December 20, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
251 
ARDENING 
ISCELLANY, 
Tomatos and Fog. 
It seems almost or quite impossible to grow Tomatos 
during winter in the neighbourhood of London, even in 
hothouses with all the means of heating at command. 
Immediately after the first severe fog which occurred 
in November we noted the condition of the Tomatos in 
the old Orchard house, in the gardens of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society at Chiswick. Previous to that they 
appeared in vigorous condition, and carried a consider¬ 
able amount of fruit, but immediately afterwards the 
foliage appeared as if shrivelled up at the edges by 
scalding or great heat in one form or other. The edges 
would appear to be the most delicate or sensitive part, 
as the central portions appeared to be uninjured. The 
mischief was not caused by frost or too low a tempera¬ 
ture, as the house is well supplied with hot-water 
piping, the water in which was turned on when the 
frost occurred. Only those plants, therefore, that were 
outside the radius of the area of metropolitan smoke 
could have escaped the fog. 
Mealy-Bug on Vines. 
I can fully sympathise with “One in a Difficulty ” in 
the trouble he has experienced with these terrible 
pests. I too had many attempts at destroying mealy¬ 
bug, but without success, until recently I tried 
fumigating with McDougall’s Patent Tobacco Sheets, 
and syringing afterwards. One fumigation at double 
strength (i.e. using two sheets instead of one to every 
thousand cubic feet), completely killed all the insects, 
and the subsequent syringing washed off all the eggs, 
&e. The fumigation should be done in the evening, 
and the syringing the following morning.— H. A. R. 
[Will our correspondent say whether the leaves were on 
the Tines or not when he tried the Patent Tobacco 
Sheets ; and can any other reader confirm his statement 
as the result of actual experience 1 The statement about 
washing off all the eggs must have been made under a 
misapprehension as to the natural habits of the bug, 
as the eggs remain under the body of the female until 
hatched, and while in that position it is almost, if not 
quite, impossible to wash them off with a syringe.— Ed.] 
In reply to the request of your correspondent, “ One in 
a Difficulty,” I beg to record the following facts. Six 
years ago, I had the same difficulty to contend with, 
viz., mealy-bug, established on the Tines in two houses, 
and after trying various insecticides for two years, I hit 
upon the undermentioned method of treatment, which 
has now had four years’ trial, and no mealy-bug has 
been seen on the Tines the last two seasons. I am in 
hopes we have conquered the foe. After careful scraping, 
the Tines were thoroughly washed (using an ordinary 
scrubbing brush) with 1^ lb. of Gishurst Compound, 
dissolved in a gallon of boiling water, and used whilst 
warm, and afterwards painted with London tobacco 
juice, of full strength as received from the chemist. 
Immediately afterwards they are again painted with 
Gishurst Compound, this time using fully 2 lbs. to the 
gallon, and adding sufficient clay, soot, &c., to make it 
into the consistency of paint.— S. P., West Cottage, 
Broomfield Lodge, Chelmsford. 
I SYMPATHISE with ‘ ‘ One in a Difficulty, ” whose mis¬ 
fortune is common to many gardeners. But let him 
try the following plan :—After pruning the Tines, care¬ 
fully clean the houses and lime-wash the walls ; then 
rub off all loose bark on the Tines, and especially on 
the spurs, and this done carefully paint them over with 
the Tine composition now advertised in your columns, 
and which I have used for the last twenty-six years.— 
George Murray, The Gardens, West Ashby Manor, 
Rorncastle. 
Replying to “One in a Difficulty,” let him procure half- 
a-peck of heavy loam or clay, dry and make quite fine, 
if sifted all the better, to which add half-a-pint of gas 
tar, and work together into a paste, adding sufficient 
boiling water to make of the consistency of thin paint, 
and apply when cold as a winter dressing.— Walter 
Child, Croome Court. 
Flowers as Christmas Greeting's. 
Seeing a paragraph in your last issue about flowers as 
Christmas greetings, I send you a sample box of some 
which I am sending out this season for the first time, 
and which, I think, may meet a want which I have 
not before seen expressed. The boxes are suitable for 
floral gifts, either for Christmas, New Year, or 
birthdays.— Gilbert Davidson, Ammanford, R.S.O., 
Carmarthenshire. [A welcome and seasonable gift. 
Mr. Davidson seems to have exactly hit off the happy 
suggestion of our correspondent, “ Con.”— Ed.] 
Jasminum nudiflorum. 
What a delightful plant is the above ! Not one of its 
least charms is that it comes into bloom at this cheerless 
period to gladden us in the dull season of winter. 
This Jasminum deserves to be more grown than it is, 
and that in the cottager’s garden as well as in the 
squire’s. It lights up many a bare and ugly spot by its 
bright yellow flowers, and could be made to do more in 
this direction, and that at little cost. All who love 
flowers in their rooms and dwellings, and who cannot 
afford a glasshouse for their cultivation, should grow 
this Jasmine. On various aspects it is very effective, 
as also in a bush form. Some may say, “ Oh, this is a 
trailing plant!” I agree that it is; although I may 
just add that when staying two years ago in the 
neighbourhood of Bath, I saw some fine bushes of this 
Jasmine growing in some villa gardens on my way 
from that city to Bathford. On making a closer 
inspection I noted these bushes had been cut or pruned 
in for several years after the blooming was over. They 
were a mass of flower. Sprays of this and Holly, 
carrying berries, make a grand show in a vase.— Con. 
Beds of Stocks and Dwarf Chrysan¬ 
themums. 
Amongst the many plants used for bedding in mixture 
the two above-deserve to be tried by all who have not 
done so. Having a large space to fill with plants for 
summer and autumn display—the autumn principally, 
as cut flowers are wanted in quantity from August to 
Christmas—and wishing to make as great a variety as 
we could, we decided to try a portion of a border in our 
kitchen garden, which leads from the grounds to the 
houses, with Stocks and St. Mary summer-flowering 
Chrysanthemum. The Stocks were a good strain of 
the branching German Ten-week. Although planted 
very late in the season, the results were beyond our 
expectations. Both grew away grandly ; the Stocks 
produced a good percentage of double-flowered plants, 
with lovely spikes of very large blooms, and continued 
branching till destroyed by frost. The Chrysan¬ 
themums did likewise, and from here we cut many a 
bouquet of flowers, as well as making a grand display. 
Here is a cheap and good mixture for those of limited 
means. — Con. 
Cissus discolor in Bloom. 
The plant widely distributed in gardens under this 
name, and much cultivated for the sake of its foliage, 
is, in reality, a species of Titis, and is so considered by 
leading authorities. A large plant of it is grown at 
Gunnersbury Park, Acton, at one end of the stove, 
where it is used to cover a glass partition between two 
compartments. Some shoots were allowed to run along 
a rod, the longer way of the house, and flowers are now 
produced upon them in considerable numbers. Of 
course, as in the case of the common Tine, they are of 
no importance from a decorative point of view, because 
small and greenish. It is, however, interesting to note 
that the corollas are sometimes thrown off in the same 
way as those of the Tine, that is, the petals cohere by 
their tips, and are thrown off in the form of a cap. 
This, however, is not always the case, as some of the 
flowers open in the usual way. The small fruits 
contain four seeds, as in the Tine. The foliage is still 
in fine condition. 
White Hoop Petticoat Narcissus. 
One of the most beautiful plants in flower at the 
present time is Narcissus monophyllus, flowering under 
glass in a cool frame at the Hale Earm Nurseries. 
The bulbs, which were home-grown and well ripened, 
were potted in August in a mixture of two-thirds of 
sand and one-third of loam, the pots being plunged in 
fibre under glass, and kept there without any heat 
whatever. Each of these little bulbs has several long 
leaves, and from two to four erenulate flowers of the 
purest white, with pale yellow stamens and sweetly 
scented ; when kept cool they last a considerable time 
in bloom. By potting some earlier and others later, 
they may be had in bloom from November till March. 
Smaller bulbs of this beautiful Narcissus are planted 
out in a frame, and will in about three weeks produce 
several thousand flowers.— G, Reutlie. 
Peaches in the North. 
Though Peaches are not grown on open walls in Scotch 
gardens as they were generally done many years ago in 
southern districts of Scotland, they are still met with 
now and again in gardens where one would suppose they 
were least likely to succeed. In the beginning of 
October we called at Carronvale, Larbert, where the 
gardener, Mr. A. Baillie, had got some thriving young 
trees which had borne good crops this year. Dymond 
seemed to be the one which had been most serviceable, 
and a good quantity still remained for use. A situation in 
close proximity to the River Carron, but well sheltered, 
does not suggest that great success is likely to be 
achieved in Peach-growing ; but a keen and experienced 
cultivator like Mr. Baillie meets with success in all he 
puts his hand to, when such seems hopeless, as his 
garden management fully indicates. The trees were 
in capital condition, not gross, but finely ripened.— 
Stirling. 
Chrysanthemum, W. F. Rawson. 
In this we have an incurved Japanese variety of 
American origin. It was sent us by Mr. Robert Owen, 
Castle Hill, Maidenhead, who has been instrumental in 
raising, and also has come into the possession of, a 
considerable number of new incurved Japanese sorts. 
The bloom measured about 5 ins. in diameter, and the 
florets were regularly incurved, with a slightly spiral 
twist. Although close and full to the cen.tre, the head 
was not firmly packed and overlaid in the same way as 
a regularly incurved sort. The body of the flower was 
light yellow, but all the florets were striated on the 
back, as well as margined with a deeper yellow 
or yellowish red—described as apricot by the sender. 
As we write, however, the light is miserably deficient, 
making it difficult to determine exactly what the colour 
is. At all events, the flower is beautiful in form 
and colour, and appears quite distinct from any other 
in cultivation here. 
Adiantum monochlamys. 
There is an airy gracefulness about this species, aa 
well as a distinctness which is not to be found amongst 
many others which form closely allied groups. The 
fronds are ovate and bi-tripinnate, with broadly cuneate 
or fan-shaped segments, finely and acutely toothed 
round the outer edges. The whole is of a bright green 
above, and glaucous beneath. The shape of the seg¬ 
ments, their well-marked apical teeth, and the peculiar 
character of their fructification constitute leading 
marks of this species, distinguishing it from all others. 
There is only one sorus or oblong and curved cluster of 
spore cases upon each frond, and from this the specific 
name, which means one covering, is derived. It is a 
native of Japan, and can therefore be grown in a cool 
temperature. The plant may be seen in one of the 
propagating pits of the Royal Horticultural Society at 
Chiswick. 
Gooseberry Pruning. 
Your correspondent, Mr. Smither (p. 235), touches 
upon a subject on which I should like the opinion of a 
few more of your readers. Mr. Smither writes from 
Stirlingshire, and as I happen to be acquainted with 
the method that is adopted in the north, I admit that 
I am rather partial to it, because I believe it is far the 
best and more profitable. I have seen it asserted some¬ 
where in the gardening press that the adoption of the 
two methods is compulsory on account of the climate. 
In the north where ripe fruit is wanted for dessert, it 
is necessary to adopt the method referred to by Mr. 
Smither; on the contrary, in England, it is necessary to 
leave the bushes thick in order to afford the fruit shade 
and protection from the strong sun. I confess that I 
am somewhat reluctant to believe that the climatic 
conditions are so materially different between south 
and north as to necessitate the different modes of 
pruning.— J. Peebles, Bromley. 
Giant Todeas. 
Hating heard many glowing accounts of the famous 
collection of Todeas formed by Captain Belfield, Mal- 
mains, Erenchay, Bristol, I made up my mind that if 
ever an opportunity presented itself I would gratify my 
curiosity by going to see them. Hitherto it has never 
fallen to my lot to see such splendid specimens— 
“giants ” in every sense of the word—indeed, had any 
person told me of their immense proportions, I should 
have thought the account exaggerated. In all there 
are from 80 to 100 plants, with stems that measure 4 
ft, from the rim of the pot, and carrying on an average 
