February 13, 1904. 
THE QARDEN/KQ WORLD. 
149 
being present, a lively and interesting discussion followed, in 
which Mr. W. B. Latham (chairman), Mr. W. Spinks (treasurer), 
and Messrs. Cryer, Herbert, Hamill, Lohrman, Gardiner, etc., 
took part. A very beautiful exhibit of very fine Cyclamens 
was put up by Mr. Cryer, gardener at Borrow Court, Edgbaston, 
to which a first-class Certificate of Merit was awarded. An inte¬ 
resting feature was added toi the association’s assets by Messrs. 
Lohrman and Co., art florists, City Arcade, Birmingham, in 
presenting a highly well finished “question box,’’ into which 
every member is invited to ask on cards provided one question on 
any subject, to be answered by any member present in. a short, 
concise manner. No name need appear—only the date of 
deposit in box. They will be dealt with each night, as far as 
time will allow, in strict rotation. One night of the session is 
set apart as “question night,” quite by itself, and most inte¬ 
resting it proves to be. —Speed. 
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 oj paper should be used for each question. 
Readers are also invited to give their fellow gardeners the benefit 
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, London, E.C. 
Caterpillar in Stems of Apple. 
Some little time ago a branch of an Apple tree was acci¬ 
dentally broken while being pruned, and a large pale yellow 
spotted grub was taken out of it. Can you say what this was, 
and how best to guard against it? (Quo.) 
The grub or caterpillar was that of the Wood Leopard Moth 
(Zeuzera aesouli), the caterpillars of which feed in the stems of 
various kinds of trees, including Apple, Pear, and Plum. 
You should look over the trees in order to 1 see whether you can 
detect any frass or sawdust-like drippings being thrown out 
from a hole in the stems or branches of the trees. Wherever 
you can detect these you may take it for granted that a grub 
is inside. The best plan for dealing with them is to get a 
fairly pliable stout wire, just sufficiently pliable to bend anl 
go in the hole. Push this up the burrow with the object of 
crushing the caterpillar. If you succeed in doing this the 
trouble will be at end so far as that specimen is concerned. All 
the trees should be looked over systematically, and treated in 
the same way if you find borings. Usually, however, the grubs 
are more active in summer, and it may be that no fresh 
chippimgs can be found at the present time to show that they 
are at work. The cold weather usually makes them go; to rest, 
so that you can bear the fact in mind in spring. 
Turnips and Millipeds. 
We have some Turnips wfhich are very badly decayed at the 
roots, and accompanying them are worm-like creatures with 
numerous legs often coiled up and secreted about the base of 
the tubers. Can you say whether these are the cause of the 
Turnips going bad, and the remedy? (J. R.) 
The creatures you indicate are millipeds, species of Julus. 
They have often been blamed, but as the roots are generally 
decayed when they occur, it is possible that something else was 
the cause, and that these are merely feeling on those portions 
which are decayed. It is just possible that the Turnips were 
attacked by the finger-and-foe disease or Anbury (Plasmodio- 
phora brassicae). They may also have been attacked by the 
grubs of the fly named Anthomyia radicum, which bares into 
the roots of various cruciferous plants. We think the remedy 
would lie in securing fresh ground where neither Cabbages nor 
Turnips have been grown for many years. The roots would be 
more likely to make healthy growth under this treatment, and 
would hardly be troubled with the millipeds. The present 
roots, so far as they are useless, may be buried very deeply some¬ 
where where they are not likely to be unearthed for some years 
to come, otherwise they might be burnt, so as to destroy any 
fungoid or insect enemies in them. 
Willows for Tying Raspberries, 
I understand that certain Willows are used for tying Rasp¬ 
berries and other things. Which are the sorts best suited for 
the purpose? (J. A. D.) 
There are some forms of Salix purpurea, particularly S.p. 
pendula, which are suitable for this purpose. Several varieties 
of the white Willow are also suitable, and perhaps more fre¬ 
quently used than any other for this purpose. In tying Rasp¬ 
berries the short and usually thin shoots are employed, and 
prove quite suitable. The Golden Osier (S. alba vitellina) and 
S. a. britzensis are both very suitable for this puipose, the 
former being, perhaps, more irequen.tly used than any other. 
Propagating Tecoma radicans. 
Can you tell me how to propagate Tecoma radicans, at pre¬ 
sent planted against a wall in a sheltered place? (T. B. .T.) 
If you could manage to get some of the shoots in contact with 
the soil, it would be possible to raise young plants by layering 
the shoots in July or August. The usual plan, however, is to 
graft it on the roots cf Catalpa. If you can get rooted plains 
of this, your best plan would be to place them in heat next 
month, and encourage them to make growth. Then sheets of 
the Tecoma could be grafted on the Catalpa, after heading down 
file latter. 
Pelargoniums for Cut Flowers. 
Some time ago I read in The Gardening World that a great 
quantity of Sowers for cutting could be obtained by planting 
out Pelargoniums. Could you let me know what kinds were 
used, and if they were trained in any way? (A. J. Wilson.) 
We have on several occasions mentioned the fact that Pelar¬ 
goniums had been planted out, both for covering walls in cool 
houses and also for supplying cut Sowers at various seasons of 
the year. It is only necessary to plant them out in light but 
rich and well-drained borders at the foot of walls, and train 
the shoots to wires or nail them to the walls, as might be con¬ 
venient. No particular method of training them is necessary 
beyond taking the stems in a more or less upright direction 
after widening them out at the base. Your endeavour should 
be to cover the wall equally with the main stems, which would 
be permanent; and all other branches arising from them would 
be pruned back annually, after they had done flowering, so 
that they would come into bloom again at a suitable time for 
supplying cut flowers. It is unnecessary to mention varieties, 
as any strong-growing and free-flowering variety of the Ivy¬ 
leaved or zonal section, and either single or semi-double, may 
be employed. 
Gladioli amongst Rhododendrons. 
Would Gladioli do well in a Rhododendron bed? I wish to 
brighten the beds after the Rhododendrons have gone out of 
flower. (II. D.) 
We presume that the Rhododendrons have been planted in 
peat. As far as we have observed, Gladioli would not flower 
very successfully in soil of that character. Gladioli require 
to be planted in a rich and rather substantial soil that is 
annually dug or trenched, as well as enriched for their benefit. 
In a bed of Rhododendrons it would be impossible to dig very 
deeply without endangering the roots of the Rhododendrons. 
If the soil is anything of the nature we have just described, and 
not peat, it is just possible that Gladioli might be grown fairly 
successfully for one or two years m it at least. If the soil 
is of a peaty character we should advise you to plant* 
Lilies such as L. croceum, L. pardalinum, L. superbum, L. 
auratum, or L. speciosum, and their varieties. 
Shrubs for the Seaside. 
Can you give me a list of shrubs that usually succeed well 
within a short distance of the sea front ? (J. W.) 
There are many shrubs that will give every satisfaction in 
the neighbourhood of the sea, if not subjected to severe wind 
for any lengthened period of time. Some of them succeed well, 
however, even when exposed to wind, including Tamarisk 
Euonymus japonicus and its varieties, tree Ivies, as well as 
the ordinary climbing Ivy for walls. In fairly sheltered situa¬ 
tions you can also plant species of Ceanothus Escallonia 
macrantiia, Myrtles, Garrya elliptica, the Strawberry tree, 
Fuchsia Riccartoni, Phillyreas in variety, and a number of 
the shrubby Veronicas. These latter two are usually very 
dwarf, but some of the more useful would be V. Traversii, V. 
salicifolia, V. parviflora, V. pinguifolia, V. carnosula, etc. 
Should you desire taller plants, or rather trees, for shelter, you 
might plant Finns austriaca, P. sylvestris, P. insignis, and 
Cupressus macrocarpa. 
Scented Leaves for Mixing with Flowers. 
Please mention in your next issue some things with sweet- 
scented leaves which may be grown for mixing with cut flowers 
in vases, etc. (J. Warner.) 
Several of the scented-leaved Pelargoniums are very suitable 
