630 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 5, 1886. 
Dutch hoe between the row’s. Stake the plants as they 
require it, so that they may not be broken by the wind, 
and remove all superfluous shoots as they appear, 
leaving three or four leading stems for flowering. The 
plants will be much benefitted by a top-dressing of 
new loam and old cow’-manure about the middle of 
June. 
As soon as they get into a flowering stage, pick off 
the blooms as they expand (in order that the plants 
may not be weakened more than is necessary) until about 
ten or twelve days before the blooms are required for 
exhibition, when all maybe allowed to remain.” It 
will be seen that the foregoing remarks are written by 
by one who is accustomed to grow Pansies for exhi¬ 
bition, and though this is so, the hints given supply a 
few useful suggestions to ordinary cultivators, who 
should always strive to get the very best flowers they 
can from the plants they grow. 
As a matter of course, in the case of flowers for ex¬ 
hibition, they must be shaded to have them as perfect 
as possible. By some cardboard caps are used, tacked 
on to a piece of wood, the mouth of the cap being 4 ins. 
in diameter, and the grower I have already quoted 
states, in regard to shading, “Self flowers should be 
shaded as soon as the bud has reached its full length 
prior to opening ; but w’hite and yellow grounds may 
be allowed to half expand, so that it may be seen 
whether or not the lacing, &c., is complete, and the 
bloom otherwise true to character.” The necessity for 
shading fancy flowers is not so great as in the case of 
show varieties ; but a little shading is no doubt of 
great advantage, and there is this further information 
in regard to cutting flowers for exhibition :—“ The 
flowers may be cut in the afternoon preceding the ex¬ 
hibition, carding and placing them in their position at 
once. Young flowers which will not lay had better be 
kept out of water for an hour or two, when they will 
become easily handled. By “carding” is meant 
showing the blooms with a piece of white paper on the 
back of each, about a quarter of an inch larger all 
round. ” 
As a matter of course, leading varieties can be pro¬ 
pagated only by means of cuttings or division of the 
roots, and so it is recommended that “about the 
beginning of August pinch a few of the leading stems, 
which will induce shoots to break out that will make 
fine, short, stout cuttings, which may be taken off by 
the end of September. Prepare a cold frame, dig deep, 
and break the soil well, removing any earth-worms, as 
they are apt to draw out the cuttings and cause con¬ 
fusion. As to soil, make up a compost of two-parts 
fresh loam, and one of river or pit-sand ; of this put on 
3 ins., draw lines 3 ins. apart, and insert the cuttings 
2 ins. from each other, fixing them firmly in then- 
position with the fore-finger. Water gently, and keep 
the frames close for about ten days, shading if neces¬ 
sary. After this, air may be given night and day 
during favourable weather, and when they are rooted 
the more air they get while the weather is fine the 
better. Remove all decayed leaves as soon as they 
make their appearance, an operation which is best done 
with a pair of sharp-pointed scissors.” It may be 
added that -where it is practicable to plant out in the 
autumn it is best to do so, as the blooms come earlier; 
but it is a good plan to have a few plants planted-out 
in a cold frame. Any plants put out in the autumn 
should be raised from cuttings taken in June or July. 
Need I say that growers should raise a few seedlings, 
and should obtain a little seed from a few of the finest 
flowers. “Where early bloom is wanted, seed may 
be sown in July, and the young seedlings trans¬ 
planted into beds in September. Seed may also be 
sown in January or February, in boxes, and allowed 
to germinate in a greenhouse or hot frame. As soon 
as the plants are fit for handling prick into boxes and 
keep comfortable for a week or two, when they may be 
removed into cold frames, and gradually hardened off 
till ready for planting out in April. Abundance of 
bloom will follow, from the beginning of June till frost 
sets in. Seedlings should not be planted out at a less 
width between the plants than the named varieties, as 
owing to their strong-seedling vigour they soon cover 
the ground.” 
Lastly, a few words about the insect enemies of the 
Pansy, they are wire-worms, slugs, and fly. “ In 
planting care must be taken that no wire-worms are 
introduced in the new loam, should they be there they 
are easily trapped by means of small pieces of Carrot or 
Potato laid about 1 in. under the soil near the plants, 
and which must be inspected every three or four days. 
Slugs are best kept under by hand-picking early in the 
morning, and on shorvery evenings. Should fly attack 
the plants, as it frequently does in June or July, take a 
common tub or pail, put into it 1 lb. of soft soap, pour on 
it sufficient warm water to dissolve it, and add 1 gill of 
tobacco-juice as received from a tobacconist, mix well, 
and strain through a piece of course packsheet, and put 
one pint of this to two gallons of soft -water. With 
this mixture syringe the plants, selecting a showery 
evening for the purpose, and apply it every other night 
until the fly be fairly got rid of. Should the weather 
be dry when they are infested with the pest, syringe 
the plants with clean water before using the solution, 
and syringe again with water in an hour or two. Care 
should be taken that this insecticide is applied three 
weeks before blooms are required for show, so as to have 
them without damage.” 
And now, in conclusion, let me give a list of extra 
fine show Pansies, dark Selfs, Rev. J. Morrisson, David 
Malcolm, Peter Lyle, and Mauve Queen ; white Selfs, 
Mrs. Gallorvay, Mrs. Dobbie, Mrs. Cadzow, and Mrs. 
Turnbull ; yellow Selfs, Gomar, George Me Milan, 
William Crockart, and Lizzie Stuart: white grounds, 
Mr. .J. G. Paul, Mrs. James Millar, Jessie Foote, Miss 
Richie, and Miss Barr ; yellow grounds, D. Daglish, 
William Robin, J. B. Robertson, Robert Pollock, 
Lizzie Bullock, and Lord F. Cavendish.— R. D. 
--- 
RED-SPOTTED POTATOS. 
Mr. C. B. Plowright, King’s Lynn, sent the fol¬ 
lowing remarks on this subject to the last meeting of 
the Scientific Committee :—In 1884 it will be in the 
memory of the Committee that a number of tubers 
grown at Chiswick in connection with the Jensenian 
experiments, which were found upon inspection to be 
spotted inside, as if from the effects of the Phytoph- 
thora ; so much, indeed, did they represent truly 
diseased tubers that some members of the Committee 
regarded them as such. Specimens w-ere, however, 
sent to the three gentlemen in Europe to whom we owe 
most of our knowledge of the Potato disease—namely, 
to Professor De Bary, of Strasburg, Dr. J. Kuhn, of 
Halle, and M. Jensen, of Copenhagen. Without 
throwing any light upon the true nature of these spots, 
all three of these gentlemen were unanimous in their 
opinion that the spotting was entirely unconnected 
with the Phytophthora. An instance of this spotting 
disease came under my notice the same year near 
King’s Lynn, and I took the opportunity of making a 
few observations upon the affection. First and fore¬ 
most, although resembling the Phytophthora spots in 
colour, there is this great difference—the Phytophthora 
spots always originate upon the surface of the tuber and 
pass inwards, this being, as De Bary has long ago 
shown, the essential nature of the disease. Secondly, 
Phytophthora spots are soon followed by decay (wet 
rot) ; the spotted tubers under discussion do not tend 
to decay at all. I had under observation about half a 
bushel of suspected tubers, for the tubers show no in¬ 
dication of the spotting until they are cut open, from 
October till May, but none of them showed any signs 
of decay. I obtained these tubers from the grower, 
who resided near King’s Lynn, and who suffered con¬ 
siderable loss from the affection, because it was impos¬ 
sible to tell how many were spotted until they were 
cut open ; the consequence was that the crop was un¬ 
saleable, and, as a matter of fact, was used for feeding 
pigs. 
In the following spring (1885) my tubers began to 
sprout just as healthy tubers would. On May 24, 
1885, five tubers were selected, which on section 
showed the internal spotting in a very marked degree ; 
they were planted in my garden and carefully watched. 
In due course they threw up healthy shoots, which bore 
healthy leaves and grew in all respects as healthy 
Potatos ordinarily grow. On October 16 they were 
dug up and examined. They had produced forty-eight 
tubers, each of which was cut up into slices and closely 
examined for the internal spots, but not a trace of the 
disease could be detected. 
Hence it would appear that, whatever may be the 
nature of the affection -which gives rise to this internal 
spotting, it cannot be very readily transmitted to the 
young tubers by using diseased sets, and although this 
negative result is all that I was able to arrive at, yet it 
seemed to me of sufficient interest to lay before the 
Scientific Committee. 
Scottis h Gar dening. 
Fruit Bustles. —At this season of the year one 
rarely takes much notice of Currant and Gooseberry 
bushes beyond the protection of the crop from insects 
and birds—and this is often a somewhat formidable and 
difficult business. The dusting of Hellebore powder and 
Tobacco dust, applied after the trees have been syringed 
with water, are some of the practices common at this 
season. Good coatings of soot and lime mixed, when 
strewed thickly under the bushes, raise such a strong 
odour which sometimes ward off aphis and grubs. The 
fine rains which have fallen have washed the foliage 
well, and no signs of vermin are visible. It is, by a 
few, considered work thrown away to put through a 
course of summer disbudding and thinning of fruit 
bushes, but though we never have spent much time at 
such work, we never under-rate the value of such 
manipulations. The gross thickets which one often sees 
succeeded by scanty crops favour summer thinning, and 
in cold northern districts the quality of the fruit is 
much improved by exposure to light and air. Equality 
of growth and fine form of bushes are items not to be 
despised, and those who compete at horticultural ex¬ 
hibitions are alive to the importance of thinning their 
Currants and Gooseberries while the fruit are small 
Amateurs are often far ahead of practical men in the 
growth of such fruits, their enthusiasm prompting them 
to thin and regulate growth, keeping the bush open in 
the centre, also by lifting the roots to the surface of 
surrounding soil, giving mulching and liquid manure, 
which (under such conditions) aids the swelling of the 
fruit without causing undue growth of wood. — M. T. 
Fruit Trees.— Where localities are favourable to 
Apricot growing we have every reason to believe that a 
good set of fruit has been secured ; and thinning them, 
destroying of insects, stopping gross shoots, reducing 
the number for next year’s supply of bearing wood, 
and clearing off suckers, if any, are operations which 
now require attention. When trees are grown on 
systematic principles, they are very manageable, and 
much unnecessary labour is avoided. It is well to 
begin early, and do the work piecemeal, remembering 
that suddenly denuding the trees of foliage may give 
a serious check, and cause the tree to cast much of the 
crop. Doing the work of disbudding all at one time 
has never been a general practice, but we know where 
such is done, and the trees being old, do not suffer so 
much as those of vigorous growth. Protection is still 
required, and nature’s covering is the best ; but to 
allow shoots to become matted and interlaced is very 
objectionable. All out-growing shoots may be removed 
first, then those which are not well placed may follow, 
and at last the shoots left are just enough to cover 
vacant space, and take the place of those which are to 
be cut out next season. Natural spurs are generally 
fruitful, and when well placed, close to the walls, they 
should be retained. 
The thinning of the fruit may be done at different 
periods, leaving a goodly number to drop off, which 
invariably is the case ; if they remain on the trees, so 
much the better—hand thinning can do the rest. 
Insects in the way of Aphis may be got rid of by 
tobacco water, applied during a mild evening. The 
small grub and caterpillars, often very destructive to 
Apricots, can only be got rid of effectually by hand 
picking ; one expert at the work can go over a large 
surface of foliage in a few hours. Young trees should 
have the best placed shoots laid in, and those leading 
off with an undue share of growth may be topped, 
which will weaken them, and give an extra number, 
•which can be retained if required. The centres of the 
trees send up the strongest growth, and must be kept 
in check to assist the sides. This refers to span and 
vertical-trained trees. 
Apples, Pears, Cherries (not Morello), and Plums do 
well when spurred, and can have attention when there 
has been growth of say half-a-dozen leaves. Out¬ 
growing shoots from the main branches may be rubbed 
off, and those on the sides stopped to three or four 
leaves, leaving the branches, fruit, and foliage, so that 
sun and air can circulate freely ; and the fruit should 
not be shut in from the sun, but have free exposure. 
Cordons of these on buildings are very profitable, they 
require little attention, and under good management 
produce large finely-coloured fruit; Plums, however, 
do well with similar treatment to apricots ; and Morello 
Cherries should have the shoots well thinned and be 
