31 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 9,1891; 
° 0 ° 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 communications. 
Tobacco (F. G. M .).—Your former letter was not preserved, and it 
is difficult out of the many hundreds that have passed through our hands 
since it was received to remember your precise request. We think it 
w r as for a work on Tobacco. A very good one,'illustrated, by Mr. E. J. 
Beale, F.L.S., can be had from Messrs. James Carter & Co., 237, High 
Holborn, London, but we do not remember its price. 
Xiondon Pippin Apple—Pears on Thorn Stocks (A. II. D .).— 
The London Pippin Apple is an old English variety, and was grown in 
Somersetshire more than three hundred years ago. We have not seen it 
grown under the name you mention. We do not advise you to grow 
any varieties of Pears on the Thorn stock, because Quince and Pear 
stocks are far better. Pitmaston Duchess succeeds best on the Pear. 
Florists’ Tulips (R. £ 7 .). —Mr. Douglas gives very good instruc¬ 
tions on the cultivation and management of these beautiful flowers in 
his work. Perhaps he may extend the matter in a new edition, which is 
wanted and would meet with wide acceptance. We think Pmv. F. D. 
Horner wrote an essay on Tulips that is incorporated with others on 
different flowers, published in manual form, but we cannot remember by 
whom it was issued. If you write to Mr. Horner, Lowfields, Kirkby 
Lonsdale, we have no doubt he will readily advise you on the subject. 
Azaleas Unhealthy (Kentish Subscriber'). —When these plants 
become very unhealthy they are difficult to restore. If you will describe 
the treatment your plants have received we shall be in a better position 
to advise you. We should like to know their size, the size of the pots 
they are in, if they have been shifted, and where they have been kept 
summer and winter —indeed, the conditions under which so many have 
died. At present we have no data to aid us in finding the real cause 
of the misfortune, and it is necessary to comprehend it before prescribing 
a remedy. 
Strawberries not Swelling- (J I. It. JD .).— We have seen large 
beds of Strawberries practically ruined this year by the sharp frost 
which occurred when the plants were flowering. The samples you have 
sent appear to have been first injured by frost, then attacked with 
mildew. If the plants are old and much crowded, thinning out the 
■crowns, then giving liquid manure copiously and a surface dressing an 
inch thick with fresh rich soil, would improve them considerably. " We 
regret your affliction, and are glad you derive pleasure in information 
from your “ favourite paper.” 
Fruit and Vegetable Farm (H. N.). —You omit to state whether you 
have any interest in the farm or not. We are, however, pleased to learn 
that such a good start has been made, and know that the soil and dis¬ 
trict are favourable for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables. We trust 
your prognostications will be verified, as they may be to a large extent 
under capable management. Everything depends on that. Individuals, 
with capital and practical knowledge, not infrequently succeed in an 
undertaking when boards of advisers do not make equal progress through 
differences of opinion that are apt to arise. We could tell of more than 
one failure through this cause. A competent despot may accomplish 
more than a “ board.” 
Mushrooms and Maggots ( Mushroom). —Nothing, so far as we 
know, that can be applied to the beds when earthing will prevent the 
small black flies attacking Mushrooms in hot weather. Mushrooms can 
only be obtained fresh and good in summer in very cooi places, and if 
dark so much the better. Thick and very damp coverings are the best 
perservatives for exposed beds, and the produce must be cut young, as 
putrefaction soon commences in hot weather, flies and maggots inevit¬ 
ably following. The covering next the soil should be distinctly wet in 
summer, and if the litter is frequently sprinkled the beds are cooled 
by the ensuing evaporation, this always extracting heat from the 
surfaces to which moisture is applied in hot dry weather. 
Carnations Dying (I?. 31 ).—Whatever small white worms you 
may have sent shrivelled in transit in the dry box. They were probably 
the young of one of the millipeds (Julus) which sometimes do con¬ 
siderable injury, but we doubt if-they have caused the death of the 
plant, of which you have sent a portion of stem. This appears to have 
fallen a victim to the wmeworm, and when this enters the stems there 
is no cure. Wireworms may be caught with bait of Carrots placed in 
the ground among the plants, with sticks thrust through them for con¬ 
venience of examination and extracting the enemy. Clear lime water 
might be of some service in your case, or a dredging of nitrate of soda 
at the rate of an ounce to the square yard, watering the ground, if dry, 
before the dredging, and also immediately afterwards. 
Worms in Carrots—The Beet Fly (A. II. E.). — If the worms 
are in the roots they are beyond the reach of applications for destroying 
them. You might make a trial of petroleum (commonly called 
paraffin), mixing about two wineglassfuls in 3 gallons of water, pouring 
it along some of the rows. If the roots are much infested sow at once 
a breadth of Early Horn, and you will have a supply of clean useful 
roots in the autumn. The maggots are caused by a fly, but the period 
of depositing eggs will have passed by the time the late-sown Carrots 
are in growth. Your Beet is not attacked by the Celery fly, but the 
Beet fly, and the fact that the plants under trees are free shows that the 
fly likes sun better than shade. The Celery fly never attacks Beet nor 
the Beet fly Celery. Frequent dredgings of soot act beneficially. 
Fern Unhealthy (H. G.). —Are you sure the plant has not become 
too dry at the roots occasionally before water was applied ? When the 
pots of Ferns are much crowded with roots it is scarcely possible to give 
too much water at this season of the year, and the plants enjoy a 
shaded position and a moist atmosphere. If your plant is in the con¬ 
dition indicated stand the pot in a saucer into which the water that is 
poured on the soil may be collected, and when this vanishes by evapora¬ 
tion apply more to the soil to drain through, and thus continue through¬ 
out the summer. Clear, pale soot water, or water tinged with cow 
manure, given once or twice a week might be of service in invigorating 
the plants. Remove carefully all discoloured old fronds, and take 
especial care that insects do not infest the new. They are the cause of 
many failures. 
Vine Sheaves Warted (i2. II.). —The leaves have good substance 
and are perfectly clean, but the greater part of their under surfaces 
are covered with warts, and the upper with corresponding dimples. It 
is a bad case of contraction of the sap vessels caused by a sudden 
depression of temperature and withdrawal of atmospheric moisture. It 
usually arises through the house having been kept close, moist, and 
warm, and then cold air admitted, which causes the tissues to contract 
and the stomates to become swollen. There is no remedy but a more 
careful admission of air, especially earlier in the day, and increasing it 
with the advancing temperature, taking every possible care to prevent 
chill. It mostly prevails in Vines that are in a high state of fruitful¬ 
ness, or in those that have been enfeebled by overcrop and are not very 
aetive at the roots. In this last case a judicious application of tepid 
liquid manure to the roots often stimulates ihe Vines and secures freer 
growth, but the chief cause of warts is a chill. 
Stands for Carnations (A Thirty-years Reader). — The following 
extract from the schedule of the National Carnation and Picotee Society 
(Southern Section) gives the information you require. “ To obtain 
uniformity it is urged that the collections be shown in each case in 
boxes, of which, for twelves, the following are the dimensions—viz., 
three rows of four each, from centre to centre, 3f inches ; from centre to 
outside, inches ; outside length, 15| inches ; width, 12 inches ; depth, 
4| inches ; to be painted green. The collections of sixes should be in 
three rows of two each, with the flowers at the same distance from 
centre to centre, and centre to outside, as in the collection of twelves. 
The collections of twenty-fours may be composed of two boxes of 
twelves, making three rows of eight in each row, or in one box as may 
be convenient to the exhibitor, but the same spaces should exist between 
the flowers.” The annual Show of the Society will be held on the 21st 
inst. in the Volunteers’ Hall, James Street, Westminster. 
Carolina superba Strawberry (H. A. G., Taunton ).—We are 
pleased to find you have profited by our remarks. You have sent fair 
samples of your plants, and the fruits arrived in good condition. They 
could not be in good colour under the circumstances, and no doubt you 
have gathered some larger. The above is the name of the variety, and 
is described as follows in Dr. Hogg’s “ Fruit Manual : ”—“ Fruit, very 
large ; ovate, sometimes inclining to cockscomb shape, with an even 
surface. Seeds, not deeply imbedded. Skin, pale red, extending equally 
over the whole fruit. Flesh, clear white, very firm and solid, with a fine 
vinous flavour and rich aroma, equalling the British Queen. The plant is 
much hai’dier, a freer grower, and better bearer than the British Queen ; 
when forced it does not bear so well.” That description is of well-grown 
fruit in the best of condition. Carolina superba was raised at Bath by 
Mr. Kitley about fifty years ago, and is perhaps not so much cultivated 
as its merits deserve. We have found it a robust grower in good soil. 
Melon and Cucumber Roots Diseased ( West Suffolk). —The 
abnormal appearance of the roots is caused by a microscopical worm 
one-hundredth of an inch long, known as an eel worm of the genu3 
Anguillula, increased from eggs which are found in myriads with the 
aid of the microscope. The disease when virulent, as in your case, is 
incurable. By the judicious use of stimulants such as nitrate of soda, 
and maintaining a high temperature, the plants may sometimes be 
improved. At a convenient time the soil should be burnt, and the entire 
house, floors, walls, and every part cleansed as thoroughly as you can 
cleanse it in the hope of extirpating the enemy. If the loam to which 
you allude is light it would undoubtedly be improved by clay sufficiently 
burned to be smashed into powder, raw lumps being of small service in 
comparison. If the unaffected plants in the frame are supplied with 
water from a different source from that which affords the supply for the 
infected house the latter source must be regarded with extreme suspicion. 
Insects on Cucumbers and Roses ($. H. Stott ).—As you say 
you are sending specimens to an entomologist we will confine ourselves 
to a practical reply. The Cucumber leaves are in a deplorable state 
