August 17, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



oil 



from tubers and throwing or leaving them 

 about instead of destroying them, and the 

 careless disposal of haulms from affected 

 crops. In lifting the crop exercise the 

 greatest care to ensure the v hole of the 

 tubers being removed from the soil and to 

 separate every diseased tuber from those 

 which are sound, nie whole of the diseased 

 tubers should be burnt, for if they are used 

 lor feeding pigs or other animals the spores 

 wall pass uninjured through the digestive 

 system, and may, by means of the manure, 

 foe distributed over the garden, and infect 

 those parts to which, as yet, the disease has 

 r.ot found its w^ay. The haulm should be 

 disposed of in a similar manner. No pota- 

 toes should be grown^ on the infected quar- 

 ters for two or three years. It will also be 

 advisable to limit the varieties grown to 

 those which have been proved to be immune, 

 •notably Crofter, Chiswick Favourite, and 

 White City among the maincrop varieties; 

 Abundance and Conquest among the mid- 

 season varieties ; and Snowdrop, Southern 

 Queen, and Southern Star among the early 

 varieties. 



PLAGIANTHUS LYALLI.— M. B., Leices- 

 tershire : I have been much interested in the 

 illustration and description of Plagiauthus 

 Lyalli, which appeared in the Gardeners' 

 Magazine of July 27. The shrub certainly 

 appears to be deserving of more widely - 

 tended cultivation, and I shall in due course 

 add it to my shrubbery border, or give it a 

 place with some other choice shrubs against 

 a warm wall. I shall be much obliged by 

 your giving me the year of introduction, and 

 stating whether you know of any really 

 large specimens in the United Kingdom. — 

 This species of Plagiantlius w-as introduced 

 from New Zealand in 1871, and, like several 

 others of the beaiitful shrubs from the same 

 colony, requires a kind climate for their suc- 

 cessful cultivation. Whether it would suc- 

 ceed in the open in the Midlands is rather 

 doubtful, and we do not know of any speci- 



mens in that part of England which are so 

 grow^n. The shrub may be jiuccessfully 

 grown in the southern and western part.^ o'i 

 England, and in some parts of Ireland, in the 

 shrubbery border. In districts Jess favour- 

 able to plants that are not perfectly hardy 

 it may be planted against a south or south- 

 west wall with the prospect of considerable 

 succesis. Tlie largest specimen with which 

 we are acquainted is the one in the gardens 

 of Castlewellan Castle in co. Down, Ireland, 

 the seat of the Earl of Annesley. This is 

 about 15ft. in height, and rather more in 

 diameter, and blooms ^vith considerable free- 

 dom annually. One of the difficulties asso- 

 ciated with the cultivation in this country 

 of shrubs from New Zealand is their inability 

 to withstand the effects of a severe winter. 

 County Down is in the north-east of Ireland, 

 but it is on the coast, and the temperature 

 experienced during the \viinter months is 

 greatly modified by the influence of the sea. 

 In Leicestei^shire some very Jow temperatures 

 are usually recorded diiring the winter 

 months, and in consequence thereof the best 

 results in the cultivation of Plagianthus 

 Lyalli are likely to be obtained by planting 

 against a warm wall, and giving a little pro- 

 tection during the coldest part of the winter. 



SLOW EIPENING OF GRAPES.— L. S., 

 Sussex : Owing to the low temperature 

 that has been experienced of late, and the 

 deficiency of sunlight, my grapes are not 

 rij^ening so satisfactorily 'as I would wish. 

 The Muscats, which are usually assuming a 

 golden hue by the middle of August, are 

 quite green. Tliere are also signs of mildew- 

 in some of my vineries. What had I better 

 do ? — There is but one course for you to take 

 and that is to use suflftcient fire heat to main- 



tain a temperature ranging loetween 70 and 

 75 degrees, and ventilate freely. It is a 

 rather common ])ractice to allow the tem- 

 perature of vineries to drop during periods 

 of cold, dull weather at this season of the 

 year, and to greatly reduce the ventilation 



for the purpose of husbanding what little 

 warmth is derived directly from sun heat, 

 but this is a mistake. Grapes, with but few 

 excei3tions, cannot be brought to such a de- 

 gree of maturity as will ensure their distinc- 

 tive flavour being fully developed, and also 

 keeping well after they have ripened. 

 Therefore, when the warmth of the sun is 

 deficient, the deficiency must be made good 

 by the use of additional artificial heat. Tlie 

 clasing of the ventilators during cold periods 

 for the purpose of husbanding the warmth 

 is usually followed by an attack of mildew 

 that does considerable damage. When the 

 artificial heat is brought into requisition 

 ventilate suflliciently to maintain a dry and 

 buoyant atmosphere. Gi-os Colmar cannot 

 be ripened properly without the assistance 

 of a brisk temperature, and tlie sparing use 

 of artificial heat at this season is one of 

 the causes of the indifferent flavour of 

 this grape of which we hear so much. 



FASCIATED ASPARAGUS. — Mr. W. 

 Goddard, Holly liank, Hunton Bridge, 

 King's Langley, has kindly sent us a photo- 

 graph of an interesting case of fasciation, 

 which lias occurred in his asparagus bed. 

 llie fasciated stem, he informs us, attained a 

 height of 6ft., and was about two inches in 

 breadth. The stem was forked at the apex, 

 and, as is usual in such ca?es, the side shoots 

 were arranged at right angles to it. Such 

 cases of fasciation in asparagus are rather 

 common, several specimens reaching us every 

 year, but they are nevertlieless verv inter- 

 esting, and we appreciate Mr. Goddard's 

 kindness in giving us an opportunity of 

 seeing the photograph. 



POETAZ NARCISSI.— H. D., Southamp- 

 ton : We have usually grown a considerable 

 number of the polyanthus narcissi for con- 

 servatory and house decoration, and they 

 have invariably been much appreciated, 

 altliough my employers would prefer them 

 with a less pronounced fragrance. The 

 varieties that have of late obtained promi- 



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