64 
THE OAR DEN/NO WORLD . 
January 16, 1904. 
liood of Krasnovodsk an area of 85 square miles was thickly 
covered with locusts, and the flour stacked in sacks on open 
railway trucks at a siding in Krasnovodsk was devoured by them 
in about a quarter of an hour during their passage over the town. 
The floods in 1896 were regarded as exceptionally disastrous ; 
but in 1903 they covered an .area three times greater. The 
Murgbab and its tributaries rose to such a height that on 
May 15th the water at Merv was 18ft. above the normal floods, 
and all the crops were completely destroyed. In other parts 
of Central Asia the crops havei been of a good average yield. 
* * * 
Money in Flowers and Fruits. —The will of Mr. William 
Edmund Brooks, member of the firm of William Brooks and 
Son, the well-known florists and fruiterers, of 184, Regent 
Street, London, who died on November 24th, shows that he left 
a fortune of £79,832. 
* * * 
A New Nttrsery Company. —Bedford and Company, Limited, 
was registered December 31st, by Jordan, and Sons, Limited, 
120, Chancery Lane, W.C., capital, £4,000, in £1 shares. 
Objects: To carry on, at Shiplake-on-Thames, or elsewhere m 
the United Kingdom, the business of raisers and growers of 
and dealers in fruit, flowers, plants, shrubs, trees, bulbs, and 
vegetables of all kinds, nurserymen, seedsmen, florists, market 
and landscape gardeners, horticulturists, etc. No initial pub- 
1 ic issue. The "first, directors (to number not less than two nor 
more than, five) are : R. A. Buddiootm and F. W. Norsworthy. 
Qualification, £250. Registered office, Ship lake, Oxford. 
* * * 
The Forbidden Tree. —A fruit supposed to bear the mark of 
Eve’s teeth is one of the many botanical curiosities of Ceylon. 
The tree on which it grows is known by the significant name of 
“ the forbidden fruit,” or “ Eve’s Apple-tree.” The blossom has 
a very pleasant scent, hut the really remarkable, feature of the 
tree, the one to which it owes its name, is the fruit. It is beau 
tiful, and hangs from the tree in a, peculiar manner. Orange 
on the outside and deep crimson within, each fruit has the 
appearance of having had a piece bitten out of it. This fact, 
together with its poisonous quality, led the Mohammedans to 
represent it as the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, and 
to warn: men against its noxious properties. 
* * * 
Presentation to Mr. J. B. Stevenson.— For the last 16 
years Mr. Stevenson has been honorary secretary of the Bourne¬ 
mouth Gardeners’ Association. On the occasion of the annual 
supper on the 5th inst. the members of the association took the 
opportunity of making him a handsome present. The presi¬ 
dent, during the course of the evening, introduced Mr. F. W. 
George, Who eulogised the services rendered to the association 
by the honorary secretary, Mr. J. B. Stevenson, and asked him 
to accept from the members, as a token of their appreciation of 
liis services for the last sixteen years, a gold watch, with the 
hope that he would continue secretary for many years to come. 
Mr. Stevenson, in reply, thanked the members for such a mark 
of their appreciation, and assured them that he would always 
endeavour to help keep the society in a flourishing condition. 
* * * 
Presentations to Mr. and Mrs. Niel Glass. The other 
evening, in the Station Hotel, Larbert, over 40 gentlemen met 
and entertained Mr. Niel Glass, gardener, Garbrook, to, supper, 
Robert Laird, Esq., of R. B. Laird, Edinburgh, in the chair, 
and Robert Tennant, Esq., DuTiiipa.ee, croupier. After supper 
the chairman, in a few words, gave the company a treat as to the 
number of prizes Mr. Glass hiad won in hi® day. The chairman 
then called on Mr. Wilson, gardener, Beechmount, to present 
Mr. Glass with a handsome gold watch, with the inscription, 
“ Presented to Mr. Niel Glass, gardener, Carbrook, by his many 
friends on his retinal after 37 years’ service.” Mr. Wilson, in 
doing so, s-aid of all the cups and medals he had got, this was 
a new one. He asked him to accept this from ,a large assemblage 
of friends. Mr. Hugh Thomas, gardener, Wbeatlands, then 
asked Mr. Glass, to accept a handsome purse of sovereigns, and 
in doing so he paid Mr. Glass the highest tribute that lie could 
do, to a brother gardener. Mr. Niel Glass made a very suitable 
reply. Words could not express bis feeling for all the kindness 
that, Ins friends bad shown to him. Mr. Donald McKerracber, 
gardener, Carbeth, then handed over to Mr. Glass, jim., a hand¬ 
some gold-mounted umbrella, with a suitable inscription, and 
said that Mrs. Glass had as much right as Mr. Glass 'for her 
share, as everyone got a good welcome. Mr. N._ Glass, jun., in 
thanking the comp,any, said he was sure that his mother would 
wear it for their sake. The company spent a happy evening, 
with toast and song, till near 12 o’clock. After singing “ Auld 
Lang Syne,” the company dispersed. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column. These 
enquiries may cover any branch of gardening. Question s should he 
put as briefly as possible, and written on one side of the paper on'y ; 
a sej a'ate slicet of paper should be used for each question. 
Readers are also invited to give their fellow gardeners ihebeneft 
o+ 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, Lcndon, E.C. 
Hardy and Half-hardy Annuals. 
Which do you consider the best eighteen hardy and half-hardy 
annuals? (W. W. W.) 
For general garden decoration we can give you a list of 
eighteen hardy and eighteen half-hardy annuals, but you must 
understand that to speak of the best is a matter of taste or 
opinion on the one hand, and, on the other hand, it might mean 
the best for any given purpose ; but you do not state this pur¬ 
pose, nor do you state whether the eighteen should include the 
lot. If so, you can select the first nine hardy ones and the first 
nine half-hardy ones. Hardy annuals: Sweet Peas, Shirley 
Poppies, Chrysanthemum carinatum, annual Larkspurs, Godetia 
Lady Albemarle, and others of that type, Clarkia pulchelia. 
Malope trifida grandiflora, Candytuft, Calliopsi9 tinctoria and 
varieties, Chrysanthemum coronarium, Lavatera trimestris, 
Linum grandiflorum rubrum, Eschscholtzia californica, Tom 
Thumb Nasturtiums, Phlox Drummondn, Convolvulus minor, 
and Neniophila insignis. The above are all very showy and 
popular annuals, whose beauty depends upon their flowers in 
the matter of size, colour, freedom of flowering, and easy 
culture. We can hardly confine ourselves to one colour of the 
more popular of the above, but you can get them in mixed 
colours if you wish to get variety in each of the eighteen. In 
the matter of half-hardy annuals you cannot do better than 
include Ten Week Stocks, China Asters, Dianthus Heddewigii, 
Nicotiana affinis, Helichrysums, Bartonia aurea, French Mari¬ 
golds, Marvel of Peru, and Nemesia strumosa Suttoni. The 
night scented Tobacco (Nicotiana affinis) and Marvel of Peru are 
really perennials which come up again from the root, hut by 
raising them under glass in heat you can have them in flower the 
same season, and whether you keep them on again or not is a 
matter of convenience. Other good things you might add in 
order to complete the eighteen are Oelosia pyram idal is. 
Rho'danthe Manglesi, garden Balsam, African Marigolds, Love- 
lies-bleeding, Nierembergia gracilis, Portulaca grandiflora, 
Mesembryanthemum tricolor, and Sweet Alyssum. The first 
nine half-hardy ones are decidedly generally useful and popular, 
but the others are often included in collections. 
Making Vine Border. 
I intend planting Vines in a 20ft. lean-to house. Unfor¬ 
tunately I have only just had the turf, and which ought to have 
been done last September. Under the circumstances, will you 
kindly let me know the best way to proceed ? Would it do if 
we plant the Vines on mounds with only just sufficient for the 
roots to run in this year, and-push off next September or the 
spring, following ? Your reply in next week’s issue will oblige. 
(F. Tomas.) 
You can make the border at once, taking out the soil to the 
depth of 3ft., and making sure that the drainage is good, either 
naturally or artificially prepared. We should advise you to put 
in the turf so as to make a border 3gft. to 4ft. wide. This will 
be sufficient for the roots to run in the first year. Next 
September you can lay down another 2ft. of turf against the first 
four, and the year 'after you can add another 2ft. until the 
border is thus filled with fresh loam. In this way the soil is not 
lying waste while roots are being formed. It does not, there¬ 
fore, get sour as it might do if you were to make up the whole of 
the border at once and have to water the same in summer time, 
thereby spoiling the border and losing the value of the fresh 
turf. The latter may be laid grass side down to the required 
depth, and then trodden Aim. The roots, will find their way 
into it readily enough. 
Good Varieties of Potatos. 
Please will you answer me the following question in your next 
issue of your valuable paper The Gardening World? Which is 
the best early Potato for earliness and for resisting disease ? 
Also for good crops, could you tell me one or two good varieties . 
(Phil.) 
All Potatos are more or less liable to disease, although they 
may he more or less disease-resisting in the earlier years of 
