May 4, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
571 
Gladioli. —If these have not been put in, no 
time should be lost in doing so. It is a good plan to 
bring them along in a late vinery in pots of light 
soil, and then plaot them out about the first 
week in May. 
Mignonette.— Sowings of this fragrant little 
plant should be made at intervals, to ensure a con¬ 
tinual supply of bloom. If the seed pods are 
removed as soon as formed the flowering period is 
much extended. 
Half-hardy Annuals. —These may all be sown 
now with safety in the open air. This includes a 
very large number of beautiful annuals, and it is 
difficult to make a choice trom the enormous variety 
offered for selection, for they are all very pretty in 
their season. If it is desired to derive from your 
garden the maximum amount of entertainment and 
instruction then sow annuals. Messrs. Sutton, in 
The Cultivation of Flowers and Vegetables, say :—" We 
recommend not only a free use of annuals, where 
they can be appropriately employed for purposes of 
embellishment, but also the setting apart for a 
collection of them a border or plot, one part of which 
is sunny, and another part somewhat shaded. On 
this border sow clumps of annuals of as many kinds 
as possible.This border will afford 
immense delight, for many annuals that are not 
popular because not particularly showy will be found 
to be worthy of admiration for their subdued and 
refined appearance, their elegant forms and their 
subdued blendings of colour.” 
Evergreens. —Those which have recently been 
transplanted must be well supplied with water or 
they will suffer from the effects of the drying east 
winds. 
Flower Beds —It is a good method to go over 
these and work out a plan of how the stuff is to be 
disposed of, thus saving a lot of trouble when the 
planting out is statted, and preventing gaps and 
thinness occasioned by insufficient plants.— P. R. 
Kitcnen Garden Calendar. 
The weather during the past week has been more 
like that expected in June, the traditional April 
showers have not visited us, and already the water¬ 
ing pot is busy in many gardens. April is a busy 
month, as there is so much transplanting to do, and 
while this is going on an occasional shower is very 
welcome. 
Onions. —Already there is an outcry from those 
who possess gardens with a light, sandy soil, that the 
drying winds are putting the spring-sown crops in 
jeopardy. As toon as they are fit to handle they 
should be gone carefully over and receive their first 
thinning, and have the hoe carefully drawn between 
the rows, for no matter what the season is like weeds 
seem to flourish, and if allowed to make headway 
they rob the crop considerably. When using the 
hoe great care must be taken not to loosen the soil 
more than what is absolutely necessary, for good 
bulbs are never produced on a loose soil. When 
the plants have made some progress and are about 
salad size they should be finally thinned, leaving a 
strong plant about every 4 in. to 5 in. apart. Some 
recommend leaving 6 in. between them, but the 
grower must use his own judgment, taking into con¬ 
sideration the nature of the soil and the size of his 
variety. Onions need light and air on the whole 
surface of their bulbs to grow well, and when in a 
healthy condition always lift themselves well up on 
to the surface, only leaving just their bases in the 
ground, this being so it is imperative that the 
plot of ground allotted to them should not be shaded 
during any part of the day, and no large weeds be 
allowed amongst them at any time. If watering is 
necessary care must be taken that it is discontinued 
in sufficient time to allow the bulbs to ripen 
properly, or when they are harvested they will not 
keep. Some people recommend an occasional 
watering with manure water. It is a much better 
plan to see that the soil is properly enriched before 
the seed is sown. If the latter end of the season is 
moist they are often late before they show signs of 
finishing their growth. They may be checked by 
having their tops bent over, after which they will 
turn yellow. To grow large Onions is often the 
ambition of the grower, especially in the mining 
districts, where the enthusiastic miners devise all 
sorts of strange methods for producing something 
better than their neighbours. They grow many 
things with special attention, but Onions and Leeks 
hold the premier position. "These ancient bulbs 
that have warmed the heart of many a hero " warm 
the hearts of many a miner, too. The general 
method of his cultivation may be noted. First he 
selects the poorest patch of ground his allotment 
possesses, this he treads down very firmly, and 
about the first week in June he sows his seed thinly. 
The result is that only very small hard bulbs are 
produced ; when they are ripe these are taken up 
carefully, and either tied along a stick or placed in 
open mesh nets and hung in an airy position through 
the winter. In the spring a piece of ground is pre¬ 
pared for their reception. It is usually enriched with 
the cleanings from his fowl or pigeon house—an 
ideal manure for Onions. The soil is dug and 
thoroughly pulverised and then made firm, and the 
bulbs are planted out in rows about S in. each way. 
It is the nature of Onions to produce their seeds in 
the second year, having stored up nutriment for this 
effort in the bulb during the previous growing 
season ; but the growing season of these having been 
so short they had not time for this, and as soon as 
planted start to swell up their bulbs and stock them 
with material for the next year, thus producing 
enormous results. It is a litile extra trouble, but 
those who desire to produce large Onions should 
adopt it. Another plan, often adopted in large 
establishments, is to sow the seeds in shallow boxes 
in the autumn and pot on into 60 pots, and plant 
them out in the spring into prepared beds in a sunny 
position. One of the best varieties for this purpose 
is Ailsa Craig. The method generally adopted for 
producing pickling Onions is the same as that 
employed by the miners, only they are sown a little 
earlier and generally deeper, which makes them pro¬ 
duce oval bulbs. If the crop is attacked by the 
Onion grub (Anthomyia ceparum) great care must be 
taken that all refuse from the crop is destroyed, 
either by burning or burying in a pit, and when the 
land is cleared it should have a good dressing of 
soot and salt, and another later in the winter of soot 
and lime. It is a great plague, and is very difficult 
to eradicate when once it becomes well established. 
It may easily be recognised, as the young tops turn 
yellow and fall down, caused by the grub eating 
away the centre, which should form the bulb. It is 
about a quarter of an inch long, fleshy and shiny. 
Beet.— It is safe now to sow the maincrop of 
Beetroot. The soil should be free from recently 
added manure and well stirred, or large roots will be 
produced, which is undesirable. 
Leeks.— The Leek has many good qualities, one 
of its best is that it will withstand our severest 
winters without the least injury. The final sowing 
should now be made. It is not the least particular 
as to what soil it is in, but, of course, like other 
plants it can be grown larger in some soils than in 
others. It delights in a rich, light soil. When 
planting out allow about 9 in. between the plants. 
They should first have their leaves shortened a little 
and then planted up to the base of the leaves in 
holes made by a dibber.— K. 
©leanings fttmtt f fje IDntrlii 
of Science. 
The undermentioned subjects were brought up to 
the Scientific Committee meeting of the Royal Hor¬ 
ticultural Society on April 23rd :r— 
Peziza tuberosa.—Mr. Holmes exhibited speci¬ 
mens of this fungus, consisting of funnel-shaped 
cups, of a bright brown colour on an elongated 
stalk, arising from an irregular black tuber-like 
sclerotium. The mycelium preceding the sclerotium 
stage is said to be parasitic on the Wood Anemone. 
Virescent Primroses.—He also showed flowers 
with slightly abnormal calyx, but with a virescent 
corolla. There were no stamens, but the pistil was 
malformed, being open and terminating above with 
styliform processes. In one a portion of the placenta 
was parietal, the free portion carried a minute tuft 
of a foliar nature at the summit. 
Helxine Soleirolii.—Mr. Odell brought a speci¬ 
men of this plant of the family Urticaceae. It is a 
native of Corsica, having very small leaves, and 
minute male and female flowers, somewhat resem¬ 
bling those of a Stinging Nettle. It is monoecious. 
Schinus Molle, diseased.—Dr. Bonavia sent 
some leaves of this tree apparently diseased ; Dr. 
M. C. Cooke undertook to examine them. 
Carnation leaves injured.—Dr. W. G. Smith 
reports on the specimen sent to him as follows:— 
"On March 13th you sent some Carnation leaves 
with diseased tips. After examination they show no 
signs of fungi. It appears to me that the disease is 
due to either water remaining on the tips after over¬ 
head watering, or to exudation of water at the tips. 
As only the ends of a few leaves were sent, no 
examination of the rest of plant could be made. Useful 
suggestions on Carnation diseases—including, I 
think, this one—will be found in ' Proceedings of the 
Scientific Committee,' June 19th, 1900 ( Journal , vol. 
xxv., page 33), also a report of my own, April 18th, 
1899 ( Journal, vol. xxiii, page 29). A paper by 
Woods (pamphlet of U.S. America Department of 
Agriculture, referred to in Gardeners' Chronicle, July 
28th, 1900), which deals with a bacterial disease, 
would also furnish useful hints on treatment.” 
Oleander diseassd — Dr. W. J. Russell sent 
some leaves growing on "fine and hitherto very 
healthy pink-flowered plants in a conservatory ; but 
while the rest of the plant looks healthy, several of 
the branches are fading ; the attack coming from a 
point close to the main stem.” They were forwarded 
to Dr. Smith for further examination. 
Mistleto at Oxford.—Mr. W. G. Baker writes 
as follows with regard to this subject:—" With 
reference to the Mistleto in the Botanic Gardens, I 
cannot find it recorded when it was first introduced. 
The following list contains all the trees upon which 
it grows here :— Vigorous : Crataegus Oxyacantha, C. 
O. var. rosea, Ostrya vulgaris, Aesculus (Pavia) 
flava, Cladrastis tinctoria, Tilia vulgaris, Apple tree. 
Moderate : Crataegus odoratissima, Acer monspes- 
sulanum, Juglans nigra. Weahly : Aesculus Hippo- 
castanum, Pyrus Aria, Salix alba, Fraxinus Ornus. 
I have observed seeds germinate on the following 
trees, but have never got beyond that stage:—Fraxi¬ 
nus pubescens, Diospyros virginiana, Pyrus inter¬ 
media, Cerasus serotina, Gymnocladus canadensis, 
Ailantus glandulosa, Corylus Colurna.” Mr. Bur- 
bidge, who has forwarded Mr. Baker’s communica¬ 
tion from Oxford, adds :—" I have never seen it 
growing on the Beech or Viburnum, as stated in the 
Gardeners' Chronicle, page 193, of March 23rd last.” 
Hepatica triloba alba.—Herr A. M. C. van der 
Elst, of the Royal Tottenham Nurseries, sent a 
flower of this rare variety. It was not stated 
whether it was a seedling form, or how it arose. 
Canon Ellacombe observed that it was known as an 
autumnal form of the double Hepatica. 
Cattleya, deformed.—Mr. G Cragg, gardener, 
Percy Lodge, Winchmore Hill, sent a remarkable 
form of C. intermedia. There were four flowers on 
the spike, the two lower ones being perfect. The 
specimen sent was one of the two upper flowers, both 
of which were deformed. The flower sent had two 
coloured sepals, situated laterally, and two lips, one 
posterior, the other anterior, closely folded together^ 
Within was a Column without anthers. 
Preparation of Woad.—An interesting paper 
was sent by Dr. Plowright, with numerous speci¬ 
mens, showing the production of the blue colour 
derived from this plant. After alluding to several 
ancient writers, who described the colour as blue, 
green, and black, Dr. Plowright could find no recent 
information as to how the colour was extracted ; as, 
though Isatis tinctoria is cultivated round Wisbech, 
where the manufactory still exists, it is no longer 
grown for the dye, but for a fermentable substance 
which renders true indigo (Indigofera sp.), " fast.” 
After experimenting he found bow all the colours, 
blues, greens, and blacks could be obtained. Full 
details, with chemical analysis, &c , will appear in 
the Journal of the R.H.S. A vote of thanks to Dr. 
Plowright for his valuable paper was proposed by 
Mr. Hughes, seconded by Dr. Muller, and carried 
unanimously. Prof. Church remarked that Chinese 
indigo is said to be made from Woad ; the "balls " 
of pounded leaves being extremely like those made 
in India from the sp. of Indigofera. He observed, 
also, that different qualities occur at different stages 
of growth. He added that the colouring matter is 
not only produced in the leaves (in the chlorophyll 
cells, according to Dr. Plowright), but also in the 
seeds. These contain two colouring matters, the 
true indigo and erythophyll, the ordinary red colour 
of flowers, &c. The ripe fruits of the Woad plant, 
sent by Dr. Plowright, were deeply stained naturally, 
of a dark violet colour. 
