 225 

 216 

 223 

 212 

 218 

 223 

 219 

 211 



'in 



217 

 211 

 214 

 223 



218 

 215 

 213 

 220 



You never g-o wrono: wlu-n ycu rely on Uobinson^' Guaranteed Gardenalitiee, 

 every one has a univ+^r^al reputation. 



They fulfil thi-ir puri)ose and achieve their endt;. Tak" ff^- instance 



for each and 



THE " CARMONA ' FERTILIZERS. 



Here yon have the finest soil food end fertilizer ^vhic li .cienee can offer. It j*^^^^ltl*|^ 

 mo.st barren ground rich in n<utrition, and plants pro.^ii. r am! thrive when they araw 



,su.stenance from such a sources . -inro Attends 



Fertilization is etseential— you must practise thie principle, or otherwise 

 your effort*. Get *' Oarmona " Fertilizers, and you are on thr ri^yht Special arcem 



directed to the *' Ca.rmonA " Sweet Pea Fertilizer. 



"Carmona" Fertilizers are siokl in quantities to feuit all n> . ;l>. Note bnlk^ and pnce*>. 



1 cwt., 20s.; i cwt.. 13s. 6^1.; 281bs.^, 7s. 6d. ; 141bs., 4s. fkl. ; Tibs., is. Gd. 



Ifi. and 6d. tins. 



Of all .'^etML'iiiien niitl iit>. or write direct. 



CLIFT'S FLUID INSECTICIDE. 



^\r^~r^. l?obinson Brois., Ltd., mo.'^t stronp-ly advice every s-ardoner to write for ^ w^lJy 



of 

 te<l 



tlie vt rv convincing reports u]>on the extensive laboratory and outdoor experiment's, c* ^^^^ 

 by an rniinent expert, in relation to the efficacy of Olifts Fluid Insecticide. The .^^| 

 fijrur.-s eontj»ined therein will at once deinon^^tratr tho ab.solute .Mippn-nrity of tnus . ■ 



insecticide. The prices arv : 



ii) gralhs.. per Vail. 4s. 6<.l. : 2o iralls.. imm- u-mH. 1<> .2-:i!K>^., p- r u-.iW. 



gall. oii. ; 1 S"al1.. ; .L'-all.. Hs. *hI. ; 1 pint. 



ENTRY FOR ROBINSONS' £350 SHOW. 



This will be the g-ardeninff event of the vr:,)-. To 1 li. 1.1 on Au-ust 2Sth and ^-^'^^Ji^^^^^jo?,^ 

 the Botanical Gardems, Kdgbaston, Hir m i h:. m A M ;i -li jM izes and many ^"'V ' 

 ehip Medak. Kvery buyer of rarmoiia. " iMrtiliz. r- li;,~ t r. . iitr y. Kaeh i>acket conr^i 



entry '* fet^ eoujwn. 



Show Schedules now rondy. <iml scut on ajiplicatinn. 



ARE YOU WORRIED WITH WEEDS? 



Then get " Eradiwewl," the guarantetxl cent, per cent, weed killer. It will 

 free vour gardens from weeils. 



" Velvas " Lawn Stand— the finest procurable, and jrive.- utmost eatief^iction. 



ROBINSONS' FREE GIFTS. 



KOBINSOXS' CrARANTKKl) f; A K DKNALTTIRS BOOKLET. 

 KOBINSONS' GAHOKN KNK.UJES BOOKLKT. 



Both i\rc of the utino.st va'ue t-o you. Gratis and post free to any ^ddre.si^. 



teed 



ROBINSON BROS. 



WEST BROMWIGH, STAFFS. 



-J 



