646 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 1, 1901. 
alpine plants, E. Donner, Esq. (gardener, Mr. J. 
Minwood), was first, J. Lamb, Esq., second. 
For not less than twelve varieties, W. J. Thorley, 
Esq., was first; and for nurserymen not less than 
fifty vaiieties, • Mr. J. Derbyshire, Altrincham, 
scored. Six hardy Ferns, Thos. Harker, Esq., and 
J. Lamb, Esq., were first and second. For six 
Adiantums, G. B. Blair, Esq , was the first and only 
exhibitor. Twelve pots of Pansies, the prize-takers 
were Thos. Harker, Esq., Major H. Cardwell, and 
Major Heap. 
One foliage plant, Major Heap scored with 
Latania borbonica. One stove plant, floweriog, H. 
Storey, Esq., won with a fine Dendrobium nobile, to 
which was added a Cultural Certificate. For a 
greenhouse plant foliage and flowering, Major Heap 
won in each class. For the single Fern, G. B. Blair, 
Esq., secured the leading position. For three 
bouquets and bridal bouquet, Mr. J. Kirk, Stock- 
port, was first in each class, J. Lamb, Esq., winning 
for the single bouquet. 
Mr. Henry Brownhill, Sale, was awarded a Cul¬ 
tural Certificate for Cactus Dahlias ; the Misses 
Hopkins, Knutsford, for a collection of hardy 
plants, amongst which was Daisy Alice. 
Messrs. Hugh Low & Co. gained a First-class 
Certificate for Schizanthus wisetonensis, and a like 
award for Phlebodium aureum Lowii. 
Mr. W. L. Pattison, Shrewsbury, gained a Silver 
Medal for a pleasing display of cut Violas and 
Pansies. 
The arrangements, as usual, were carried out in a 
most satisfactory manner by the curator, Mr. P- 
Weathers, and his capable staff. 
READ THIS. 
A weekly award of 5s. will be made by the pro¬ 
prietors of The Gardening World, to the person 
who sends the most interesting or valuable item 0) 
news upon passing events likely to interest horticult¬ 
urists at large ; hints containing suggestive facts of 
practical interest to gardeners or glowers of plants, 
fruits, or flowers; successful methods of propagating 
plants usually considered difficult ; or any other 
tobic coming within the sphere of gardening proper. 
The articles in question should not exceed 250 words, 
and should be marked " Competition.” The address 
of the winner will be published. The Editor’s 
judgment must be considered final. The communi¬ 
cations for each week should be posted not later 
than Monday night. 
The prize last week was awarded to Mr. J. Hare- 
wood, Sussex, for his article on *' Ivy-leaf Pelargo¬ 
niums,” p. 616. 
The prize the previous week was awarded to 
“ G. W. D.,” for his article on “ Forcing French 
Beans,” p. 602. Three of the competitors were over 
the limit of words, two of them considerably, but 
possibly they knew it. 
The Editor would be much obliged if competitors 
would forward their articles earlier in the week as 
the work is heavy on Wednesday morning, delaying 
the paper in -going to press. 
Photographs of Plants. —The proprietors would 
be pleased to receive photographs of interesting 
plants from correspondents with a view to reproduc¬ 
tion in The Gardning World. They need not 
necessarily be large ones, but such as would prove 
interesting and instructive to readers. Those 
representing individual plants would be more accept¬ 
able than photographs of groups. 
Quesnons add snsroeRs. 
**, All correspondence relating to editorial matters 
should be addressed to "The Editor,” 4, Dorset 
Buildings, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, 
E C. Timely notes or notices about interesting 
matters or current topics relating to gardens, gar¬ 
deners, or gardening, are always cordially welcomed. 
When newspapers are sent would our friends please mark 
the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see ? 
Lifting Crocuses. — Constant Reader : There will be 
no difficulty in getting Crocuses that have to be 
lifted to flower next year, as the foliage should by 
this time be well advanced towards maturity. Lift 
the corms with all their roots carefully, and dig a 
shallow trench in some part of the garden, and lay 
in the Crocuses to the same depih as they were 
before. Cover with soil, tread the latter firmly and 
give one watering. The foliage will presently die 
down gradually, after which you can dig up the 
corms (bulbs) and store them in a cool, dry place 
till planting time. 
Tomatos Diseased.— W. G.: Your Tomatos have 
got the black spot, a disease caused by a fungus 
named Cladosporium Lycopersici. It does not 
spread very fast if proper precautions are taken. 
Keep the atmosphere of the house as dry and well 
ventilated at all times as you can. At the same 
time pick off every fruit you find with a black spot, 
as well as those which have an unnatural depression 
at the apex of the same. In this latter case, though 
the depression at the apex of the fruit is only green, 
you may be sure that the fuDgus is at work inside, 
and the spot will presently turn black. If you care¬ 
fully follow out these recommendations, the fungus 
will not give you much trouble during the season. 
The affected fruits are quite useless, so that you 
should destroy them at once by burning. 
Grass Dying Out in Patches.— Walter Severn : No 
doubt the Ash trees you mention did give encourage¬ 
ment to the green felt of matter to grow in the first 
instance by affording shade as well as drip. The 
greeD felt consists of a filamentous alga, probably a 
Vaucheria. The principal causes that encourage 
the growth of it are shelter, shade, and moisture. 
You should have commenced to deal with it in 
March, so that the grass could have had time to get 
established before the dry, hot weather set in. You 
can do something yet, however, by digging out the 
patches to the depth of 6 in., and filling in the same 
with good loam. Tread it down, then level the 
surface and sow lawn grass seeds rather thickly. 
Cover it lightly with fine soil, and water it frequently 
in dry wea'her with a watering pot fitted with a rose. 
You may also get some "lawn sand” from the 
dealers in horticultural sundries, and scatter this all 
over the lawns according to directions. It is a 
fertiliser, and encourages the growth of the grass. 
In winter you should give the lawns a dressing with 
some rich soil containing decayed leaves and cow 
manure. Scatter it about with a broom and allow 
the rains to break it down finely, after which roll 
the grass. Some lime mixed with the dressing will 
also kill the green matter, moss, &c., and cause the 
grass to grow. 
Bed of Iyy-leaYed Pelargoniums.— Bedding : If 
the plants of the Ivy-leaved Pelargonium Annie 
Piitzer are small the arrangement you propose should 
answer very well. You will have to keep an eye 
upon the dot plants of Abutilon Thompsoni to see 
that they do not throw up straggling shoots that 
would spoil their shape, which should be kept neat 
and tidy. Pinching off any such irregular shoots 
would keep them in the desired form. In the case of 
old plants of the Pelargonium you name you could 
make a good bed by planting them as specimens 
instead of the Abutilon. Keep the Pelargoniums 
neatly staked. The groundwork could be filled in 
with some free flowering Pansy or Viola, with the 
tricolor Pelargonium Lass of Gowrie as an edging. 
Shoots of Red Currants dying.— G. Beckwith : 
The damage must have been done by the Currant- 
shoot Moth, but you are almost too late now to 
apply any effective remedy. By cutting the dead 
shoots across you will find that the centre of each 
has been tunnelled by the pest, and the pith and 
other soft parts eaten away. . The injury is sufficient 
to prevent a sufficient flow of sap from the roots 
to support the young leaves, so that the latter are the 
first to give indications of the presence of an enemy. 
The shoots themselves ultimately die, and are there¬ 
fore useless. The grubs that do the damage leave 
them about the end of May, so that you may at 
once cut off and burn all shoots that are showing 
signs of distress in the hope of destroying any moths 
which may still be present in the pupa stage. Next 
year you should go carefully over all the bushes 
several times during April and the first half of May, 
cutting off all those and burning them which have 
drooping leaves. By this means you will be able to 
reduce the pest and prevent it from doiDg much 
damage in succeeding years. 
Tomatos.— A. M'D. : It is customary to remove 
all side growths when grown as a special crop in 
houses or outside. The plants are planted in rows 
and trained up by means of strings to the roof. Not 
only is it beneficial to remove the lateral growths, 
but also some of the remaining leaves if they are too 
large and shade the fruit. If they are trained on a 
roof on trellis work, over other plants, it is a very 
common practice to allow some of the laterals to 
remain, and run them up as separate stems, but the 
result is not so good as when they are grown on the 
single stem system. 
Helichrysums.— A. M'D. : They should be raised 
and treated as ordinary half-hardy annuals, and 
grown on a sunny border. 
Rhodanthes.— A. M'D. : They are closely allied 
to the Helichrysums, and require the same treat¬ 
ment. They delight in a rich soil and warm 
position. For pot culture they should be sown in 
6-in. pots in which they should be flowered, and 
thinned out to five or six plants. March is the best 
time for sowing. 
Bulbs of Scilla removed after Flowering.— 
Sigma : Your best plan will be to lilt them carelully 
with a spade or fork, being careful not to injure the 
bulbs, and ihe more intact the roots are the better. 
Then take out a trench sufficiently deep to allow the 
bulbs to be placed in the ground at the same depth 
a • they were when growing. Lay them in the trench 
close together but not so much as to have the leaves 
in too deep a layer. Cover them up with soil as if 
planting them, give one good watering to settle the 
soil about the roots and leave them till the foliage 
has completely died down, after which you may lift, 
clean and store them in a cool, dry place till required 
again for planting. You should never expose the 
bulbs to sunshine either before or after ripening them 
off. There is no need to lift them at all till you are 
about to replant the beds, as this will be all in favour 
of the Scillas, You cannot expect them to flower so well 
next year if lifted while still quite green, but you can 
save them and either plant them in a piece of reserve 
ground to recuperate or plant them out permanently 
in the borders. 
Caterpillars on Gooseberries.— G. R : The cater¬ 
pillars sent are those of the Gooseberry and Currant 
Sawfly (Nematus Ribesii), and are the result of eggs 
laid upon the leaves of the bushes by the flies which 
hatch out from pupae in the soil. If only a few of 
the choicer varieties are attacked it might be worth 
your while to set some boys to pick the leaves on 
which the young caterpillars are thickly clustered. 
They will presently spread all over the bushes if 
their depredations are not arrested. If the attack is 
spread over a considerable number of bushes a good 
plan would be to syringe them with water and then 
dust the foliage all over with sulphur or wherever 
caterpillars are in evidence. A more effective 
remedy would be to use white hellebore powder 
instead of sulphur, but as this is poisonous it must 
not be used where you intend gathering green Goose¬ 
berries for kitchen use. Where you do not intend to 
gather the fruit till ripe, the hellebore powder would 
have time to get washed off by rain, or get blown 
away by the wind. You could, however, wash the 
bushes with the syringe, hose or garden engine after 
it is evident that the caterpillars have been exter¬ 
minated. 
Treatment for Clianthus Dampieri.— J. B: 
You should sow the seeds early in spring in a warm 
or intermediate house, in small pots in sandy loam 
with a little peat. When the plants have germin¬ 
ated and commenced to produce leaves, they should 
be placed in a well lighted and ventilated house, not 
very warm, but genial enough to enable them to 
come along slowly. About the time when bedding 
plants are put out, you should prepare some soil of 
the above description and dig a hole for its recep¬ 
tion in some open and sunny position in the garden. 
Plant about three seedlings in this in a triangle 
about 9 in. apart from one another. Cover them 
with a hand-light, but ventilate on warm days, and 
the plants should grow and flower well in July. 
To increase the Holding Power of a Gravelly 
Soil.— P. H.: In order to supplement the stable 
manure at your command, you should make arrange¬ 
ments for adding green manure to it. After the 
Potatos have been dug you should level the ground 
with a rake, and sow seeds of various things broad¬ 
cast over it. The seeds that may be employed are 
various. For instance you may sow White Mustard, 
Rape seed, Cabbages, Turnips, or any others of the 
Brassica tribe that you can get at a cheap rate. The 
seedlings may be allowed to grow upon the ground 
till autumn, when the soil should be bastard trenched. 
After taking out the first trench work the green stuff 
from the top of the second trench into and cover it 
with a spit of soil. Then shovel the loose crumb on 
the top of all; and proceed in this way until all the 
green stuff has been buried. This will decay and 
gradually yield plant food, while at the same time 
making the ground more retentive of moisture in 
summer. By sowing some member of the Pea 
family you would add greatly to the nitrogenous 
matter in the soil. Any of the annual species may 
be used, and Tares would probably be the easiest to 
procure. Seaweed in a fresh state, if you can get it, 
would also make a useful green manure. 
Names of Plants.—T. D.: 1, Scilla campanulata 
alba ; 2, Scilla campanulata rosea ; 3, Phlox subu- 
lata ; 4, Phlox divaricata ; 6, Paeonia anomala.— 
E. L. M.\ 1, Pyrus baccata var.; 2, Cardamine 
pratensis flore pleno; 3, Saxifraga rotundifolia; 4, 
Euphorbia pilosa; 5, Alyssum saxatile; 6, Phlox 
amoena .— Sigma:- Prunus Padus (the Bird Cherry). 
— T. B.: 1, Oncidium sarccdes; 2, Oncidium macu- 
latum; 3, Oncidium ampliatum; 4, Cattleya 
Schroderae; 5, Cochlioda noetzliana.— A. M.\ 1, 
Berberis vulgarii foliis purpureis; 2, Berberis 
stenophylla; 3, Genista hispanica; 4, Ulex euro- 
paeus flore pleno; 5, Cytisus albus; 6, Genista 
praecox.— A.R. D.\ r. Platyloma rotundifolia; 2, 
Lastrea aristata variegata; 3, Pteris longifolia; 4, 
Selaginella emiliana; 5, Calathea zebrina; 6, 
Maranta b’color.— W.D. : 1, Alyssum saxatile; 2, 
Iberis : empervirens garexiana; 3, Camassia esculenta; 
4, Thymus Setpyllum lanuginosus; 5, Anemone 
nemorsa flore pleno.— A. L.: i, Kerria japonica; 2, 
Choisya ternata. 
Communications Received.—Antiquus.—Doon- 
fcot —E. Mawley.—W. J. Caparne.—D. D.—- A. R. 
—G. W. C.—H. W. J.—A. K—E. S.-Douglas— 
A. Gilchrist. — A. Wright. — T. W. Dollery.— 
Gamma.—W. B. H.-Wm. Riden (next week).— 
D. C — J. B.-R. M.—A. C.—H. D.—E. S. 
TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 
W, J. Caparne, Rohais, Guernsey.—New Race of 
Irises, Hardy and Early Flowering. 
