678 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 15, 1901. 
easily raised from seeds, which it produces in 
abundance. 
CAMPANULA PORTENSCHLAGIANA. 
This pretty, little Campanula is now at its best in 
many gardens. When once established in a moist 
position on the rockery it romps away amazingly, 
and very small plants quickly form showy clumps, 
which bloom profusely throughout the summer. 
ANTIRRHINUM SEMPERVIRENS. 
Of all the beautiful plants in this family there are 
none to surpass the above named species for delicacy 
of colour and beauty of its flowers. Like many other 
beautiful plants it is difficult somewhat to manage, and 
in this principle differs from the remainder of the 
family, excepting A. glutinosum, which has much 
the same habit. Both plants require a dry, sunny 
position with a rich, light soil, and always protected 
from excessive moisture. They should be propa¬ 
gated by cuttings taken in the spring and struck in a 
very gentle heat. They will not often come true 
from seeds, as they are well adapted for cross-ferti¬ 
lisation, and are generally crossed by insects if there 
are other varieties near. 
-•&»- 
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 gtowers 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. T. S. 
Dick, Castlemilk, Lockerbie, for his article on 
" Brugmansias,” p. 654. 
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 Gardening 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. 
QlieSTlODS ADD MSOJeRS. 
,% 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 ? 
Gathering Gooseberries for Use in the Green 
State.— W. B.: It is bad policy to gather all the 
fruits from certain bushes, while you allow the 
whole of the fruits to hang on others till they reach 
maturity. A better plan would be to thin out all the 
smaller ones for present use, leaving the larger and 
more shapely berries to hang till they ripen. The 
process of thinning will greatly encourage increased 
size in those that are left, and will greatly improve 
their appearance for table use. It may take longer 
time to fill the punnets with green berries by doing 
the work carefully so as to leave the best, but your 
reward will come in the quality of those left to 
mature. The best variety to plant for the earliest 
picking is Whir ham’s Industry. 
Forsythia suspensa growing too Rampantly.— 
J. T. M. : If this is taking up too much space you 
should prune it into form at once. The best time to 
have done this was when the plant passed out of 
bloom; because you could have cut it back rather 
severely, still leaving time for the plant to recuperate 
and prcduce shoots that would flower freely next 
year. Your object, therefore, should be to remove 
some of the more rampant stems entirely, but leaving 
sufficient of the smaller and younger twigs so as to 
prevent the bushes from having a naked appear¬ 
ance for weeks after you cut them back. The work 
will have to be done wuh the knife, not the shears. 
Black Fly on Cherries.— A. D. H. : There is no 
danger of the trees being attacked with the Black 
Fly that attacks Beans. Both the latter and Cherry 
trees have their respective aphides, and the flies 
from the one kind will not attack the host plant of 
the other. The few black aphides you notice upon 
the Cherry trees belong to the same, and are rather 
hard to kill. Your best plan, therefore, will be to 
prepare a strong insecticide by steeping about x lb. 
of coarse shag tobacco in 4 gallons of water. After 
straining out the tobacco from the liquid, dissolve 
2 oz. of soft soap in the latter, and stir up the whole 
thoroughly. During the evening, or before leaving 
off work, if the sun is not too strong, syringe the 
affected trees with this liquid. If you have no 
regular sprayer, use a nozzle on the syringe that 
will make a very fine spray. The object is to wet 
the whole surface of the foliage without using so 
much liquid that it falls on the ground below and 
thus gets lost. Apply it rather forcibly, so as to 
make it play in amongst the leaves lying close to the 
wall. Next morning get the garden engine or some¬ 
thing that will apply clean water rather forcibly. 
The tobacco and soap applied the previous evening 
will have sickened the aphides, so that in forcibly 
washing the trees with clean water, you will dis¬ 
lodge and drive down the insects, while at the same 
time washing their excrement from the foliage. 
Large Brown Moth on Currant Bushes.— A. L. : 
The moth you send is not likely to do you any harm, 
at least, to the Currant bushes, as the caterpillars 
do not feed upon them but on Poplars, and possibly 
Willows and Birches. It is the Poplar Hawk Moth 
(SmeriDthus Populi), and the moth had merely been 
resting during the day upon the Currant bushes. In 
the neighbourhood of the Black, Lombardy or 
Trembling Poplar, or Aspen, you will be likely to 
find more of the same species, though they do not 
seem to be very abundant at any time. One cater¬ 
pillar, however, is able to do a deal of damage, so 
that if you have any choice trees of the species above 
named you may destroy the moths to prevent their 
laying their eggs upon the trees, as this is the season 
for that operation. 
Time to sow Garden Polyanthuses.—T. B. : The 
most natural time to sow the seeds is about the time 
the seed ripens on the plants. The seedlings then have 
time to make f^ir sized plants before autumn; and 
if the autumn and winter are fairly open the plants 
keep increasing in size, so that by March or April 
they form fairly respectable flowering plants. 
Should you have any of last year’s seed, however, 
you should sow it at once in boxes and stand the 
latter in a cold frame which should be shaded if 
facing the south. In any case, whichever the 
direction it faces the lights should be kept close till 
germination has been accomplished after which the 
seedlings should gradually be inured to more air and 
light. When the seedlings have made a few rough 
leaves they should be transplanted into a frame or a 
well prepared piece of ground on a cool and rather 
moist northern aspect. Mix the soil with a good 
quantity of leaf mould, and soil from beneath the 
potting benches if you have any. This will encour¬ 
age the plants to make good growth before autumn. 
The plants will, in fact, be larger than those raised 
from seeds, sown later on. They will also commence 
flowering earlier, some of them even in autumn, if 
the weather is mild and open about that time. 
The Foliage of Rhododendrons Flagging.—IF. 
Reid : You should first give the ground a good hoe¬ 
ing all over the surface with the Dutch hoe, so as to 
leave a good layer of loose soil on the surface. Then 
mulch the ground with something that will serve to 
keep it cool. The readiest and cheapest article, 
perhaps, at your command would be the grass cut 
by the mowing machine. It is not of much service, 
especially during dry weather, so that you could 
cover the ground all over beneath the Rhododen¬ 
drons with a good, thick layer of it. If this is done 
while the grass is fresh it will settle down and form 
a compact layer not likely to be blown about by the 
wind, and not very liable to be scattered by birds. 
As soon as this has been accomplished give the ground 
a good waterfng with the hose, or whatever you may 
have handiest. The mulching will serve to retain 
the water thus supplied. 
Flower from a Garden near Bristol.— E. 
Harris -. The specimen, of which you sent a piece, 
was the Feather Hyacinth (Muscari comosum 
monstrosum) in fine condition. It is a bulbous 
plant as you suspect, quite hardy and usually proves 
of easy cultivation. Plant the bulbs about 3 ins. 
below the surface in rather light or sandy but fertile 
soil in a fairly sheltered border of your garden. 
This might be done any time during September or 
October when the bulbs are at rest. Should the 
soil of your garden be in any way heavy you might 
take out a hole about iSins. deep, putting some 
rough material in the bottom and over this a com¬ 
post of loam and leaf mould lightened with plenty of 
sand. Tread down the soil rather firmly before 
planting. During the first winter you might lay 
some litter over the top, but after the plant has 
become established we do not anticipate that you 
will have any trouble with it. 
Rose Leaves Curled.— North: The specimens 
sent had their leaves very much punctured. The 
puncturing must have been partly done by aphides 
while yet in their early stages of growth. The 
rolled leaves contained some caterpillars of a very 
small moth, most probably one of the Tineina. 
Roses are very subject to attacks of this kind during 
May and June when the leaves are young and tender. 
Spraying with an insecticide would have little effect 
upon them as the caterpillars are so sheltered and 
concealed by the rolling of the leaves. Your best 
plan will be to hand pick all the worst of them on 
your more choice or special Roses at least. See 
that the caterpillars do not drop out when you dis¬ 
turb the bushes as they are very liable to let them¬ 
selves down by a thread and to return after danger is 
past. The caterpillars may disfigure the foliage but 
they do not kill the plants. 
Names of Plants .—Bright Spade : Staphylea col- 
chica.— G. C. : The orange-flowered climber is Eccre- 
mocarpus scaber; the rose flowered tree is Cercis 
Siliquastrum (Judas Tree); 3, Celsia arcturus. No 
numbers were attached to the first two— X. : The 
seed of Afzelia cuanzensis from the Zanzibar Coast 
and other parts of East Africa.— A.H.D. : 1, 
Oncidium concolor ; 2, Oncidium divaricatum; 3, 
Cypripedium bellatulum.— W. M.: 1, Campanula 
glomerata ; 2, Campanula pumila alba ; 3, 
Doronicum Pardalianches ; 4, Veronica parviflora 
angustifolia; 5, Saxifraga Aizoon.— A. R. N. : 1, 
Rosa lutea; 2, Clematis montana ; 3, Spiraea 
hypericifolia; 4, Berberis stenophylla ; 5, Rubus 
deliciosus ; 6, Ledum palustre.— T. B .; 1 Erica 
vagans; 2, Erica australis; 3, Iris sibirica ; 4, Iris 
variegata; 5 Iris xiphion ; 6, Pernettya mucronata. 
A. S : 1 Viburnum plicatum; 2, Viburnum Opulus 
sterilis; 3 Laburnum alpinum; 4, Rubus arcticus. 
—North : The blue flower is Scilla nutans, the 
English Bluebell. 
Communications Received.—G. W.—T. M.— 
R. A.—A. Anderson.—G. W. D.—E. T. C.— 
T. W. D.—E. Harris.—A. J. B —R. M.—A. B.— 
Hudson & Kearn.—George Newnes, Ltd. 
FIXTURES FOR 1901. 
(Secretaries of shows will oblige us by sending early notice 
of their fixtures.) 
June. 
18.—R.H.S. Cor mittees. 
15. —Oxfordshire Horticultural Exhibition. 
20.—Linnean Society Meeting ; Royal Botanical 
Society Meeting. 
26.—N.R.S. and Richmond Horticultural. 
29. —Windsor and Eaton Rose Show in Eaton Col¬ 
lege Grounds; Canterbury Rose. 
J ULY. 
2. —R.H.S. Committees (Roses); Southampton Ex¬ 
hibition (2 days); Hereford Rose. 
3. —Hanley Horticultural Fete (2 days); Croydon 
Horticultural Society Show ; Farningham 
Rose and Horticultural Society Show. 
4. —N.R.S., Metropolitan ; Norwich Rose Show. 
6.—Royal Botanical Society Meeting ; Societie 
Francaise d’Horticulture de Londres Meet¬ 
ing ; Maidstone Rose ; Sutton Rose. 
8. —United Horticultural Benevolent and Provi¬ 
dential Society Committees’ Meeting 
9. —Wolverhampton Floral Fete (3 days); Glouces¬ 
ter Rose; Harrow Rose. 
o.—Formby Rose; Stambridge Rose; Worthing 
Rose. 
11.—Bath Floral Fete and Rose Show; Brentwood 
Rose ; Eltham Rose; Helensburgh Rose; 
Woodbridge Rose. 
13.—Royal Botanical and Horticultural Society of 
Manchester Rose-Exhibition. 
16. —Royal Horticultural Society Exhibition, and 
Conference on Lilies at Chiswick (2 days). 
17. —N.R.S .Ulverston (North Lonsdale Rose Show); 
Cardiff and County Horticultural Show (2 
days). 
18. —Hoddesdon Exhibition; Royal Botanical Society 
Meeting ; Halifax Rose- 
19. —National Carnation and Picotee Society (pro¬ 
visional). 
23. —Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle 
Botanical and Horticultural Society Exhi¬ 
bition at Newcastle (2 days); Tibshelf Rose. 
24. —Strathbane Horticultural Exhibition (2 days) ; 
Southern Counties Carnation Society Show. 
25. —Prescot Exhibition ; Selby Exhibition ; National 
Sweet Pea Society (2 days). 
30. —Buckingham Exhibition; R.H.S. Committees. 
31. —Wilts. Exhibition. 
August. 
r.—Isle of Wight Horticultural Association Exhi¬ 
bition. 
2. —Devon and Exeter Horticultural Society; Sum¬ 
mer Flower Show. 
3. —Auldearn Horticultural Society. 
5. —Atherstone Exhibition ; Castleford Exhibition 
(2 days); Eynsford Exhibition ; Cbolmond- 
eley ; Beddington, Carshalton and Walling- 
ton. 
6. —Abbey Park, Leicester, Flower Show (2 days). 
8.—North Oxford Exhibition. 
10.—Keighley Horticultural Society. 
13. —R H.S. Committees. 
14. —Clevedon Exhibition ; Sevenoaks Exhibition. 
16. —National Co-operative Festival at the Crystal 
Palace (2 days). 
17. —Bankfoot (Perth) Horticultural Society. 
20. —Grandpont Horticultural Society. 
