April 11, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
329 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column. These 
enquiries may cover any branch of gardening. Questions should be 
put as briefly as possible, and written on one side of the paper only ; 
a separate sheet of paper should be used for each question. 
Readers are also invited to give their fellow gardeners the benefit 
of their experience by sending supplementary replies. 
Replies cannot he sent by post, even if a stamped, addressed 
envelope is enclosed, and the return of specimens cannot be undertaken. 
Anonymous communications are treated in the usual editorial manner , 
Address letters: The Editor, “The Gardening World,” 37 and 
38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
Golden Privet Hedge Bare at the Bottom (Privet). 
We are not sure of the conditions under which your hedge 
has been grown, but it all certainly hinges on the question of 
light. If the face of the hedge is to be as well furnished as 
the top, the plants must be fully exposed to light, and not 
crowded up against either flowers, vegetables, or shrubs of any 
kind. If any of these tilings are allowed to grow too near the 
hedge it is impossible for it to make growth where the light 
is thus obstructed. Another suggestion we should make is 
that you have allowed the hedge to become too broad at the 
top, so that the lower part would be too much shaded by the 
upper for a regular and even growth to be made. If the hedge 
has really been neglected, we should advise you to cut it about 
half-way down, so as to encourage growth from the bottom 
upwards. Then in after years take great care to have the 
hedge narrower at the top than elsewhere. This encourages 
even growth by all parts being fully exposed to light. 
Seedling of Custard Apple (D. W.). 
Provided you give it stove treatment, we do not think you 
will have much difficulty in growing the Custard Apple, but it 
will take a considerable number of years before you can pos¬ 
sibly fruit it, and it will require some amount of space in the 
,matter of head-room. The seedling you sent appears to us 
to be the Cherimoyer (Anona Cherimolia), which is one of the 
many species spoken of usually as Custard Apples ; but, cor¬ 
rectly speaking, different English names' are given to many 
of the species. The term Custard Apple is most properly applied 
to Anona reticulata. Prepare a compost of good fibrous loam 
two parts, and peat one part, with a sufficient quantity of sharp 
sand to make the whole porous. Place the drainage carefully, 
so as to ensure the superfluous moisture running away. Do 
not give a large shift at first, but re-pot from time to time as 
the plant increases in size. It may ultimately require a large 
pot or tub. It is possible to grow it by planting it out, if you 
have that convenience, in the bed of a moist stove ; but if con¬ 
fined to pot culture, you will have to keep re-potting it as it 
grows, as above mentioned. In winter the temperature, if about 
60 degrees, would be sufficient, but in summer this may range 
( from 65 up to 80 degrees with sun heat. It will take some years 
to reach the fruiting stage from seed, as it attains a height of 
20ft. if allowed to grow naturally. 
Seedling Anthurium (Head Gardener). 
Hie specimen you sent ug is certainly a good one, though we 
irave seen larger and darker varieties. A few years ago it would 
jiave certainly been received with great favour by the admirers 
'if this class of plants. Our neighbours on the Continent have 
>een more busy than raisers in this country, and some possess 
•ollections of great merit. Very few in this country adopt them 
■xtensively, so that those Continental seedlings only find their 
vay here sparingly. Your specimen is a good one, however, and 
■ertainly worth cultivating until you could secure better. The 
pa the measured four and anhialf inches by two and a-halr 
hioh.es, but as the plant grows stronger this may yet be increased, 
fon do not state anything about the parentage, but it wont I 
eem that you had been using A. rotbschildianum, or some of its 
eedlings, ias one of the parents. Tile small spots, especially 
owards the base, would give some indication of this, and the 
•ariety would, in our opinion, be improved if the spotting was 
(lore pronounced, or, on the other hand, entirely absent. That 
s a matter of taste, however, and you could improve upon it by 
he raising of other seedlings, and as far as size is concerned by 
iving good cultural attention to this one. 
obaea scandens and Erysipelas (H. W.). 
We have never heard of this fault being imputed to the plant 
ou mention. We have frequently handled it, and experienced 
io ill effects, but as it is largely a matter of constitution as to 
he extent that certain plants will affect people, our experience 
teed not he taken as a criterion. Many other gardeners of our 
acquaintance have also handled the plant freely without ill effect. 
When plants affect people we generally find that they have a 
poisonous juice, or that the bark is covered either with stinging 
hairs or hairs eontadminig juice of a more or less poisonous 
character. The leaves in our recollection are nearly smooth, 
and unless the few ciliae, or hairs, on the margin of the leaves 
are of a poisonous character, we fail to see how this plant could 
harm anyone by mere contact. We are always open to convic¬ 
tion, however, if any good evidence is forthcoming. In the case 
of irritation being caused to the hands or other parts of the body, 
tiie chief difficulty is in locating or detecting the real offender. 
Black Spot in Tomatos (Subscriber). 
In our experience Black Spot has never proved of very rapid 
development, and consequently could not be described as destruc¬ 
tive. When once tlie Tomatos become affected by it, however, 
they are certainly rendered useless for any purpose. Our belief 
is that a stagnant and moist atmosphere is the chief cause of the 
spreading of this disease. It is caused by a fungus, that is 
usually only a saprophyte ; that is, it lives on decayed vegetable 
matter, and does not attack living plants, except under condi¬ 
tions that are adverse to the plant and favourable to tlie fungus. 
In this particular instance a damp atmosphere would cause the 
decay of the style of the young fruit, and the fungus would 
attack that, and, growing down the style, pass into the interior 
of tlie fruit, where it becomes a. true parasite, causing the skin 
of the fruit to shrink, and the pulp in the interior to become hard 
and black. Whenever you see fruits attacked in this way, your 
best plan is to gather the fruits at once, and destroy them by 
burning, as they are perfectly useless for any purpose. Further¬ 
more, you should keep the atmosphere of the house drier by 
giving free ventlation every day, land also a certain amount by 
night, so that the superfluous moisture might be carried away. 
This, of course, applies to the case when the season is somewhat 
advanced, and we are enjoying summer temperatures. At that 
time great heat is certainly net desirable in the case of Tomatos, 
and a close atmosphere above all things is to be guarded against. 
To keep Tomatos short jointed, sturdy and healthy, it is abso¬ 
lutely necessary to let them have plenty of free air about tihean. 
We should be pleased to see specimens should the disease make 
its appearance later on in the season. 
Names of Plants. 
(A. E. Middleton) 1, Adiantum Capillus-Veneris imbricatum ; 
2, Pteris longifolia ; 3, Festuca glauoa ; 4, Carex brunnea varie- 
gata ; 5, Selaginel'la vitioulosa.—(Scottie) 1, Appears to be Anona 
Cherimolia (could you send a flower ?); 2, Hedychium gardneria- 
num ; 3, Cupressms sempervirens; 4, Begonia fagifolia, appa¬ 
rently ; 5, Aspleninm bulbifernm; 6, Adiantum cuneatum 
Paootti. (Please send flowers with your specimens when you can.) 
—J. A. R.) 1, Soil la aanoena ; 2. Fritillaria aurea; 3, Fritil- 
laria imperialis lutea; 4, Arabis albida ; 5, Magnolia conspicua ; 
6, Magnolia oonspicua soulangeana. 
Communications Received. 
W. Baltimore.—A. V. M.—P. W. Volt.—Willard N. Clute 
and Co.—R. C. ITayman.—J. R. B.— S. Green.—B k Bixie.— 
Herbert Cowley.—A. R.—H. W. C.—Wm. Whorley.—J. Iv. B.— 
H. G. W.—A. S.—E. B. W.—S, G.—B. M.—A. R. B.— H. C.— 
j. W. T. M. F.—'Richard Hy. Troughton.—A. Whyte.— 
T. A. W. 
Trade Notice. 
TWO USEFUL INSECTICIBES, 
A very important part in gardening consists in being able 
to keep the plants clean and healthy. Generally speaking, 
if they can be kept clear of insect and fungoid enemies they 
will remain healthy. All gardeners know this to be the case, 
and many amateurs have had to give up all attempts at growing 
certain plants, simply through inability to keep them clean. 
The possibilities of cleaning plants in a wholesale manner 
also means a great deal to the modern gardener, who is all 
too frequently handicapped in the matter of labour. Many 
instances have come under our notice where the old plan of 
sponging each plant, leaf hy leaf, was quite impossible, while 
by means of an insecticide, whether in the form of a wash or 
a fumigant, the labour was altogether simplified, and the plants 
kept clean. 
The two insecticides of which we intend to speak on the 
present occasion are “Niquas” and the “ Lethorion ” Vapour 
Cone. The latter is by no means new to us, nor to hundreds 
of gardeners as well. “Niquas,” however, is in all probability 
known to a smaller number of gardeners, who may be puzzled 
