768 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



October 5, 1912. 



ANSWERS TO 



COR RESPONDENTS. 



Editorial Oommunicati(>n.s iikoulU U- addrf^as txl to the 

 Editor of the Gardeners* Magazink, 148 and WJ, 

 Ald€»r«g-ate Street, E.C. 



S<'cr€(t»rie8 of hortioultural societies are invited to 

 aeiifd «*riy notitication of forthcoming exhibitions 

 and meetinigr8. and are ix-quosted to edvise us con. 

 ceming chajigoa of dattis. 



AMERICAN GRAPES.— S. V. D., Penarth : 

 I shall be much obliged for a little informa- 

 tion, through your valuable paper, on the 

 method of dealing with two Canadian vines 

 which 1 have. Concord and Niagara. One of 

 them is white, and the other black. I do 

 not know which is which. Tliey are planted 

 in an o ut^side border, where t hey get t he 

 »un all the best part of the day; planted 

 about a year, but have never fruited. At the 

 back of the border is a long tomato house. 

 The previous owner of the garden looked for 

 grapcH, but I wonder whether the vinen are 

 worth keeping. Your ass^intance will bo 

 much esteemed. — The vine« have not as yet 

 had an opportunity of showing whether they 

 will bear and ripen a crop under the con- 

 ditionB that obtain in your garden, esi>ecially 

 as tho piist bummer has l>een exceptionally 

 wet and told. We should be inclined to allow 

 them to remiain during the buninier of 1913, 

 and if they do not bear a crop worth gather- 

 ing, TOi)t them out in the autumn. 



DWARF BRITISH FERNS AT GLAS- 

 GOW. — With i-eference to the question raised 

 by Mr. C. Pattison in our issue of September 

 28, Mr. C. T. Druery writes: In reply to 

 Mr, C. Pattison's enquiry in your issue of 

 September 28, the only varieties to which the 

 term ** dwarf is properly applicable are 

 those of particularly small dimensions when 

 full grown as compared with the normal, 

 and not such species' as are normally small. 

 As regards the several varieties referrtni to, 

 Laatrea pseudo-mas crinpa cristata angus- 

 tata, I*olystichum angulare congestum gran- 

 di<*t'])>, and Scolopendriuin vultrare spirale 

 corymbiterum are the only ones properly be- 

 longing to the dwarf section; the others, 

 Polypodium vulgare triehomanes cristatum, 

 Hlecfinum t^picant serratum raino-cristat iini . 

 and AspIiMiium triehomanes incisujn, ^ll()uld 

 not rank as dwarfs. I kiiow of no truly 

 dwarf Polypody except a very small-growing 

 normal which I have found in Wigtonshire, 

 which persistently dies under cultivation, 

 and all the varieties of trichomanoides, or 

 rather, cornubiense, with which I am ac- 

 quainted, under favourable circumsitances 

 attain fair normal size. Asplenium trieho- 

 manes incisiim assumes full size under like 

 conditions, and so does Blechnum spicant. 

 True dwarf varieties are comparatively rare. 

 Tht' best ones are Lastrea pseudo-ma ^ above 

 fittxl. raised by Messrs. Sang of Kirkcaldv, 

 and often called, for brevity's sake, Saiigi. 

 In the same sub-specie^ vse have L. p. ni. 

 crispo - gracile. Lyelli. and raninlosis><i- 

 inum, all very dwarf and good. In IJIeeh- 

 num a true duarf \\nn\ is U. s. crispi.-siinujn 

 Hartley, only three or lour ineln^s hio-h ; in 

 Scolopendriurn we have M^veial >|)i rah^foiins 

 with very small leathery trond> and twistivl 

 habit; also S. v. Kelwayi den^nrn. likv a hall 

 of moss; and the st veral conglomerate fornix 

 Kelwayi. ('<H»litii]ri. Haxteri. and Wardi, 

 may legitimately be included in the 

 section. A number of Mr. T/owe's croased 

 forms only attain very small dimensions, but 

 few of them are fit for exhibition purposes, 

 being far more curious than pretty. From 

 Mr. H. Stansfield we have recently received 

 a very dwarf S. v. crispum and a grandi- 

 ceps form of same. In the Polystichums we 

 have but few true dwarfs iWlonging to 

 the congestum section ; i-jarvisHinmn^ de- 

 spite its name, often i ..nn ^ toof _h j^rii 

 Ironds, but could scarcely be considertxl 

 eligible on account of its' name and compa* f 

 habit. In the Lady Ferns ther*^ are M>nu' 

 very beautiful true dwarf forms. A f f 

 congestum minus, A. f. f. c. m. eri^tatnin 

 and grandieeps are eharmin^r fMnrw rarrlv 

 ^xemling six or .^n-en inclu's. Mr.>,r. M^y 

 lave rfvently raised a particularly prettV 

 *^^-p.v torm from that section A f f 



crispum is a dwarf rambling form, very 

 distinct, and there are several forms of stipa- 

 tum which are very dense, imbricate, and 

 compact, which dwarfs them considerably 

 and brings them fairly within the line. The 

 above list comprises certainly the best of 

 the "dwarfs." In conclusion, I must em- 

 phasise the principle that small-growing 

 normal species, like some of the spleenwortfi, 

 if introduced into a group specified 

 dwarfs, would inevitably disqualify it if 

 judged by experts. 



[We are much obliged to Mr. Druery for 

 his reply to the question, although we are 

 not at all inclined to agree with him in his 

 definition of dwarf " British ferns, and 

 we think that but few of our readers will 

 readily accept it. Evidently, if an expert 

 like Mr. Druery would exclude the spleen- 

 woils from a collection of dwarf British 

 ferns, the time has come when the British 

 Pberidological Society should make definite 

 regulations for governing such competitions. 

 fc:D. " G.M."] 



HEATING A GREENHOUSE.— B. T., 

 Swindon : I have a pit measuring 16ft. in 

 length. 9ft. in width, and 8ft. in height, at 

 the centre of the. span-roof. I have two flow 

 pipes and one return, all two-inch piping. 

 There are 42ft. of piping altogether. Would 

 this be sufficient to keep out frost? — A good 

 deal depends ui>on the construction of the 

 side walls and the capacity of the boiler; if 

 the latter is already fully taxed in other 

 directious, Ui- piping might not suffice in 

 severe weather. It would be better if there 

 were two return pipes, and better still if 

 the piping was 4^inch instead of 2-inch, as 

 the larger radiating surface would reduee the 

 need for severe firing, with its attendant 

 ovils of stuffiness and unpleasant atmo- 

 sphere. 



STANDARD ROSES.— C. D., Bath : Please 

 tell me which you consider the best roses 

 for standards. I should like to know at 

 once so that I may visit a nursery and see 

 the varieties ere they finish flowering.— If 

 you refer to larger-flowering roses, then the 

 following IS an excellent selection of varie- 

 ties for standards : Captain Hayward, Caro- 

 line Testout, Frau Karl Druschki 'Hugh 

 Dickson, J. B. Clark, La Tosca, Suzanne 

 Mane Rodocanachi, White Maman Cochet 

 Lady Ashtown, Killarney, Augustine Guinois- 



Gustave Regis, and Gustav Gruner- 

 wald. 



Tn^«??i?? ^lERPETUAL CARNATIONS 

 TO SECURE LARGE BLOOMS —F M 

 Hants, asks: Would you or some of your 

 readers who are carnation experts be good 

 enough to consider the subject of stoppine 

 perpetual-flowering carnations to produce 

 arge blooms:- In certain catalogues some of 

 t lie hints given to amateurs appear rather 

 misleading; and I want to know whether 

 such comparatively small-flowering varieties 

 like Mrs. H. Burnett and Black Chief would 

 produce larger flowers if only stopped once. 

 -Will some of our readers kindW give us 

 their opinio,, on this matter:- We believe 

 the increase. „, size would be relativelv 

 Sinn!!, am) w:nild not be sufficient to out- 



iKilaiire \ hv reduction of the crop 



KKW IjriJ KTTX. S. J., Leeds: Kindlv 

 „u- where 1 ean obtain the " Kew Bulle- 

 tin, and vvliat is its price.-The 



spring. The chemical properties of spent 

 hops are of little account, but Wakeley'3 

 Hop Manure, which is composed of brewers' 

 hops impregnated with suitable chemical 

 fertilisers, is an excellent food for the sub- 

 jects you name, and, in fact, for all garden 

 produce. It is about the best substitute for 

 animal manure we know. 



B. C, Birmingham. 



tloieri Hffi P"''''^''^'* Majesty's Sta- 



tionery Office, and can be obtained throueh 



any bookseller or direct from Messrs. Wymfn 



and Son«. Fetter Lane, E.C. The vriee t 



4d. per issue 



HOPS AS MAXUEE.-M. W., Watford - I 

 have been told that spent hops from the 

 brewery are valuable a. manure for ^rden 



op., and .hall be grateful if vou will^^'e 

 ne on the matter. Are they a good manure 

 tor roses, bush fruits, and ^•eget^ bles^^ \ 1 

 if M,, when is tho hvM time t 



T^y'JT value .mWy 



< - > -His, }..-au.e they help to lighten the 

 -Mi .nrl .Mpply humuH. There is no advan! 



"-^nig hops on rich old garden soil, 

 m the ease of a reeenti v-formed earden 

 - good <lres.ng may be dug in atThif time 

 of the year, or .spread a. a surface muleh^n 



o u.se themr 



tan-. 



NAMES OF PLANTS. 



M. E. J., Hexham.— 1, Primula floribunda- 

 2, Helianthus decapetalus ; 3, H. sparsifo'. 

 lius. 



-1, Aster versicolor; 

 2, Chrysanthemum uliginosum; 3, Solida^o 

 virgaurea; 4, Leyoesteria formosa. ° 



F. E. C, Woodbridge.^1, Caryoptem 

 mastacantha; 2, Sequoia &empervirens; 3, 

 Taxodium distichum ; 4, Oarrya elliptical 



W. D., Durrington. — 1, Cupreasus Lawsoni. 

 ma albo-spica; 2, Prunus Pissardi; 3, Rosa 

 rugo8a Blanc Double de Coubert; 4, Datura 

 suaveolens. 



G. S., Eyde. — 1, Acanthus mollis; 2, 

 Sedum Sieboldi variegata; 3, Abelia triflora; 

 4, Echinops ruthenica; 5, Spiraea arisel 

 folia ; 6, Aster ericoides. 



C. G. C.^ Northampton. — 1, Bougainvillea 

 glabra; 2, Tradescantia zebrina; 3, Panicum 

 plicatum; 4, Aralia Chabrieri ; 5, Panax Vic- 

 toriae; 6, Dracaena Sanderiana. 



B. M. T.^ Exmouth. — 1, Helenium autum- 

 nale; 2, Sibthorpea europaea; 3, Cotyledon 

 umbilicum; 4, Echeveria secunda glauca; 5, 

 Arbutus Unedo; 6, Clematis Davidiana. 



I3 Sturmer Pippin; 



NAMES OF FRUITS. 



M. N., Chelmsford. — Beurre d'Amanlis. 



AV. J.^ RedhilL— Probably Souv. de Con- 

 gres. 



J. B. C, Llandudno.— 

 2, Lane's Prince Albert. 



K. T. E., Brighton.— 1, Dr. Jules Guyot; 

 2, Bergamotte d'Automne; 3^ Beurre Capiau- 

 mont. 



S. E-., Bath.— 1, Comte de Lamy; 2, 

 Doyenne Boitssoch ; 3^ Beurre Clairgeau ; 

 4, Emile d'Heyst. 



E. D. E., Skipton. — 1, Bramley's Seedling; 

 2, Dumelow'8 Seedling ; 3, Bismarck; 4, 

 Lane's Prince Albert; 5, Catillac. 



W. O., Dorking. — i, Beurre Bosc; 2, 

 Durondeau; 3, not recognised, probably a 

 small Styxian ; 4, Worcester Pearmain. 



W., Weybridge. — 1, not in character, send 

 again ; 2, Beurre d'Amanlis : the apple is 

 Peasgood's Nonsuch; and the grape is Gros 

 Colmar. 



F. T. J., Dorking. — 1, Bergamotte Bufo; 

 2, Beurre Diel; 3, not recognised; 4, Beurre 

 Diel; 5, Bergamotte d'Automne; 6/a small 

 Calebasse. 



R. A. H., Surbiton.— 1, Edbston Pippin; 

 2, Emperor Alexander; 3, Ribston Pippin; 

 4, Fearn's Pippin; 5, Lane^s Prince Albert; 

 6, Norfolk Beefing. 



T. S., Kingston HilL— 1, a malformed 

 fruit, not recognised; 2, Schoolmaster; 3, 

 evidently a Cellini, but very pale in colour; 

 4, Cox's Pomona; 5, send again; 6, Haw- 

 thornden. 



1 Bismarck; 2, 



Castle— fine. 



L. J. 



W., Rochester 



Lady Henniker; 3, Stirling 



clean specimens, and if all we received were 

 of the same excellence our task of identifying 



Kew varieties would be comparatively easy 



The question to-day is not ''Shall we Spray," as every 



gardener knows he must Spray, but *' What machine 

 or syringe shall I spray with ? " AH the world answers, 



which have won SO 

 Gold & Silver Medals, 

 many in open competi- 

 tion with other makes. 

 The machine illustrated 

 is the Four Oaks Gold 

 Medal Knapsack Spray- 

 er, 45/-* No rubber 

 valves. Complete Cata- 

 logue of Spraying and 



„ . „ .- ^.^ Liinewashing Machines 



and Syringes of every description free on application to 

 the Sole Manufacturers— THE FOUR OAKS SPRAYING 

 MACHINE CO., No. 3 C, SUTTON COLDFIELO. 



' _ ^ 



- T 



