August 10, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
797 
Pollen Showers.—Plants that rely on the agency 
of the wind for fertilisation produce an enormous 
amount of pollen. Nowhere is this more notice¬ 
able than in the Pine Forest. These trees rely on 
the agency of the wind to carry their pollen from 
one to another,and when the cones shed their bloom, 
which is always on a dry windy day, it is carried 
through the air in such quantities as to resemble a 
sulphur shower. 
Death of Mrs. Bishop, of Paget, Bermuda.— 
News has just reached us of the death, under painful 
circumstances, of the wife of Mr. G. A. Bishop. She 
was leaving the room to attend to her baby when 
she staggerad and would have fallen but for the sup¬ 
port of her husband. Medical assistance was sum¬ 
moned immediately, but death was instantaneous. 
The deceased lady was the daughter of Robert 
Revell, Esq., of Norwich, Norfolk. She was only 
forty-one years of age, and leaves two children, both 
girls, one about ten and the other an infant. Mr. 
Bishop has our sincerest sympathy in his sad and 
unexpected bereavement, and we are sure he will 
have the sympathy of Bermuda people, where he is 
so well known 
CURRENT NOTES AND NOTIONS. 
Thomson, in his beautiful poem on " The Seasons,” 
beautifully describes the coming of August, which he 
says is— 
“ Crowned with the sickle and the wheaten sheaf " 
“ While autumn, nodding o’er the yellow plain, 
Comes jovial on.” 
The first day of August was one of the four great . 
pagan festivals supposed to be a day of thanksgiving 
to the gods for the incoming of the harvest. The 
Jews from the earliest period of their history kept a 
feast at the beginning of the harvest, and also offered 
their first fruits, and the custom seems to have pre¬ 
vailed universally. The young beauty of spring is now 
lost in the ripeness of autumn. The fruit trees are 
now weighed down with fruit of the richest hue, and 
delight the eyes of both old and young, while on 
many ponds whose waters have not yet been polluted 
by poisonous dye stuffs, the beautiful Water Lily 
floats through the day; at night time folding her 
while petals and sinking to sleep beneath the water 
till the sun rises, and wakes her into life and beauty 
again. The gardener is still very busy, in fact he 
is never done, but is always on the move, studying 
and thinking what he will do the next season, and 
try to eclipse the present one. 
" Therefore, though few praise or help or heed us, 
Let us work with head, or heart, or hand ; 
For we know the future ages need us. 
We muse help our time to take its stand." 
— T. W. Dollery, The Gardens, Whitburn, Sunderland. 
T0MAT0S IN WINTER. 
To have Tomatos at Christmas the gardener must 
begin now (August), the earlier in the month the 
better. The best Tomato that I know of for winter 
work is Sutton’s Earliest of All, which should be 
sown very thinly in pots or shallow pans, and kept 
in a cold frame near the glass ; the cooler they can 
be kept the better. The secret of success is to obtain 
a good set of fruit in October. No forcing is neces¬ 
sary till November, and then only sufficient heat to 
develop the fruit. I prefer pots (8 in.) to planting 
them out in prepared borders, the growth being 
more compact and they set much better. For pot¬ 
ting I use turfy loam with some bonemeal rammed 
hard into the pots. Smooth Tomatos, such as 
Sutton’s Perfection, do not set so well, the ribbed 
kinds, such as Sutton's Earliest of All, being much 
better and set freely. The flavour of the ribbed 
kinds is quite equal to that of the smooth. Sutton’s 
Earliest of All is equally good for early spring work; 
seed sown in January and well attended to will give 
ripe fruit in April.— F. Ross, Strathtyrum Gardens, St. 
Andrew's, N.B. 
CUCUMBERS. 
No time should be lost in sowing the seed which 
will supply the winter fruit. Sow the seeds singly 
in 3-in. pots, filling them to half their depth, using 
equal parts loam and mushroom dung, plunge them 
in bottom heat of 8o°, and as soon as they appear 
remove them to a light position. When the plants 
require it top dress them, and when the pots get 
filled with roots, plant them in their winter quarters, 
so that no check to growth is caused. Make up a 
hotbed of leaves and short manure, making the bed 
firm as the work proceeds. Let a layer of turves be 
placed over this, and at intervals of 3 ft. place a few 
large crocks and make hillocks 9 in. high of two 
parts turfy loam, one part Mushroom dung, with a 
little old mortar rubble to keep it porous. When 
the soil is warmed throughout, plant one to each 
hillock, and water them; never using the water 
below 70°. Keep the house close for a few days 
after planting, then afford air, gradually increasing 
its volume as the plants get established. Add fresh 
soil to the hillocks as the roots show on the surface, 
and remove all male flowers as they appear. The 
plants should not be allowed to fruit until well 
established. Cardiff Castle and Telegraph are two 
of the best for winter work.— Walter Hopkins, Leighton, 
Westbury, Wilts. 
-- 
CYCLAMEN PERSICUM. 
To obtain an early start with this most popular 
plant seed should be sown this month. Prepare 
shallow pans by well draining and filling with loam, 
leaf soil, and a liberal quantity of sand. Place the 
seeds into the soil a quarter of an inch deep and 
1 in. apart. Water them and place them in a 
warm house, or on a little bottom heat and shade 
from the sun. The seed will sometimes germinate 
very irregularly. When the seedlings appear keep 
them close to the glass in a greenhouse temperature. 
In about three months from time of sowing they 
should be large enough to handle, and should be 
pricked off into other pans, using similar soil, but 
not quite so fine. They will winter best in an inter¬ 
mediate house close to the glass. In February pot 
them singly into small pots, keeping the crown of 
the tuber level with the top of the soil. From these 
pots they can be shifted into the flowering pots, or 
have yet another shift into 4-in. pots first. By the 
end of May a cold frame will suit them best. For 
the final potting get good fibrous loam broken up 
roughly, good leaf soil, a little bone meal, and 
enough sand to keep the whole porous. Pot them 
firmly (only half burying the tubers), and water 
carefully. When well rooted give manure water 
occasionally. Shade from bright sun and give air 
freely, removing the lights at night.— E. Brown, The 
Gardens, Nostell Priory, Wakefield, Yorks. 
- « » « 
WIREWORMS. 
Wireworms are larvae of certain species of beetles, 
some of which are called click beetles owing to their 
possessing the ability to make a clicking noise when 
put upon their backs. Whenever a wireworm is 
discerned among any soil it should be instantly 
destroyed, for its existence will mean increase. 
They gnaw at the roots just below the surface of the 
soil, and are particularly fond of Carnation roots. 
The worms seldom reach a length of 1 in.; their 
body is semicircular, hard and wiry and composed 
of segments separated by joints. The body is of a 
dirty yellow colour, the head is somewhat flattened, 
darker than the body, and possesses two inwardly 
curved moving horns whereby all the damage is 
done. The three rings nearest the head each have a 
pair of short legs. It has been found that Mustard 
is their enemy, therefore grounds largely infested 
should be sown with this plant which will be the 
means of starving them out. Traps can be set by 
placing slices of Turnip, Potato or Mangold on 
pieces of wire and inserting the bait about 2 in. 
under ground. Then this can be pulled up every 
morning and the ravenous insects caught. This 
month the larvae change into a state of pupa, after 
having descended to a great depth and formed an 
earthen cocoon or egg-shaped case. After remaining 
a considerable time in the pupa state the beetles 
emerge and can be caught when seen.— G. W. D. 
-— « * » - - 
CURE FOR CABBAGE MAGGOT. 
Gardeners have to try all plans to keep up a good 
supply of everything, whether the season is in their 
favour or not, as the bigger majority of our superiors 
never look to the difficulties we semetimes have to 
contend with. As everyone knows, this destructive 
pest (Anthomyia Brassicae) has made its appearance 
in almost every garden this summer on our Cabbage 
breaks, etc., destroying in some cases almost every 
plant. If the maggots appear in the seed beds a 
dressing of lime or muriate of potash should be 
given to the soil, or enough of the "kerosene emulsion” 
to wet the ground 1 in. deep. If the plants in 
the breaks are attacked a hole should be made near 
each plant with a sharp stick about 1 in. in 
diameter, and as deep as the roots of the plant, and 
filled with the emulsion. If this does not moisten 
the soil on all sides of the plant a similar hole on 
the opposite side should be filled. The emulsion 
should be made of half-a-pound hard soap, one 
gallon water, and one gallon of kerosene oil, diluted 
with nine times its bulk of cold water before using. 
When in experienced hands the work of putting it 
on is simple, quick and very effective, destroying 
the maggots, and disturbing the plant not in the 
least, nor injuring growth.—T. S. Dick, Castlemilk, 
Lockerbie, N.B. 
HYPERICUMS. 
These are now in bloom, and their bright yellow 
flowers are very conspicuous against the light green 
foliage. There are many species, some herbaceous 
and others shrubby; others are dwarf - growing 
undershrubs, some of which are useful for the 
rockery or for planting beneath trees. H. calycinum 
is the most useful, as it will succeed beneath trees 
or at the base of a wall where scarcely any other 
plants will grow, and where grass always looks 
shabby. It can, however, scarcely be expected to 
live beneath Conifers or similar trees where it would 
be very heavily shaded. Its flowers are a bright 
yellow colour and about 2 in. in breadth ; it 
grows about 1 ft. high and spreads rapidly by its 
creeping roots, by which it can easily be propagated. 
It is commonly known as the " Rose of Sharon." 
H. oblongifolium forms a handsome shrub about 
3 ft. high, with numerous flowers scarcely less than 
those of H. calycinum. H. hircinum is said to 
smell like goats, from which peculiarity it gets its 
name. Its flowers are smaller than those of 
H. oblongifolium, but in greater numbers. Both 
are suitable for a position at the top of a rockery. 
They can be propagated either by seeds or by 
cuttings, which latter is the best method. These 
should be taken when sufficiently ripened, placed In 
frames and planted out in the spring.— F. W. M. 
-**<>- 
FLOWER GARDENS. 
The appearance of flower gardens has greatly 
changed within the past few years. About ten or 
twelve years ago carpet bedding in Scotland at least 
was a kind of craze, but that style of bedding out— 
or we may call it “art"—is fast disappearing. My 
opinion is, the fashion while it lasted forced us to 
push aside many useful plants with the perfection of 
beauty stamped on them, to make room for dwarf 
weedy rubbish, suitable perhaps for some small 
gardens where neatness is a principal point; but it 
could never be compared with present day bedding 
out A few moderately sized beds filled with white 
or crimson Begonias for instance towards the end of 
July is a sight that the eye never tires resting on. 
They have almost given the death blow to the 
scarlet Geraniums and yellow Calceolarias, although 
the variegated and bronze Geraniums are still very 
useful for variety and for giving the Begonias a 
better effect. The scented Geraniums also serve 
that purpose well. A good permanent bed that I 
can recommend is Hydrangea paniculata planted 
18 in. apart, doing the groundwork with blue, or 
purple Violas; the Hydrangea only requires to be 
pruned down early in April like hybrid Roses, and 
every shoot will bear its panicle of bloom in August, 
and keep in good form until well on In October. It 
certainly does best where the soil is not too wet or 
clayey.— John C. Dick, Champfleurie, Linlithgow. 
CYCLAMEN. 
This beautiful genus belongs to the natural order 
Primulaceae. The plants are of great beauty, and 
their compact habit, and the long foot stalks on 
which the flowers are borne, make them useful for 
winter and also spring decoration, either for pot or 
cut work. The best time to sow the seed is about 
the end of August. Seed pans should therefore be 
got ready and filled with a compost of good loam, 
leaf mould and silver sand. Dibble the seeds about 
an inch apart and about a quarter of an inch deep. 
