October 8, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
89 
WHAT TO DO IN THE GARDEN. 
Dracaenas — Tall and leggy specimens may be 
ringed around the top and a handful of moist sphag¬ 
num tied round the cut portion, or a small pot may be 
cut in half and placed round the stem, filling it with 
light sandy soil. Troublesome kinds to root may be 
dealt with in this way without fear of the loss that 
might sometimes occur when the tops are immedi¬ 
ately cut off and put in to root. 
Allamandas, Clerodendrons, &c. — Where 
these are trained under the roof they should now re¬ 
ceive a good thinning out, or in the case of Cleroden- 
dron Balfourianum, closely pruned back nearly to 
the old wood. This will allow the light to play more 
freely upon the other occupants of the house. Plants 
in pots as well as those of Bougainvilleas and 
Dipladenias may be unfastened from their stakes and 
slung up loosely near the glass to encourage the 
ripening of the wood. 
Pandanus.— Where the plants have grown incon¬ 
veniently large suckers should be taken and rooted, 
so that the old plants may be dispensed with. The 
best coloured shoots of P. Veitchi should be taken in 
preference to the more robust and green ones. Pot 
them in rather poor soil, as they retain their varie¬ 
gation much better under those conditions than when 
grown in rich material. 
G arden ias.— Before introducing the more forward 
of the Gardenias into heat they should be thoroughly 
cleansed from mealy bug if any adhere to them, as 
it is more difficult to deal with that pest without 
injury to the plants after they have started into fresh 
growth and are tender. At present they may be 
thoroughly syringed with about a wineglassful of 
paraffin to 4 gallons of water. 
Azaleas, Eupatoriums.— Preparations should 
be made for taking these things indoors at the 
shortest notice, for the nights now get very cold and 
we may expect frost at any time. The same applies 
to Epacris, Heaths, Boronias, Cytisus, and other 
greenhouse subjects for winter and spring flowering. 
Vineries.— The earliest Vines should now be leaf¬ 
less and resting. They may therefore be pruned 
and the rods dressed. Pull off all loose bark that 
may be removed with the fingers, but do not use a 
knife, and wash the rods with Gishurst Compound 
and water at the rate of 6 ounces of the former to a 
gallon of the latter. 
Tree Carnations.— A supply of flowers will now 
have to be looked for from plants in pots. Old 
plants are sometimes used, but a better plan is to 
take cuttings or layer the shoots in January, and 
grow the plants on. Those that have been treated 
in this way should now be in 8 in. or 9 in. pots and 
well advanced ; they will soon come into bloom if 
placed in a warm greenhouse temperature near the 
glass. Fumigate them if any green fly is present. 
Seedling Gladioli.— As the foliage dies away the 
small corms may be lifted, carefully separated from 
the soil and stored away in bags amongst moderately 
dry sand. They will keep better in this way than if 
stored without some such protection to prevent them 
from getting unduly dried up. 
Pinks —Pot up all the plants intended for winter 
flowering in good fibrous loam with plenty of sand to 
ensure porosity. Stand them in a cold frame and 
keep the latter moderately close for a week till the 
plants get established. A little air night and day 
will however prove beneficial even at this stage. 
Roses.— If new plantations are intended to be 
made, select a deep rich soil, if possible, even if it is 
inclined to be clayey. Trench this two feet deep, 
and if in any way of a light character, incorporate 
plenty of good cow manure with it. Some good loam 
should be put round the roots of every plant when 
put in the hole prepared for it. Plants received from 
the nurseries should be unpacked without delay and 
planted to prevent the drying up of the roots. 
Auriculas.— Very little water will now be required 
by Auriculas, as the object should be to keep them 
as quiescent as possible to prevent their throwing up 
flower scapes in autumn, thereby preventing the pro¬ 
duction of good trusses in spring. Look over them 
frequently to remove decaying leaves. They may be 
kept in their cool summer quarters on a northern 
aspect till the weather is decidedly cooler. 
Strawberries in pots.— Where large quantities 
are grown in pots for forcing purposes it would be 
out of the question to house them all; but a few in¬ 
tended to form an early batch or two might be trans¬ 
ferred to cold frames, where with the shelter thus 
afforded and plenty of ventilation the crowns will be 
encouraged to ripen and plump up sooner than they 
would otherwise do. 
Bedding Plants.—Frosty nights now give warn¬ 
ing to secure a stock of all tender subjects that are 
most likely to be destroyed should a sharp frost occur. 
It is much easier to establish them in pots if lifted 
before they are crippled. This applies to all the 
choicer sorts of Pelargoniums such as bicolors, tri¬ 
colors, bronzes, Lobelias, Iresines, Alternantheras, 
Mesembryanthemums and others of that class. 
-- 
©bituan>. 
We deeply regret to record the sudden death, early 
on the morning of the 30th ult., of Mr. Charles 
H. Sharman, for many years manager of the seed 
business of Messrs. James Carter & Co., of High 
Holborn. Mr. Sharman, who was forty-eight years 
of age, had passed through two very serious attacks 
of illness within the last few months, but was in 
Holborn on the day previous to his death, and 
expressed himself to friends as then feeling stronger 
and better than he had done for some time. He 
appears to have gone home in the evening, and was 
subsequently seized with an apoplectic fit, in which 
he expired shortly after 1 a m., leaving a widow, 
four daughters, and a son to mourn the loss of a 
kind-hearted and indulgent husband and father, and 
the firm he served for over thirty years a most loyal 
and invaluable servant. 
We also regret to learn of the death, on Monday 
last, of Mr. William Steel, nurseryman, of Rich¬ 
mond, Surrey, aged 78 years. Mr. Steel, who was 
much respected injthe trade, only survived his elder 
brother by 15 months. 
Questions add aosojgrs. 
%* Correspondents ave requested, in order to avoid delay, 
to address all communications to “The Editor” 
or “The Publisher," and not to any person by 
name, unless the correspondence is of a private 
character. Telegrams may be addressed “ Bambusa, 
London." 
Various. — Omega : 1.—A span-roofed house would 
be the most useful, 2 —If the trees are small, the 
trench may be cut all round, but if of any size, it is 
best to do one-half this season and the other half 
the next. The object of root-pruning is to prevent 
over luxuriance of growth, and consequently to 
reduce the necessity for top-pruning. We cannot 
decipher your last question. 
Double Antirrhinum.— Quint in McGill'. Wehave 
not seen a double Antirrhinum, but do not think it 
would be an acquisition nor pretty, although it would 
in all likliability be a great curiosity. The irregu¬ 
larity of the flower we fear would prevent the neat 
arrangement of a second corolla, and the large, 
closed palate of the normal flower would also greatly 
interfere with the symmetry of a double flower. We 
should be pleased, however, if you would send us a 
bloom. 
Judging Tomatos. —Fair play-. It was not 
necessary to disqualify the dish containing the de¬ 
cayed fruits, but the juges under the circumstances 
should certainly have revised their decision, assum¬ 
ing that the other prize winners had sounder 
examples. Prizes are not offered for unsound fruits, 
and it is the duty of a judge to examine carefully all 
that comes before him, in order that no injustice may 
be done to any competitor. 
Root Pruning.— Robert Catto : The present is the 
best time to undertake such work. Judging from 
what you say the trees are of large size, and, we 
should presume, old. In such a case it would be 
unwise to complete the root pruning of such trees 
in any one year ; and doing one half of a tree this 
autumn and the other in the following autumn would 
be preferable. Take out a trench about 5 ft. from 
the bole of the tree, and carry this half round the 
same. Then use a fork to remove the soil so as to 
avoid cutting or injuring the roots as much as 
possible. All the fibrous roots should be carefully 
preserved. Those that go beyond 5 ft. should be 
shortened back to that length, cutting the end with a 
clean, sharp knife, and treating all bruised roots 
in the same way. Those that dip down deeply into 
the soil and all tap roots should also be cut through. 
If of large size a saw may be used, afterwards cutting 
or shaving the sawn end smooth with a sharp knife. 
This completed throw back some soil beneath the 
roots till the latter lie in a horizontal position, then 
cover them with fine soil that may easily be worked 
in amongst them. 
Grubs on Caterpillars. — H. Jack : The pecu¬ 
liar phenomenon of which you speak is quite 
common. Both the larvae of the large white and the 
green-veined white butterflies are subject to the 
attacks of parasitic ichneumons, which pierce the 
soft-bodied larvae and deposit a large number of eggs 
within them. These grubs feed in the interior of 
the larvae until full grown, when they pierce their 
way out, and spin each a small silken cocoon, in 
which they remain till the following spring, when 
they issue forth to commence their work afresh. 
They have not attacked the caterpillar from without, 
but have come from inside, which they do very 
rapidly when full grown. They destroy the cater¬ 
pillars of the butterfly, and serve to keep the latter 
in check. The parasite is known by the name of 
Microgaster glomeratus. 
Parsley in Winter.— A. S. : Several methods 
might be adopted to preserve a quantity of this use¬ 
ful garnishing or flavouring vegetable through the 
winter where the soil is naturally heavy and unsuit¬ 
able. The best thing you could do at this season of 
the year is to lift a quantity of healthy young plants 
and set them out in a frame specially prepared for 
their reception A cold frame is all that is necessary 
with about 4 in. or thereby of fairly good soil. 
Plant, water, and keep the sash pretty close for a 
day or two, and if the sun is bright, shade the frame 
during the middle of the day. The plants will soon 
become established and keep growing while the 
weather remains open. Another method is to pot up 
a number of plants (but this entails more labour), 
and stand them in a cold frame. A good plan 
adopted in some gardens is to make a sowing in June 
or the beginning of July at the foot of a wall or in 
some dry position, and water occasionally if the 
weather is dry till the seedlings are well up. The 
plants keep better in a dry than a wet soil, and also 
when young and of moderate size. 
Hardy Fernery. — G. Alexander : '1 he hardier and 
robust, strong-growing kinds might be planted at 
any time during the course of this month ; but we 
should prefer spring for the smaller and choicer 
kinds, for they then have the season before them in 
which to get established. The larger the rootstock, 
generally speaking, there is the less risk of loss during 
removal Besides the purely British species there 
are several others, either continental or American, 
that would suit your purpose as they are hardy. 
Amongst them are Struthiopteris germanica, Onoclea 
sensibilis, Osmunda Claytoniana, O Interrupta, O. 
cinnamomea, Cystopteris bulbifera, Lomaria alpina, 
Aspidium munitum, Lastrea Goldieana, and some 
others ; but those would help you to make a good 
start at forming a collection. 
Names of Plants. — North-. Campanula pumila 
alba.— Omega-. Spiraea japonica alba. The white 
flower is Chrysanthemum Parthenium flore-pleno.— 
J. H. R.\ Lonicera involucrata. — P. M.: 1, Aster 
acris ; 2, Aster Novi-Belgii densus; 3, Aster Lino- 
syris ; 4, Aster lsevigatus ; 5, Polymonium cceruleum 
variegatum : 6, Arabis albida ; 7, Sedum spectabile ; 
8, Abutilon Thompsoni. 
Inarching Grapes.— North Both Lady Downe's 
Seedling and Gros Maroc would do well inarched on 
the Black Hamburgh. 
Bryony.— C . M. wishes to know where she can 
get plants of the male and female Bryony, particularly 
the latter.—The plants grow wild and are plentiful 
in many parts of the southern counties, but are not to 
be obtained in the trade. 
Seedling Petunia.— F.E. : Your double flowered 
seedling is indeed a very pretty one, a full compact 
flower of a pleasing shade of rose, deeper in the 
centre. If of good habit and a free bloomer, it is 
certainly worth growing, but why give it a French 
name, if you raised it yourself ? 
Rhodanthes and Mignonette.— Young Gardener : 
To have plants of these in bloom by the beginning of 
May you should sow the former in January, and the 
latter in November or February. We should prefer 
sowing in February, three months being quite long 
enough to do Mignonette well. 
Propagating Honeysuckle. — Omega : The 
Honeysuckles are propagated by means of seeds, 
layers and cuttings. Seeds may be sown in spring, 
layers may be made in autumn or spring by bending 
down some of the shoots, making a cut in the stem 
at the bend, and then covering them with soil after 
securing them in position by means of pegs. 
Cuttings may be taken now, taking them off at a 
joint where they will be solid or with a heel. Shoots 
of moderate thickness and length may be used, put¬ 
ting them in pots of sandy soil, and plunging the 
pots in ashes in a cold frame, where the cuttings will 
be partly rooted before spring. If you have the 
command of a little bottom heat in spring the root¬ 
ing process will be greatly accelerated The bottom 
of a frame might be filled up with fermenting dung, 
a little soil placed over it and the pots plunged in the 
soil. This will answer in the absence of better 
accommodation. 
Mildew on Leeks. — John Russel : The fungus or 
mildew destroying your Leeks is the same as that 
which attacks Onions, in some seasons completely 
destroying them. The mycelium, or vegetative por¬ 
tion of the fungus, grows inside the tissue of the 
leaves ; consequently it is difficult or impossible to 
destroy it by means of any application, without des¬ 
troying the Leeks at the same time. The only thing 
you can do is to prevent the spread of the pest. 
Damp places are very favourable to the fungus, so 
that you should have the soil well drained if not 
naturally so. Or, on the other hand, you should 
avoid sowing the Leeks in naturally wet soil. Give 
them plenty of room between the plants and also 
i between the lines, for when they are crow ded to- 
