THE GARDENING WORLD. 
611 
July 11,1903. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column. These 
enquiries may cover any branoh of gardening. Questions should he 
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. 
Reeders ere 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 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. 
Red Currant and Rufous. (M. McLaren.) 
The full address you ask for is Caesarean Nurseries, Jersey. 
We do not anticipate you will have any difficulty in procuring a 
Rubus deliciosus, as it is fairly common in the south, and all 
large growers of trees and shrubs would have it. We note, how¬ 
ever, that it is catalogued by Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, Ltd., 
King’s Road, Chelsea, London. We had some suspicion that 
frost was the cause of the damage to- Pear trees, but the fruits 
were rather crushed when they reached us. 
Book on Insect Pests Attacking Fruit Trees. (J. Scott and 
Co. and A. T. Stacey.) 
There are two books on the subject which we think would 
suit your purpose. The older one is “ Manual of Injurious 
Insects, and Methods of Prevention,” published by Simpkin, 
Marshall and Co., Stationers’ Hall Court, London. The price 
rif the book is not marked upon it, but, as far as we remember, 
it is 5s. A more recent book is “ Handbook of Orchard and 
Bush Fruit Insects,” by the same publishers. The price is 
3s. 6d., and, of course, postage would be extra. The latter, 
being the most recent book, we think would suit your purpose 
quite as well as the other. Both of them were written by the 
late Miss Ormerod. 
Tomatos Affected with Disease. (M. C.) 
The specimens you sent were affected with Tomato bacteriosis, 
a disease which is of frequent occurrence, especially in the 
winter and early spring, when the light is defective, and cul¬ 
tivators are loth to ventilate on account of the cold weather 
and the extra firing it would necessitate. The specimens we 
have seen suffering in that way, however, did not always col¬ 
lapse. Unless the plants were very bad they generally grew 
out of it with the advent of finer weather. There is no real 
cme for it, so that prevention must be adopted. The tissues 
of Tomatos being very soft* are very liable to a number of 
diseases when placed under unfavourable conditions, such as 
a close, moist atmosphere, with insufficient ventilation during 
dull, cloudy, or wet weather. The chief antidote to this is 
freer ventilation and a drier atmosphere, even if it be neces¬ 
sary to give a little extra fire heat in the earlier part of the 
season in order to keep up the requisite temperature. At present, 
however, you should manage to check the ailment by giving 
plenty of ventilation and keeping the atmosphere of the house 
as dry as possible. Only one of the fruits you sent us was 
affected and dropped off, the ailment being chiefly confined to 
the fruit stalks. 
£. L. All Wash and Yellow Thrips. (N. B.) 
j You say your seedsman sent you a bottle of liquid for 
fumigating with, but if it was liquid it must also be suitable 
for washing the plants with. All that you would have to do 
is to dilute it with water until sufficiently weak not to injure 
the plants. This should be used by sponging the plants with 
the liquid. It may be necessary to use a small brush in many 
cases, in order to get inside the leaf sheaths, where thrips 
may be lurking. We should prefer using it in the afternoon if 
possible, so that if any washing with clean water were neces¬ 
sary it could be done the following morning. Just now it 
does not seem to us to be necessary to select a bright day, 
because if washed with the syringe in the morning the plants 
will have time to dry before night. If you use the sponge as 
directed for the XL All wash, there need not be any moisture 
left on the plants. 
Seedling Tuberous Begonia Blooms. (T. W. Gerard.) 
The blooms you sent were very good for seedlings. Tire 
argest one was, however, the best and most refined. The others 
were somewhat lacking in quality compared with the finest 
blooms we see at exhibitions nowadays. You cannot, however, 
expect all the blooms from a packet of seed to be good or first- 
class. The best plan to pursue is to select the very finest from 
every packet of seedlings that you raise, and gradually dis¬ 
card all the worst of them. If you were to do this for a num¬ 
ber of years you could get a collection of first-class varieties 
together in course of time. The white one was certainly suffi¬ 
ciently double, but the petals were not so broad as in the case 
of the scarlet one. 
Onions Attacked with Disease. (Omega.) 
The specimens you sent us were attacked with a fungus named 
Peronospora schleideniana, and popularly known as the Onion 
Mildew. In our experience this occurs most often in wet seasons, 
and no doubt the unpropitious weather during June, must be 
held accountable for your plants being so badly affected. It does 
not follow, however, that they will be equally as bad next year 
unless the weather is as unsuitable as it has been recently. When 
once the Onions have been attacked there can hardly be any real 
cure by means of a wash, as the fungus passes into the interior 
of the leaves. In order to lessen the chance of attack next year 
we should advise you to prepare beds of ground for Onions in a 
different, part of the garden, and in a fully exposed position. 
Onions want all the light possible, and should not be placed 
under the drip of trees or anywhere near them, because such 
shelter has the effect of making the conditions suitable for the 
fungus and unsuitable for the Onions. Fresh ground in an open 
situation will, therefore, loosen the chances of attack next year, 
and if the weather is more suitable you may not be troubled. 
You should be careful that the Onions that are useless, and being 
pulled up, are not thrown on the rubbish heap, where they are 
likely to be brought back to the garden again. All diseased 
Onions that you pull up should be burnt at once. 
Lily Bulbs. (W. S. A.) 
The bulbs you sent us did not show any mites as far as we 
have been able to observe, but they seem more likely affected 
with the fungus producing Lily disease, particularly those which 
you lifted from the open ground, the leaves of whicR bore un¬ 
mistakable evidence of fungus attack. Liliuin candidum is very 
liable to destruction in this way, and where the disease has once 
broken out it is almost certain to appear year after year. The 
best remedy that has hitherto been, discovered is to lift the bulbs 
soon after the stems and leaves have died down. Clear them of 
soil, and place them in a strong paper bag with a quantity of 
flowers of sulphur, shaking them, up so that the sulphur would 
pass in between the scales, and thereby come in contact with as 
much of the disease- as possible. If this is done the bulbs should 
be planted in fresh soil. Before putting them into the sulphur 
you might wash them with water to get the soil and all other 
matters off the bulbs. ^ Then you might dip them in a fairly weak 
solution of Condy s Fluid. After leaving them in this for an 
hour or so you could then allow the bulbs to get diy, and then 
apply the sulphur remedy as above advised. You mention lift¬ 
ing these bulbs for forcing, but as Lilium candidum resents dis¬ 
turbance at the roots we should dissuade you from using them 
for this purpose. When once they 'become established and°flower 
well in any part of the garden, we should leave them there till 
they get too crowded, arid do not give satisfaction in the way of 
flowers. Then they might be transplanted in order to thin them 
out. 
Rooting Show and Regal Peargoniums. (A. G. S.) 
The best plan of dealing with this class of plants is to stand 
them out of doors as they go out of bloom, and withhold water, 
so that they may get entirely dry. The cuttings, after havin' 
ripened their wood and dispensed with a great deal of their 
superfluous moisture, are then easily rooted without fear of 
damping. Although the lower leaves of the plants drop away 
by reason of the want of water, that will be all the better for the 
cuttings rather than otherwise. If you want to grow on the old 
plants again they may be closely pruned back to the old wood 
at the time you take the cuttings. Insert the cuttings firmly m 
pots of sandy soil, and stand them in a greenhouse until rooted, 
and they commence to grow. You could then pot them up singly 
in small pots, shifting them on later as required. TheymustVe 
kept in a cool greenhouse, and well ventilated during the winter 
Sowing Campanula Pyramidalis. (G. Holding.) 
If seeds are merely sown now the plants could hardly be ex¬ 
pected to bloom next year. This Campanula requires to set 
strong before it can bloom. If sown now, however, you could 
get plants that may be put out in permanent positions by October, 
