January 10. i9f>3. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
2:3 
The Juniors Page and Correspondence. 
Mint for Forcing (A. M.).—Occasionally some difficulty is 
experienced in the forcing of this herb, especially where cut¬ 
tings are rooted in late summer 'with the above object in view. 
Such cuttings, even where well rooted, have no reserve of 
material to support forcing, except of the mildest character, 
such as will serve to stimulate them to early growth as if by the 
return of spring. You'will get more satisfaction by lifting 
healthy, well-established crowns without disturbing them 
more than can be helped, and filling boxes with them, then 
packing the spaces between with a mixture of loam and leaf 
mould. The fleshy, underground stems ;arej possessed of a 
large reserve 'of food material, which enables the Mint' to- 
withstand the strain of forcing. Keep the roots moist. 
Watering of Daffodils in Pots (R. W. P.).—You can hardly 
have over-watered the plants if the pots were well drained and 
the leaves advancing freely. Rather we suspect that you 
put them into heat before the roots were well advanced. There 
may have been other causes at work, such as injury to the 
bulbs by the Daffodil Fly. Very often, however, the bulbs 
are not potted sufficiently early to encourage the development 
of roots while the bulbs are stood in the open air in autumn 
for the purpose. You should assure yourself on this point, as 
well a® by testing the firmness! of the bulb® before potting to 
make sure there are no grubs in them. 
Eucryphia pinnatifolia (Harriet Gordon). —The plant has 
been grown for many years by Messrs. J. Veit oh and Sons, 
King's Road, Chelsea, London, and we feel persuaded you 
would have no difficulty in procuring a plant from them. 
Azalea Leaves turned Brown (Anderson). —The specimens 
you sent were very badly affected with thrips, and possibly 
red spider, there being many eggs deposited on both side® 
of the leaves. The remedy for these pests is to thoroughly 
syringe the plants with a strong solution of soft soap’ and 
water, or, indeed, any other soap. Dissolve the soap in hot 
Water, and if you add a little flowers of sulphur it will make it 
all the more 'effective. Lay the plants on their sides, on a 
board over the mouth of a tub, so as to retain the soap-suds 
for use again, until every leaf has been thoroughly wetted and 
washed. The operation will be more effective in spring, when 
the warm weather is causing the eggs to hatch out. It would 
have been an excellent plan to have done this in the autumn, 
before the plants were housed for the winter. During dry 
weather, however, you should keep a sharp look-out for the 
presence of insects and their excrement, as well os the light 
brown spots which they cause. If done early you can prevent 
all, except a very few leaves, from 'suffering injury. Let it 
be your motto to apply remedies in good time. 
When should Apple Trees he Headed Town for Grafting ? 
(J. Wilson). —Some time during the present month would 
answer the purpose admirably, better, in fact, than if you 
delayed the operation till the sap is about, to rise. How late 
the operation may be delayed depends upon the nature of the 
winter. If it keeps mild, the trees will start into growth earlier 
than if low temperatures prevail. The shoots you intend for 
grafts may also be cut and laid in soil in a shady border, but 
they would keep even better on the trees if it is not necessary 
to remove them for appearances’ sake. 
Wallflower Early Paris Market (C. A. S.).—We should hardly 
regard this as perpetual flowering, but rather as an annual, 
in the sen.se that it may be flowered and the seeds ripened the 
same season. If sown in gentle heat in March, it will come 
into 1 doom in June; so that by sowing earlier it -will 
bloom about the same time as that sown in July of the 
previous year, or even earlier. The ordinary Wallflower does 
not bloom the same year unless sown in May and the autumn 
is a mild one, when a few sprays of bloom may be obtained. 
Climbing Roses for Arches (H. D.).—You would get a good 
contrast by planting Aimee Vibert on one side of the arch 
and Crimson Rambler on the other. When the two meet 
on the top the branches—or rather stems—of the one should 
be allowed to overlap those of the other. The branches and 
flowering shoots would then intermingle and give the effect 
you desire. Another combination would be the bright red 
Reine Olga dei Wurtemberg and Gloire de Dijon, the latter 
being salmon yellow. For a shifting scene of quite another 
kind, you could plant Dundee Rambler, which is white with 
pink edges, and flowers in June, with Griiss an Teplitz, which 
is bright crimson, and flowers best in 'autumn. Thus you 
would not only get a succession, but a change of colour during 
the course of the season. 
Should Lilium Auratum he Manured ? (J. D. W.).—If 
applied in the proper way, or in certain ways, the plants would 
derive advantage, and flower all the better for it, the first 
summer, at least. The plan is to dig out the soil to a depth 
of 2 ft. or more, and place a good coat of manure in the bottom, 
say 6 in. or 8)in. in depth. Cover this over with 12 in. of good 
loam of a fairly friable nature, and lay the bulbs on this, cover¬ 
ing them with sand, and then with good loam again, to fill the 
bed up level, or nearly so. On the other hand, the surface 
might be left belo'vv the ground line till the Lilies are well 
up, when you could top dress with rich but friable material. 
By these means the Lilies would derive benefit from the 
manure without actually coming in contact wfoh it. 
Elm Tree Overhanging a Garden (T. M. T.).—You can 
cut away any branches; which actually overhang your place, 
but you should first, consult the landlord or owner of the tree 
before proceeding to lop or trim it yourself. By a little 
diplomacy and pointing out to him the hurtful nature of the 
tree, he will, if he is a reasonable man, do the pruning him¬ 
self, and thereby save you a. deal of trouble in the matter. 
Pruning Gooseberries (Pruner). —For your district, the 
best method to he pursued is- to leave a fair iDroportion of 
young wood to furnish all parts of the bush, so as to shade the 
centre with its own foliage. To prevent overcrowding, you 
can remove any old shoots or branches that have ceased to 
bear properly or profitably, provided always you have suffi¬ 
cient young shoots to fill the place of the old. These young 
shoots may be shortened back for a third of their length. All 
superfluous wood could then be pruned back to a bud near 
the base. Weak and useless growths may be treated in the 
same way. Then look round the bushes, and where the 
branches are drooping too near the ground, prune to a bud 
pointing upwards so as tiO' keep the bushes off the soil. 
Red and White Celery (Apium). —No protection is needed 
as yet, beyond that of the final earthing-up to a wedge-shaped 
ridge, so as to throw elf the wet. The longer that the foliage 
can be exposed to the weather the better, because the leaves 
are thereby kept healthy and sturdy. The red varieties are 
the hardiest, so that you should retain them to the last. The 
white celery .should be first utilised, to save waste as much 
as possible. Being a little more tender than the red sorts, 
they are the first to succumb, and 1 , as a rule, the first to be 
ready for use. 
Jerusalem Artichokes (D. R.).—These may be left in the 
ground for several years without lifting, but we do not con¬ 
sider it a good plan, for the simple reason that the stems and 
tubers are liable to get crowded and weak. A far better plan 
•is to lift the whole of them, .say in March, and replant else- 
• where a.s many as you require, retaining the remainder for use. 
Small tubers that may have escaped notice will grow as usual, 
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to note that the address of THE GARDENING 
WORLD is now 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C, 
