670 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 15, 1901. 
fused with the other, and while all are good, it is 
merely a matter of taste as to the colours one might 
prefer. 
Of the double varieties sent us, Lord Rosebery 
comes nearest James Kelway in colour, but that 
only applies to the rays or outer florets, the central 
ones being some shades paler, but still rich in hue. 
The variety Melton may be described as crimson- 
red or some similar hue. A very large and closely 
imbricated flower, resembling a Victoria Aster, is 
that named Ovid, having rich rose flowers, deepen¬ 
ing to red on the outer florets. Alfred is a smaller 
flower, but altogether darker in colour, being of a 
rich rose-red ; and the disc florets are more tubular 
or quilled. A very good variety also is Wilson 
Barrett, with light rose flowers, quilled and very 
densely built up. 
A very distinct and pretty colour is that of the 
variety named Pericles. The long rays are of a 
delicate pink and bang down, thus giving promin¬ 
ence to the disc florets which are of a clear yellow 
at first, but gradually become tinted with salmon 
pink at the tips when they get fully developed. A 
larger and much fuller flower is Lady Kildare, more 
or less yellow in the centre but gradually assuming 
a very delicate shade of salmon-pink as they get 
older. Empress Queen is a smaller flower than the 
fast named and of a delicate blush tint. The florets 
all over the disc are rather deeply cut, thus render¬ 
ing the bloom different in appearance from any of 
the rest of the coloured varieties. The flowers of 
Lady Randolph Churchill are pure white, and the 
florets being less densely arranged they show off 
their deeply cut or laciniated character even better 
than those of Empress Queen. Some very beauti¬ 
ful beds on the grass or clumps on the flower 
borders could be made up with these named 
varieties ; and the colours could be so arranged as 
to display an exquisite harmony of colour. Good 
sized plants are productive of the best effects owing 
to the great quantity of blooms they throw up and 
which come into bloom in close succession or 
simultaneously. 
THE DESTRUCTION OF APHIDES. 
These pests, so destructive to the young growths of 
outdoor fruit in early summer, particularly to 
Peaches, Cherries, and Plums on walls, may be 
effectually kept in check in several ways, but by far 
the best is by the application of paraffin-naphthaline 
wash. This wash is prepared as follows : —To 5 lbs. 
of the best soft-soap add about 1 quart of soft water 
and simmer on a slow fire. When the soap is all 
dissolved, add £ lb. naphthaline and stir until it is 
all dissolved ; then take the mixture off the fire, add 1 
quart of paraffin, and thoroughly mix. The mixture 
should now be a thick liquid, in which the paraffin 
is evenly distributed throughout, as an emulsion, 
and which can be stored away, as it will keep for a 
considerable length of time. The quantity of the 
mixture required for use is from 10-20 lbs. to 100 
gallons of water, preferably soft. When spraying is 
decided on, always bear in mind the following 
facts:—(1) Wash the trees on the first appearance 
of the pests. (2) Use as fine a nozzle as can be 
obtained, so that the insecticide issues as a mist, 
thus permeating every part of the tree. The above 
mixture applied two or three times will save the 
trouble of such frequent syringing with clear water 
and is easier of application than the ordinary soft- 
soap and paraffin, as the paraffin remains in suspen¬ 
sion without being constantly agitated.—C. J. G. 
“NORTHERN NOTES.” 
In our variable climate, June is perhaps tfcg 
pleasantest as well as the busiest month in the 
whole year ; the days also being at their greatest 
length. The trees also are in their full beauty of 
foliage in the month of June. Everything in the 
gardens here was famishing for rain, and had a some¬ 
what parched appearance, but, thanks to the heavy 
rains this week, they have grown apace, and look 
very healthy. A final sowing of main crop Peas 
should cow be made. The ground for these should 
be deep, rich, and cool. The hoe should be freely 
used this month, as by keeping the surface soil 
loose and free, the beneficial action of the dews at 
night is accelerated. Very important are hoeings 
after heavy rains which beat down the surface of the 
soil, and so neutralise results. All annuals should 
now be planted out ; the ground here is in splendid 
condition for planting, and where there is much 
pricking out to be done, it should be attended to 
immediately when the soil is in such a nice friable 
state. We here are well on with our bedding out. 
Birds now begin to attack Cherry trees, so for the 
protection of the fruit, the trees should at once be 
netted. Continue the destruction of insects by 
frequent washings or dustings of powdered lime, 
soot, or tobacco powder, as occasion requires. The 
general neatness of the beds, lawns, and walks 
should also be seen to.— T. W. Dollery, The Gardens, 
Wliithurn, Sunderland. 
DRACAENAS IN FLOWER. 
It is not everyone that has seen a Dracaena in 
bloom, as they flower very rarely; this is to say, 
every five years. Dracaenas are very beautiful for 
their foliage alone, and it is very refreshing to walk 
into a cool conservatory and witness their loDg lanceo¬ 
late leaves drooping as it were round the single stem. 
Then at the very tip-top appears the inflorescence 
which is a large spiral truss, consisting of a quantity 
of small stems each bearing a bloom with three 
petals and three sepals all attached. The flowers 
are either white or yellow and sometimes sweetly 
scented. After all Dracaena flowers do not give 
the plants a better appearance, but on the other 
hand tend to make them look rather unsightly; but 
let it be known that Dracaenas are grown chiefly 
for their foliage. Botanists can tell the number of 
times a plant has flowered by observing small indent¬ 
ations in the bark which form every time the 
inflorescence appears, beginning from the bottom 
and working upwards. There is no fixed flowering 
season for Dracaenas. Propagation of Dracaenas 
is generally effected by what is called ringing. To 
do this the plant should be cut halfway through 
the stem near the foliage. This cut should be kept 
well open with a piece of moist moss, and the whole 
should be bound round with moss, this is to say, 
either side of the cut, the plant should then be put 
in a moist heat of 75 — G.W.D. 
LAYERING STRAWBERRIES. 
This operation should be performed as soon as 
possible, as upon the production of strong young 
plants depends much of next season’s success, 
whether the plants are intended for forcing or plant¬ 
ing out. The work is often delayed until the fruit is 
gathered because of the inconvenience caused by a 
number of pots on the beds with the result that the 
earliest and strongest runners are wasted and a month 
of the best growing season lost. If large quantities 
of planis are required it is far better to groW a few 
rows specially for layering purposes than to wait 
until the fruitiog season is past. For forcing pur¬ 
poses some growers layer direct into the fruiting 
pots, but I am not in favour of the method, as it en¬ 
tails considerable heavy work in carting the pots to 
the beds, and if the weather is wet the soil in the 
pots has a tendency to become sour, a circumstance 
often helped by the ingress of worms. For those 
reasons I prefer to layer into 6o’s, securing the 
runners with wooden pegs, made from old birch 
brooms (of which a good stock should always be 
prepared during the winter months). Watering 
should be well attended to. When the runners are 
well rooted, sever them from the old plants, stand in 
a shady place and sprinkle overhead for a few days 
until they recover from the check.— E.C. 
CLERODENDRON BALFOURIANUM, 
For greenhouse and conservatory decoration, is a 
good old favourite of scandent habit, producing 
large, smooth, dark green opposite leaves and large 
panicles of bright crimson flowers, with pure white 
calices. It should be potted in a mixture of peat, 
loam, and dried cow or sheep manure, with the 
addition of sand. The plants should be trained to 
a wire trellis or three or four sticks while the plants 
are growing. They should have stove heat and 
abundance of water, with a good light, though not 
so as to burn the foliage and flowers. After the 
flowering period these plants require to have less 
water, gradually lessened until the plants are denuded 
of foliage, when the roots may be kept in a com¬ 
paratively dry condition until the time for starting 
again comes round.— G. W. 
THE PLANT HOUSES, 
The hot weather accompanied by drying winds 
which has prevailed during the last few weeks has 
taxed the resources of the men in the plant houses 
to keep down insect pests. In many districts Red 
Spider is causing a deal of trouble and almost refuses 
to obey the hint to depart when frequently 
syringed. 
Scale. —No insect is more troublesome to eradi¬ 
cate than this curious pest. To cope with it suc¬ 
cessfully the gardener must first know its habits. 
Too often these are not known sufficiently well. 
Perhaps the gardener is too busy, or perhaps he is 
too apathetic to trouble about the history of such a 
minute organism. Here he makes a mistake, for if 
he knew more of its habits he would know better 
how to attack it. It is a regretable fact that at the 
present day many gardeners holding high and re¬ 
sponsible positions -would laugh at the idea of the 
syringe being able to keep down scale, they hold on 
with such tenacity they reply, that it is impossible 
to shift them unless it is by sheer force. A few 
words on the life of the scale may not be put of 
place here, they may help to instruct and improve 
the observing faculties of young readers and perhaps 
enlighten a few of the older ones. As to what class 
or division they are put into by the entomologists is 
of no consequence, only that they are very closely 
related to that other destructive pest known as green 
fly. It is the females which do the damage to the 
plants, the male being quite harmless. It is the 
females which make the scale-like prominences on 
the leaves, &c. When young they are provided with 
three pairs of short legs and a beak with which they 
bore into the tissue of the plant when they reach a 
suitable spot. When once the beak is inserted in 
the tissue they do not move again, but remain there 
and feed on the sap. As growth increases so does 
the scale-like coverings, and when the eggs are laid 
they are stored away beneath this for protection and 
remain there often long after the insect is dead. 
The males assume an entirely different form; they 
are very minute and partake of the form of a fly, 
with a distinct head, thorax, abdomen, two wings, 
six legs and a forked tail. They do not possess a 
mouth, and only live two or three days. They 
travel about the leaf very quickly and fertilise the 
stationary females. When these few outlines are 
known it is easily seen how daily syringing will both 
wash off the males and destroy the young females 
before they have time to fix themselves. If a very 
small amount of some insecticide is used every time 
in the water when syringing it will make the surface 
of the leaves distasteful to them. They have a 
natural enemy in the form of a parasite which 
belongs to the great Hymenoptera division and 
proves very destructive to them. 
Fochsias for the Greenhouse Roof. —For 
making a big show of bloom overhead during the 
greater part of the year in a cool house, there is 
nothing to beat these old-fashioned window plants. 
They have been carefully worked at by the hybridist 
with the result that great improvement has been 
made both in form and colour. When grown as 
climbers, they require much the same treatment as 
a grape-vine that is pruned on the spur system. 
They delight in a light, airy position, with the force 
of the sun broken by some very light shading 
material. A good loam and leaf soil in equal parts 
and a good sprinkling of sand proves a very good 
compost for them. When full of roots they require 
a good stimulant, as they are big feeders and soon 
show the effects of starvation by discoloured foliage, 
and by casting their flower buds. They are seldom 
troubled with many insects, and are, taken altogether, 
an acquisition to any greenhouse or conservatory. 
One of the best varieties for growing on the roof is 
Lord Roberts. It is not by any means a new plant, 
although it bears one of the popular up-to-date 
names. Lustre and Monarch make two good com¬ 
panions for it; together they make a beautiful trio, 
and the reason I choose these three out of the 
enormous collection is because I have at the time of 
writing a picture in thy mind's eye of these three 
plants on a greenhouse roof which I visited recently. 
Campanula persicifolia alba grandiflora.— 
This beautiful, graceful, snow-white Campanula is 
making those greenhouses gay at this season of the 
year, which are fortunate in possessing a batch of 
them. They are very easily grown, and only 
