456 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 23, 1903. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column. These 
enquiries may cweer 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 be sent by post, even if a stamped, addressed 
envelope is enclosed, and the return of specim ens 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. 
Slugs Eating their Dead Brethren. (A. T.) 
There are at least two classes of slugs, namely, herbivorous 
and carnivorous. We quite understand the last named eating 
their brethren, because under ordinary conditions they live 
upon animals of some sort, including worms. Possibly they 
would eat their brethren if dead, and especially if hard pressed 
for food. These we term worming slugs ; they are yellow, with a 
little shell upon their back, and by this means you could dis¬ 
tinguish them from the- ordinary slug of the held -and garden. 
You must not confuse this type with snails proper, which have a 
big shell into which they can retire- when at re-st. lhe 
herbivorous slugs have no shell at all, and live upon vegetable 
matter. We- think this is wha-t you refer to in speaking about 
snails eating their dead brethren. If it was a yellow slug with 
a small shell on its back, we should say yes to your question, 
but if they were properly slugs which behaved in this manner, 
we have never seen them do so-. Possibly, however, they might 
eat a dead slug, though they would not attempt a live one. 
Under ordinary circumstances we know they eat a variety of 
material, though it is generally of a vegetable nature. 
Weed in Lily Pond. (A Reader.) 
A reader of The Gardening World desires to know h-ow 1 he 
can get rid of a green and dark brown moss which is covering 
the bottom of his Lily pond, and causing him great trouble. 
The water of the pond is supplied from a runner that comes 
through limestone, and a constant flow is kept running into 
the pond. 
Propagating Hydrangea panicnlata grandiflora. (J. C.) 
There are two or three ways of propagating this plant 
independently of the possibility of getting seeds, which we 
think is hardly likely to- occur, as the enlarged flowers of this 
and similar plants are- generally barren. When the young 
shoots are beginning to- harden at the base in the summer you 
can take cuttings- and put them under a -handlight in a p-it or 
Greenhouse. The handlight will maintain a -sufficiency of 
moisture about the cuttings to prevent the foliage from flagging. 
Then again in autumn, when the leaves have fallen, you could 
take cuttings and insert them, firmly in pots of sandy soil. 
These could be wintered in a cold frame or greenhouse, and by 
spring they should be callus-ed and ready to form roots w-hen 
the rising temperature of spring induces them to make- fresh 
growth. ° Possibly the- rooting process could be hastened by 
standing the pots on a gentle hotbed. There is still another 
method open to you, namely, to layer some of the longer shoots 
around the parent plant in the same- way as you would a Carna¬ 
tion. In case the shoots are difficult to get down into the soil, 
vou could always heap up the soil around the layer, and keep 
the soil watered if the weather happens to be dry. They should 
be ready for separating from the mother plant in November, 
or could be left there until spring. 
Birds and Sweet Peas. (C. L.) 
The seeds could not have been sown very deeply if birds pulled 
them up by the roots, unless the birds were jackdaws. They 
should have been sown at least three inches deep, and the 
roots fix the plants so- firmly in the soil that the stems would 
break before the- plants could be uprooted. Another _ point to 
consider is whether you are correct- in your observations that 
they have been pulled up. It is just possible that the seedlings 
were eaten off by slugs just as they were appearing above 
ground or while quite soft, as there has been a plague of slugs 
for some weeks past owing to the frequent rains which we have 
had. Sparrows are also very destructive to Sweet Peas in some 
seasons, and break off the tops even when they do not in all 
cases eat them. YoUr best plan would be to resow those places 
or lines where the Peas have disappeared, and put in some pegs 
on each side of the lines, stringing black cotton from one peg 
to another along each side of the row. We have found that 
sufficient to keep sparrows away from the Peas while yet quite 
young. 
Suckers on Plums and Peaches. (A. H. D.) 
It is quite a mistake to cut them off below the surface of the 
ground either with a knife, a spade, or any other tool. The 
best plan would be to uncover the main roots, and then cut the 
sucker clean away. The second best plan would be to uncover 
a portion of the- sucker so that you could lay hold of it below 
the surface where it has got firm and woody, and then pull it 
right out. If you succeed in this it will bring away the buds 
at the base, which would only throw up a fresh lot of suckers. 
The Carrot Fly. (G. H. Thompson.) 
The fly is a most destructive one, as you say, while the Carrots 
are j-et quite young, so that you should be prepared this year 
to deal with the matter in good time. Sand made wet with 
paraffin has been recommended to lay between the lines of 
Carrots in order to keep the fly away, and prevent it from laying 
its eggs. Ordinary paraffin, however, is rather a dangerous 
insecticide, because it might get washed about the roots of the 
young Carrots by rain. It would be much better therefore to 
make a weak paraffin emulsion by means of paraffin and soap, 
the latter being dissolved in water and churned with a syringe 
until the soap has completely united with the paraffin. Then 
with a weak solution of this you could spray the Carrot beds 
so that the whole of the ground, and even the Carrots' them¬ 
selves, are tainted with the smell of paraffin, which is very 
obnoxious to most insects, and would keep- the fly away until 
the Carrots get sufficiently strong as not to feel the injury if 
attacked. The operation might be repeated at intervals later 
on, with the object of still keeping the- Carrots clean. 
Roses in Pots Doing Badly. (J. H. Virgo.) 
We fail to find any evidence of disease caused by fungi in the 
specimens sent us. The more rampant-gro-wing branches seem 
to have been drawn and weakened by too much fire heat in the 
absence of sunshine. We should advise less heat and more 
ventilation to encourage a slow and sturdy, short-jointed growth. 
It is useless to- try and force these things in the absence of sun¬ 
shine. Of course, there were a good many aphides upon them, 
and these should be- got rid of by tobacco powder and syringing, 
or tobacco water with a bit of soft soap in it. On the other hand, 
you state- you stood some of the pot plants outside after having 
been started under glass. That in itself would account for the 
leaves turning red. The leaves of Roses are very tender, and 
those grown constantly out of doors often get badly damaged by 
cold weather in spring. They are more certain to get damaged 
by being stood outside after they are in full growth. 
Nectarine Leaves Blistered. (Slairn.) 
The specimen you sent was badly affected with Peach blister, 
a disease caused by a fungus named exoascus deformans. The 
only thing you can do is to remove and burn all affected leaves, 
and even those shoots that are badly affected, as soon as they 
appear. This may be serious enough if the whole tree is as bad 
as the specimen sent. The difficulty lies in the fact that the 
fungus lives in the- interior of the shoots fro-m year to year, 
and when once a tree becomes badly infected it rarely, if ever, 
recovers. It is a bad plan to plant Pea<ch or other fruit trees 
in very much sheltered places, as we have noted them as being 
more liable to attack and destruction from fungi under those 
conditions than when more exposed. You might try syringing 
them at intervals with a solution of g oz. carbonate of copper and 
2g oz. of carbonate of -ammonia in 8 gallons of water. This 
will destroy the spores and help to keep the fungus from 
spreading. 
Names of Plants. 
(J. R.) 1, Cupressus pisifera squarrosa, apparently, but the 
specimen was too small and not characteristic ; 2, Acacia deal- 
bat-a ; 3, Acacia armata ; 4, Sparmannia africana; 5, a species 
of Panicum not recognised ; 6, Phyllostachys aurea, apparently, 
but you should send a specimen when fully developed, as the 
leaves were shrivelled up in the letter ; 7, Chlorophytum elatum 
variegatum ; 8, Maranta bicolor.—(T. B.) 1, Scilla liispanica 
alba ; 2, Scilla liispanica ; 3, Saxifraga hirsuta ; 4, Saxifraga 
geum ; 5, Vinca herbacea ; 6, Dactylis glomerata elegantissima ; 
7, Pulmonaria angustifolia.—(R. M.) 1, Calathea zebrina; 2, 
Datura suaveolens ; 3, Eupatorium adenophorum ; 4, Chrysan¬ 
themum frutescens Etoile d’Or ; 5, Erica persoluta alba ; 6, 
Acacia armata.—(Chas Henderson) 1, Solanum jasminoides ; 
2, Pyi'us Maulei; 3, Begonia fuchsioides ; 4, Begonia Rex var. ; 
5, Pteris serrulata cristata.—(W. G. R.) 1, Sisyririncliium 
grandiflorum ; 2, Sanguinaria canadensis ; 3, Hesperis matron¬ 
al is ; 4, Lunaria annua; 5, Anemone sylvestris; 6, Phlox 
amoena ; 7, Omphalodes verna. 
