658 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



August 24, 1912 



ANSWERS TO 



CORRESPONDENTS. 



Eiditoriftl Communioations flfcould be ftddreeeed to the 

 Editor of the Gardeners* Magazine, 148 and 149, 

 Alderagftte Street, E.G. 



3«or«tarie« of horticultural «ooi«ti«« are inTited to 

 Mud •arly notification of forthcoming eihibitions 

 And m«*tinge, an<i are requ«t€<l to advifl« U£ oon- 

 o«raing changefl of datM. 



The Editor will be glad to receiTe photograph* of 

 gardenfl, plants, flowers, tree*, fruite, etc., for 

 reproduction in the Gardeners* Maoazins. He will 

 also be greatly obliged by correspondenta •ending 

 early intimation of interf^sting local events reJating 

 to horticulture. In sending newspaperg containing 

 matter to which they wish to draw attention oot- 

 respondents are requoatod to distinctly mark the 

 paragraph. 



of 



S'riir.l'TOSOLEN JAMESONI. 

 Chappt'i : I hav€ two fine specimens 

 StreptoHolen Jame#w)ni. and am anxious to 

 make use of them for Huninier bedding. 

 Would you be g<x>d enough to tell me if the 

 plant is suitable for this purpose, and also 

 how to propagate so as to obtain good sturdy 

 planth by June 1 next? — StreptoHolen Jame- 

 8oni is a tine plant for summer bedding, and 

 is largely usikI for this purpose in many of 

 the notable parks and gardens of Ijondoii 

 and other large cities. It is usual to insert 

 cuttings of new growth early in March, in 

 a warm pit, and grow the plants freely in a 

 moist atnuKsphore ; in fact, the treatment 

 usually acc'ord<Hl youn^ fuchsias struck early 

 in spring will suit Streptosolen Jamesoni. As 

 quite small plant« the streptosolen is not a 



for summer bedding, as the flowers 

 to the best advantag<^ when the 

 vard or more high, and rise 



We 



are see n 

 plants are a 



well abdvp a lower subject in tfie bed. 

 hav4' nt vor tried raising plants from autumn- 

 struck I'uttiiitr^. hut we should trv the 



met hoil 

 plants 



it 



vvt' wanted to produce the largest 

 ]>ossible by l>edding-out time next 

 In such a case we should root the cut- 

 tings now in gentle heat, pot them early, 

 and grow the plants steadily in a warm 

 greenhouse until March, when fui^her pot- 

 ting and more heat and moisture should in- 

 duce free growth in ample time for proper 

 hardening oft' heforu early June 



MILDKW OX rKnfsoX RAMBLKR 

 KOSK.—J. R. [>.. Ilolyvvood : I shall be much 

 obliged if yon can tell' nie what is the matter 

 with the frimson Rambler rose, specimen of 

 which [ Irive enclosed. It has been growing 

 over .III areh for at least fifteen years, and 

 ha> always bloomed well. This year it has 

 a fine promise of bloom, but the flowering 

 growths became affected like those sent. Iiast 

 year there was a slight attack only. The 

 plant has produced some tine young canes 

 from the base this year. Is tliei<^ a remedv, 

 or shall I take up and destroy the plant?— 

 The rose is suffering chiefly from an attack 

 of mildew, but greenfly is also verv much in 

 evidence. Unfortunately, Crimson Rambler 

 is particularly liable to mildew attack. Thin 

 out all unnecessary growth, and cut out a 

 large number of the flowering growths as 

 soon as the flowers fade, though this may 

 be done at once if fli.^ infection is very bail 

 all t>ver thf^ trt>-(>. Spray the tree with a 

 liver of sulphur solution, 'made by dissolving 

 loz. of liver of sulphur in a little hot water, 

 and adding it to five gallons of soft water. 

 The whites of two eggs or a tablespoonful of 

 liquid glue will give a little adhesiveness to 

 the mixture. 



MEANING OF PLANT NAMES.— W. B., 



Chappell : Will you kindly let me know the 

 title of a book which gives the meanings of 

 the specific names of plants:" A great many 

 of the names convey their own i-neaning, 

 such as aquatica, riparia, alba, socotiana,' 

 etc., but I am constantly coming upon names 

 of which I do not know the meaning.— A 

 book that you would find verv helpful is 

 " Nicholson *s Dictionary of ^Gardening " 

 where the meaning of every plant name is 

 given in brackets immediately after the 

 name; while in the fourth volume is a pro- 

 nouncing dictionary and a list of Greek root 

 words from which a large number of botanic 

 names are derived, with meanings and ex- 



amples of derivations. B. D. Jackson's 

 ** Glossary of Botanic Terms, with Deriva- 

 tion and Accent," should also be useful, and, 

 as it is necessarily a smaller and cheaper 

 w^ork than Nicholson's, you should get it 

 first. Of course, it does not contain horti- 

 cultural information. 



GLOXINIAS.— R. T., Stockton.— Kindly 

 advise me concerning the " blind " gloxinia 

 I enclose, — There is not the slightest evidence 

 to show what has caused the " blindness " ; 

 the tuber, roots, and leaves all seem per- 

 fectly healthy, and so some local cause must 

 have been at work. We have seen begonias 

 go blind after being watered inadvertently 

 with very cold, hard water, and liquid chemi- 

 cal manures not infrequently defeat the end 

 in view when used over-strong. It is in 

 these directions, and in connection with 

 fumigation, that we think you must look for 

 the cause of the trouble. 



POTATO SCAB DISEASE.— T. J., Shaftes- 

 bury: Can you give me some information 

 concerning potato scab disease, and what is 

 the best means of curing and preventing it? 

 In Somersetshire last week I found the pink- 

 skinned potatoes had the disease badly, but the 

 white-skinned ones seemed to be fairly free. 

 — It is quite impossible for us to help j^ou 

 unless we know more definitely what particu- 

 lar form of scab the potatoes are suffering 

 from. Scab may be due only to mechanical 

 injury resulting from the harshness of the 

 soil. On the other hand^ it may be due to 

 the attacks of Oospora scabies or Spongospora 

 scabies. The worst of all scab diseases is 

 the Black Scab or Wart Disease, to which 

 we have referred in these columns on many 

 occasions. Growers with fcrops suffering 

 from this terrible and unpleasant disease 

 must report to the Board of Agriculture 

 under the Destructive Insects and Pests 

 Order. The penalty for neglecting to re- 

 |>ort is irio. You may obtain a leaflet deal- 

 ing with and describing the black scab 

 disease from the Secretary^ Board of Agricul- 

 ture, 4, Whitehall Place,' London. Letters 

 of application need not be stamped. 



PROPAGATING CLEMATIS. — E. W., 

 Harrogate : A friend of mine has a particu- 

 larly good clematis. We neither of us know 

 its name, but it is so beautiful that the pro- 

 pagation of a few plants is very desirable. 

 AVouId seeds sown now prove satisfactory, 

 or would cuttings or layering prove the 

 surest way of securing a little stock? Any 

 help you can afford us in our difficulty we 

 shall greatly appreciate. — You may propa- 

 gate clematises from seed?, but the seed- 

 lings would not necessarily reproduce the 

 seed parent exactly. Seeds \ire best sown in 

 early spring, in gentle heat, giving the seed- 

 lings cooler conditions as they advance, and 

 planting them out in the autumn. Another 

 method is to sow the seeds in sandy soil in a 

 cold frame, as soon as thev are'^ripe. In 

 your case, however, the better plan will be 

 to layer several growths, pegging them down 

 firmly in fairly light sandy soil; but great 

 care must be taken to make sure the layers 

 are well rooted before they are severed from 

 the parent plant. 



PULQUE.-C. J. R., E^sex : I am told tbat 

 trom Agave atrovirens, of which you have 

 recently given two excellent illustrations the 

 Mexicans prepare a fermented liquor whicb 

 known as pulque, and is largely drunk I 

 have not been able to obtain much informa- 

 tion with regard to pulque, and I should like 

 to know how the supplies of the sap from 

 which it 16 made are obtained ~' 

 considerable amount of information relating 

 to pulque and its preparation in various 

 publications, but it is scattered about and 

 not readily accessible. It is, therefore a 

 matter of some interest that Mr. A Bur'ee- 

 stein prepared an article with illustrations 

 ll i^^j^^g" ^he subject, and this was 



pubhsbed in the " Oesterreichische Garten- 

 zeitung- (Vol, vi., pt. vii., p. 252-8). An 

 excellent abstract of this article is P-i- 



■There is a 



the current irisue of the 



given in 



-D 1 tr ^. Journal " of the 



Royal Horticultural Society, and, as it con- 

 tains all the information you are likely to 

 require, we give it herewith: "Pulque the 



national beverage of Mexico, is obtained from 

 the agave, generally from A. atrovirens, bat 

 any other species are used, Wben the 

 seedlings have attained a height of four 

 inches they are taken up, their leaves cut 

 off, all except the central shoot, and the rootfi 

 cut hard back. They are left to lie for 

 seven days in the sun, and then replanted in 

 a well-manured bed. Next year when they 

 have reached a height of ten inches they are 

 taken up again, the roots cut back, and re- 

 planted after exposure to the sun for four- 

 teen days. They now send up abundant 

 shoots in the axils of the leaves, which may 

 be planted. The operation of root pruning 

 and sun baths is repeated once more. When 

 the plants are six to ten years old the central 

 bud is cut off. Six months later the heart of 

 tbe agave is hollowed out, forming a vesfiel 

 a foot and a-half deep, which in the course 

 of a week fills with liquid. This is collected 



In ffood srround an asrave will 



twice daily. 



gooa grouna an agave 

 yield from one to one and three-quarters of a 

 gallon of aguamiel daily for eight months. 

 The plant then dies. The liquid contains 

 about 10 per cent, of sugar. Some of the 

 liquid is drunk as it is drawn from the plant, 

 but most of it is fermented and converted 



into pulque." 

 LIMNANTHES 



DOUGLASI. 



— Spero^ 



Kingston : Will you kindly advise me on the- 

 following matter : For the past three years 

 I have tried to grow Limnanthes Douglasi, 

 but have failed each time. The plan I have 

 followed is to sow the seeds early in Septem- 

 ber in boxes, and after duly thinning the 

 seedlings plant them out in the open ground. 

 The young plants have always appeared to- 

 be doing well until about February, when 

 they gradually die, roots and all. If you can 

 suggest anything to get over the trouble I 

 shall be obliged, as it is annoying to fail 

 after taking pains to get the plants to grow 

 — Limnanthes Douglasi, like D. alba and D. 

 rovsea, are hardy annuals, that should be 

 sown where they are to bloom. In well- 

 Avorked and fairly light garden soil a good 

 sowing should be made in early September. 

 Thin sowing and early thinning are essen- 

 tial, so that good sturdy plants are left to 

 stand the winter, and to flower next spring. 

 In March and May other sowings should W 

 made to succeed the autumn sowing; in 

 these cases, also, early thinning is essential. 



NAMES OF PLANTS. 

 P. D. J., Bunbury.— 1, Gesnera cardinalis: 



2, Begonia Haageana. 



F. E., Torquay. A garden variety of the 

 Pomegranate — Punica granatum. 



H. M. C, Sidmouth.— 1, Fuchsia corymbi- 

 flora; 2, Gaura Lindheimeri; 3, Phaceh* 

 campanularia. 



S. L., Huntingdon.— 1, Spiraea Douglasi; 

 2, Colutea arborea; 3, Rhus Typhinus; 4, 

 Ceterach aixreum. 



W. D. A.,Horley.— 1, Leptosyne Stillmani; 

 2, Rudbeckia Goldstrabl ; 3, Polygonum 

 orientale ; 4, Muehlenbeckia complexa. 



W. C. F., Renfrew.— The flowering plant is 

 Statice Suworowi; the ferns are — 1, Lastrea 

 felix-mas cristata; 2, Athyrium filix-fcemina 

 capitatuni; 3, Lastrea pseudo-mas cristata; 

 4, Athyrium filix-foemina laxo-cristatum; o, 

 Athyrium f.-f. cristatum. 



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