868 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 23, 1890. 
beauty at the expense of their dupes, and it is a pity that such 
•errors should be propagated through ignorance. That it is as 
desirable to know the character of any race of bees as it is to have 
nothing but facts recorded will, I am sure, be the opinion of 
more than — A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 
W. Drummond & Sons, 58, Dawson Streep Dublin.— Catalogue of 
Dutch Flower Roots. 
United States Nurseries, Hextable, Swanley.— Catalogue of Chrys¬ 
anthemums. 
James Walters, Exeter.— Catalogue of Roses. 
II. Cannell & Sons, Swanley.— Autumn and Winter Catalogue. 
L. Spath, Berlin.— General Catalogue for 1S90-1891. 
*** All correspondence should be directed either to “ The 
Editor ” or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to 
Dr Hogg or members of the staff often remain unopened 
unavoidably. We request that no one will write privately 
to any of our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 
relating to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should 
never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended for insertion should be written on one side of 
the paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the 
post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica¬ 
tions. 
Slight on .Apple Trees ( Beta). —Your trees are seriously affected 
with the American blight, but your letter arrived a day too late for 
being satisfactorily answered this week. 
Stock for Plum (Plum). —The Mussel is perhaps the best stock for 
Victoria and all Plums grown as standards. It is free, without producing 
the grossness of the Brussels, and is not so prone to become stunted as 
the St. Julien and Damson stocks. 
Weed in'Lawn (G. F.'). —The weed that, judging by the example 
sent, is so firmly established in your lawn, is Prunella vulgaris. Its 
unusual freedom of growth this year is no doubt the consequence of the 
showery weather during July and August. We suspect you will not 
find it easy to extirpate the weed. 
Fungus on Sycamore (U. J.). —The substance you send is the 
mycelium of a fungus which has penetrated the bark and spread 
between that and the wood. It is probable that the tree was in an 
unhealthy condition, and perhaps decaying, before it took possession, 
but it would materially help to hasten the death of the tree if the 
attack extended over a large portion of the wood. 
Seedling Apple (<9. Fairbairn). —The Apples sent are far above 
the average of seedlings that are sent to us. As you say, the variety 
is an excellent keeper; it might, perhaps, be worth while sending 
specimens to the Fruit Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
with a brief history of the tree—its age, habit of growth, and bearing 
character. If you do this you had better give the variety a name. 
Good Gladioli (IF. MI), —A dozen good varieties are Amiti4, 
Celimene, Cr<5puscule, Dalila, Enchanteresse, Flamboyant or Grand 
Rouge, Horace Vernet, Le Vesuve or Meyerbeer, Ondine, Pasteur, Sultane 
or Opale. Another dozen may be made up by adding to these Baroness 
Burdett Coutts, Bicolore, De Mirbel, Eugene Soucket, Fra Diavolo, 
L’Unique Violet, Mons. A. Brongniart, Pyramide, Sceptre de Flore, and 
Tamerlane. If good corms are bought, they may be cut in two with great 
advantage. The best trade growers advertise from time to time, also 
exhibit spikes at the leading shows. It would be obviously unfair for us 
t) recommend particular dealers. 
Vine Roots QBywater ).—The roots, so far as we can detect, are not 
suffering from any disease but they have been dead some time. There 
is no doubt about that, nor of the border needing renovation when it 
produces such long fibreless roots. The roots have probably been 
destroyed by vegetable acids, induced by an excess of organic matter or 
humus, and too little of the mineral elements needed by Vines. The 
border evidently is too rich, and in a cold, w T et condition; the roots conse¬ 
quently strike into the subsoil deeply. The sooner Vines with roots like 
those you have sent us are lifted the better, bringing the roots well up 
to the surface, affording sweet soil over good drainage. 
Cucumbers Turning Yellow at the End ( Plum ).—The most 
likely cause is “the syringing every day,” which at this season is 
liable to cause the water to hang on the fruit and prevent evapora¬ 
tion, causing the fruit to become yellow. Except on very fine days the 
plants should not be syringed, a light sprinkling being all that is re¬ 
quired, and then it should take place in the early afternoon. Where 
no air is given there is less necessity of syringing, sufficient moisture 
being generated by damping available surfaces other than the plants 
in the morning and early afternoon, or when the surfaces are becom¬ 
ing rather dry. The piants are certainly not in a very satisfactory 
state, but we think that by judicious care in keeping water from the 
fruit and maintaining a genial condition of the atmosphere that all 
would go well with the fruit. 
Pruning Fruit Trees and Bushes ( St. Julien). —The extension 
growths of espalier trees need not be shortened provided the wood is 
firm and ripe to the ends, and these do not terminate in fruit buds. We 
say this subject to the wise condition which you indicate of “ not letting 
the higher branches outgrow the lower.” This misfortune, however, 
cannot always be prevented by winter pruning alone, stopping luxuriant 
leaders in early summer and training weak branches obliquely for a 
time being more effectual. All winter pruning may be done as soon as 
the leaves can be shaken from trees and bushes, but in gardens where 
birds attack Gooseberry buds persistently gardeners find it advantageous 
to defer pruning the bushes till the spring, in the hope that the depre¬ 
dators will have left a few buds out of the many for making growth 
and bearing fruit. Raspberry canes may be pruned now and the planta¬ 
tions put in order for the winter. 
Cutting Down Roses—Yellow-flowered Climber for Green¬ 
house (IF. IF.).—We should not hesitate to cut down the too tall Roses 
to any desired extent, as if the plants are healthy, as we suspect they 
are, they will push growth freely from the cut-back stems. If there are 
young shoots strong and well ripened which spring fiom the lower parts 
of the plants, these might perhaps be bent down and coiled round for 
flowering. Early spring will be a good time for cutting back and 
starting the plants, as growths forced in the winter are usually weak. 
We have seen many Tea Roses cut down nearly to the ground grow 
luxuriantly afterwards and produce very fine blooms. You might, in 
addition, if you have room, procure a few smaller plants for affording 
early flowers. Though not strictly a climbing plant, inasmuch as its 
growths do not coil round wires, Oestrum aurantiacum would probably 
answer for your greenhouse as a companion plant to Plumbago capensis. 
The Oestrum is an excellent wall or pillar plant, and bears yellow 
flowers freely in the summer and autumn of the same character as 
Habrothamnuses. 
Amaryllis Relladonna (72. I.).— The name given is that of your 
plant, and concerning it a correspondent wrote as follows some time 
ago :—What charming hardy bulbs the Belladonna Lilies are. The 
colour is beautiful, the veins and markings are distinct—a soft peach 
colour on a white ground—and the delicate fragrance is exceedingly 
refreshing. The plants carry as many as ten blooms on each spike ; 
the flowers also last a long time in perfection either upon the plant or 
in a cut state. The great point in its successful cultivation is choosing 
a suitable position, preparing it, and planting the bulbs, draining the 
soil carefully that no stagnant moisture lies about the bulbs during the 
winter months. No position suits them better than at the foot of a 
hothouse wall facing south. Take out the ordinary soil 1 foot 6 inches 
deep, place at the bottom 6 inches thick of clinkers or broken bricks, 
over this some rough turf to keep the drainage intact, filling with a 
compost of turfy loam, peat, leaf soil, and some charcoal, about two 
quarts of the former to one of the latter. Cover the bulbs about 2 inches 
deep with the compost. During the growing season apply water freely, 
afterwards withhold the supply. The beginning of February is good 
time to plant. 
Eugenias — E. Ugrni (F. J. 72.).—The specimen you send is a fruit¬ 
ing branch of Eugenia Ugni, which has been highly extolled as a fruit¬ 
bearing shrub adapted to the milder situations of this country. It is a 
native of Chili, and has been long known under the name of Myrtus 
Ugni. In Chili the natives call it Ugni, and the Spaniards Murtilla. 
The juice is expressed from the fruit and mixed with water, furnishing a 
very refreshing drink, with somewhat of the odour of Rosemary. The fruit 
is the size of a large Black Currant somewhat flattened, and of a brownish- 
red colour. The pulp is light-coloured, soft, and juicy, with singular 
mixture of a sweet and spicy flavour, which is very agreeable. It is 
cultivated in gardens and used in the-dessertby the inhabitants of Val¬ 
paraiso. Other species of Eugenia which yield fruits of some use are 
the following : The fruit of E. pseudopsidium, w T hich grows on the moun¬ 
tains of Martinico, is held in great esteem in the West Indies, where it 
is called Gouyavier batard. A decoction of the leaves of E. cheken is 
said to cure diseases of the eyes. The bark is so astringent as to render 
a decoction of it of great use in cases of dysentery. The seeds of 
E. tabasco are used as a condiment. Jamaica Pepper, or Allspice, is the 
fruit of E. pimento, a native of the Carribbee Islands, and now cultivated 
also in the East Indies. It is a handsome tree about 30 feet high, with a 
straight trunk much branched above, with dense evergreen foliage. Soon 
after the trees have blossomed, the berries become fit for gathering, with¬ 
out being suffered to ripen ; as, when ripe, they are moist and glutinous, 
and therefore difficult to cure, and, when dried, become black and 
tasteless. The berries are dried by spreading them on a terrace exposed 
to the sun for about seven days, during which time they gradually lose 
their green colour and become of a reddish-brown. They have a fragrant 
odour, which is supposed to resemble that of a mixture of Cinnamon, 
Cloves, and Nutmeg ; and hence the name of Allspice by which they are 
known. 
