234 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 31, 1892. 
quarbers about 5 o’clock in the evening, and taken away the 
next morning from 6 to 9 o’clock, according to the weather, they 
are useful. It is almost impossible for ducks to find many slugs 
in the daytime except in showery weather. Ducks and baits are 
useful when attended to where there are not many slugs to contend 
with, but, as in my case, where they seemed to be more like a 
plague than anything else, they are useless ; the best plan is to get 
rid of the pest wholesale if possible. 
My remedy was lime water, which played havoc with them, and 
after they had had a dose overnight the smell would be anything 
but pleasant the next day when the sun was hot. I have watched 
slugs slip three coats when dry lime has been dusted on them, but 
not so with lime water, as that was too much for them. The 
plan I adopted was this. There were two water-barrows or tanks on 
wheels, they each held about 35 gallons ; before the men left off 
work at night one would put about a peck and a half of freshly 
burnt lime into each tank, fill up with water, then wheel them to 
the quarter of the garden to be operated on at night, from 9 o’clock 
to half-past. With a lantern in one hand and a large watering 
can with a large rose on in the other the attack commenced. We 
began on one side of a square or border as the case required, and 
covered the ground with the spray from the rose of the can. As 
a barrel became nearly empty about half a peck more lime was 
placed in, then more water. The water in the tank filled first 
would become almost clear by the time the second tank was 
ready. Much of the ground was watered twice on different nights 
at about weekly intervals. Growing crops and seed beds were alike 
watered. Three or four nights a week for about six weeks were 
devoted to slug annihilation. 
Some men might object to spending their evenings in the 
manner described, but when a gardener is earnest in his work 
he does not think much about inconvenience to himself ; the 
results that he expects to achieve draw him on, and the reward 
in my case was practically a slugless garden. Night attacks were 
made, because about ten o’clock the slugs were very busy 
feeding. Lime water does not injure the foliage of plants or 
crops.—F. C. 
[The use of clear lime water at night for destroying slugs has 
often been advised in our answers to correspondents. It is in our 
experience the cleanest, safest, and best method for accomplishing 
the object in view. A determined worker like “ F. C.” can soon 
vanquish a horde of slugs.] 
FLOWERS FOR CUTTING. 
Gladiolus of the Gandavensis Section. 
(^Continued from page 214.') 
The question as to which are the better to plant, small or large 
corms, is worthy of consideration. If thoroughly well ripened I 
do not think there is much difference, but if a corm is young it is 
to be in general preferred, as I think the finest spikes are produced 
from these. The exasperating constitutional weakness so apparent in 
many varieties arises no doubt from one or other of the species 
which have been employed in the production of the Gladiolus as 
we find it to-day, G. gandavensis itself was placed in commerce 
about fifty years ago by Van Houtte of Ghent, a Belgian private 
gardener having been the raiser. It was a cross between G. psit- 
tacinus and G. cardinalis. But there is very little apparent kinship 
between gandavensis and the varieties cultivated at the present 
time. Indeed, soon after its production it would appear that 
G. floribundus, G. ramosus, and perhaps others were employed for 
cross-breeding. It is therefore not at all wonderful that there are 
several distinct-looking types among the best varieties. 
In the selection of varieties which follow, useful colouring, 
vigour of constitution, and comparative cheapness is considered. 
Of white flowers, Shakespeare, a remarkably healthy old variety, 
is good if well grown and useful, as a hundred plants will keep up 
a natural succession for three months. Amalthee, nearly white, is 
early and fine. Among shades of red. Flamboyant is very bright 
and good ; Le Phare, an old, very cheap, and good sort ; Meyerbeer, 
another old variety, very good ; Le Vesuve, very fine, plant 
vigorous ; Horace Yernet, a telling bright flower. Of the orange 
and salmon tints, Figaro is cheap, and produces a fine spike 
of most effective flowers. Celimene is an improvement on this. 
Bicolore is much dwarfer, a good sort. Panama is a very fine 
variety, with large flowers. Of rosy shades, Amitie, a light fleshy 
tint, is unsurpassed among late Gladiolus, Dalila is clear rose, and 
extra fine. Opale is much earlier than Amitie, with a shorter spike 
of fine flowers. Crepuscule has very large flowers of a lilacy shade. 
Phoenix is an old variety, extra bright rose, telling and good ; 
Sultane, large and fine ; Teresita is a vigorous grower, and much 
better than Orphee, which it resembles. Addison is a free form 
of an amaranth shade of colour. 
Almost the whole of the above are of value as exhibition sorts, 
in addition to being fine for the purpose in view. The following 
are a few slightly more expensive :—Baroness Burdett Coutts, 
a massive sort of much value ; Dr. Bailly, one of the finest, 
glowing scarlet with white throat. Grand Rouge is somewhat 
later, and of a duller shade, but a magnificent variety. Its violet- 
marked throat detracts somewhat from its general effectiveness. 
Enchanteresse when in character is, in addition to having the 
largest flowers, of the loveliest suffused violet tint imaginable. I 
have grown many spikes of this, but have produced only one with 
the satiny suffusion which is so beautiful. Fra Diavolo is an extra 
large flower of a salmon shade ; Mens. Brongniart, very beautiful, 
of the same shade ; Pasteur, also salmon or deep orange, is a noble 
flower ; Ondine, white with violet throat, is very beautiful, but 
somewhat tender in constitution,—B. 
DISBUDDING VINES. 
With the return of spring-like days vegetation in every 
department of the garden is making rapid progress, but the 
quickening influence of sunshine shows its good effect on Vines 
just bursting into leaf—more speedily, perhaps, than upon the 
majority of plants. Those cultivators who have charge of 
numerous fruit houses have a busy time before them, and will 
need all their energy to keep under due control the many pressing 
details of culture, upon which success or failure mainly depend. 
The disbudding of Vines is an operation which should be taken 
in hand as soon as the young shoots are half an inch in length, so 
that the energies of the Vines may be concentrated in those which 
are retained throughout the season. When the disbudding is 
begun at this early stage the work resolves itself into a simple 
matter of rubbing out the weak shoots which spring from the base 
of the spurs. Where the Vines have been pruned back to one eye 
the disbudding is practically completed after this operation, 
because the selection was really made at pruning time, and there is 
no choice now but to take the strong shoot produced. This 
practice undoubtedly has the advantage of concentrating the 
energies of the Vine from the earliest stages of growth into the 
shoots retained. The produce from these shoots, though satisfac¬ 
tory enough for general purposes, does not represent the highest type 
of Grapes the cultivator strives to produce. The basal buds from 
which these shoots spring are generally thoroughly ripened, and are 
therefore capable of finishing well the bunches they produce, but 
they will bear no comparison with the bunches sometimes grown 
on longer spurs, when, as in many cases, they can be well coloured. 
In those instances, therefore, where at pruning time several eyes 
were left to a spur, with a view to securing extra large bunches, the 
advantage of such practice will now be apparent, as a selection of 
the best bunches can be readily made as soon as the shoots have 
grown sufficiently to distinguish them. 
In some cases it may be noticed that the terminal bud shows 
a bunch too long in the shoulder to be desirable. I would then 
give the preference to the bunch produced from the basal bud, 
although it may be considerably smaller. In many instances, 
however, the terminal buds will show bunches faultless in shape, 
short in the shoulder, and extra large in size. Those cultivators 
who have such promising materials to select from will, I think, 
not be long in deciding to allow them to remain, for they will find 
plenty of smaller bunches on other parts of the Vine. Where 
very long spurs have been left care should be taken to retain a 
young shoot at the base, so that the spurs may at some future time 
be cut back to that point. This shoot should be stopped at the 
second or third leaf, according to the room there is for its develop¬ 
ment. Very strong wood will sometimes send out shoots which 
require most careful handling to prevent their being broken 
during the process of tying down. Where such shoots occur it is 
prudent to leave a supernumerary one to be stopped at one joint, 
and later on entirely removed, if the tying down is completed 
without accident. When disbudding young Vines there is a 
general tendency to leave the young growths which will form the 
future spurs too closely together. The exact position of each 
spur should therefore be marked out before any shoots are removed, 
because if once they are started too closely it is difficult to regulate 
them properly afterwards except by taking out every other spur, 
and this would, in many cases, leave them too far apart. 
Varieties of Grapes differ considerably in the amount of space 
necessary between the spurs. From 14 to 18 inches is a good 
distance for Black Hamburgh, from 18 to 20 inches for Alicante, 
Gros Colman, Lady Downe’s, Foster’s Seedling, Mrs. Pince, 
Buckland Sweetwater, Alnwick Seedling, Mrs. Peaison, and 
Golden Queen ; while Muscat of Alexandria, Gros Guillaume, and 
