May 7, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
393 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column. These 
enquiries may cover any branch of gardening. Questions should be 
pul 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 g ve 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. 
Spraying Fruit Trees. 
Kindly give in your next issue recipe for spraying fruit trees. 
(Apple.) 
Your question is rather indefinite to know exactly what to 
spray for. It is necessary to know what is the enemy before 
spraying can be done with any reasonable hope of success. How¬ 
ever, your nom de plume seems to suggest Apple 1 trees, and pro¬ 
bably they have been attacked by the caterpillars of tbe_ winter 
moth. If that is the case they might be sprayed with Faris 
Green. For Apple trees the latter may be used at the rate of 
lib. to 100 or 150 gallons of water. As the Paris Green is more 
than three times as heavy as water, it is always inclined to sink 
to the bottom, and for that reason it is necessary to keep it 
constantly stirred all the time that spraying is being accom¬ 
plished. "The Paris Green should be beaten fine and mixed with 
a little water at first, in order to get rid of lumps. It should 
then be thoroughly mixed with the water, and each time that 
the sprayer is being filled the liquid should he thoroughly agitated 
to keep the Paris Green thoroughly disturbed. If you have a 
proper sprayer that should keep- it agitated while it is being dis¬ 
tributed over the trees. Another formula that has been used, 
with success is : Paris Green, 4 om ; steatite in powder, 8 ozs. ; 
caustic lime, 4 ozs. ; and water, 50 gallons. Even if you do not 
use all these materials or this formula, you might, in adopting 
the former simple plan, use a little finely-powdered lime in the 
mixture, as that will prevent the Paris Green from becoming 
soluble, which it is slightly inclined to do at times, and to injure 
the foliage. The lime, however, will prevent this. If you can 
tell us the enemy that is doing the damage or send us specimen; 
we shall advise you further. 
Vine Leaves Spotted. 
I have sent, you a few Vine leaves on which you will notice 
spots on two of the leaves. Can you tell me what it is, and ho w 
I can get rid of it ? The other leaves have turned yellow. What 
is the cause of that? I havei also sent some Peach leaves. Can 
you tell me how they are turning that silvery colour ? I shall be 
very pleased if you will explain them in your columns of The 
Gabdentng Woeld. (W. S.) 
The larger Vine leaves you sent us are in very good form and 
.substance, though somewhat, spotted all over the surface with a 
paler green colour. As these spots are perfectly transparent 
there is evidently nothing in them. One of tire leaves showed 
signs of having been scalded, but it may have been caused while 
travelling in the box. Nevertheless, it might have been a slight 
case of scalding. The remedy for that, i.s to ventilate earlier in 
[the morning before' the sun gets upon the leaves. The ventilation 
? will enable t he particles'of water on the leaf formed during the 4 
night to dry up, and scalding will thereby be prevented. The 
other leaves you mention of a light greenish colour would seem 
to us to explain the case. It is a different. Vine, and they have 
bowed the deficiency more than the .other, owing to the thin¬ 
ness of the leaf. We think this is a case where feeding is neces- 
.ary, in order to get more leaf green or chlorophyll in the leaves, 
fins is done in various ways by affording some manure containing 
litrogen, and might, be .supplied by watering the border at inter¬ 
nals of a fortnight with a weak solution of nitrate of soda, or by 
Riving a top-dressing of blood manure. The same results, might 
vlso accrue by watering the borders well with weak liquid manure, 
ay once a week for the next- month or six weeks. These two 
. atter manures will be much safer to. use than the nitrate of .soda,, 
vhich, being a highly concentrated .artificial manure, might be 
I "iven too strong. About j of an ounce to. a gallon of water would 
lie safe, provided the border has previously been well watered 
vith clear water. With these precautions, and by not. forcing 
he Vines too hard till the season 'is more advanced and sun¬ 
shine stronger, we think the Vines will recover themselves. You 
neglected to put Peach leaves into the box, so that we cannot 
be absolutely certain what is the matter with them, hut we 
believe from your description that they have been affected by 
the silver leaf disease, caused by a fungus named Stereum pur- 
pureum. This usually enters the tree by the roots, and ulti¬ 
mately causes the leaves to assume this silvery colour. The only 
thing you can do is to apply a top-dressing of lime to the soil, 
but if ithe disease has advanced very far we are afraid that the 
remedy will be too late to be of much service. Peaches, Plums, 
and other trees of a similar kind often die by being affected by 
the silver leaf disease. You may apply the remedy now, but it 
should have been mixed with the top soil of the border when 
cleaning the trees in winter. If the tree is not very badly 
affected possibly you may save it. for a year or two by cutting off 
any branches that may be showing the. malady. The ultimate 
remedy is to plant fresh trees after the soil of the border has 
been entirely renewed. 
Vine Leaves Malformed. 
I shall be glad to have your opinion through the medium of 
The Gardening World of the cause and cure of the peculiar 
appearance of enclosed Vine leaves. They were taken from a 
Vine growing in an amateur's greenhouse, which is only heated 
to keep out frost or little more. The Vine is planted out in a 
small inside border, and has three old rods and one younger one, 
and the leaves were taken from a short piece of last year’s 
growth on the young rod. These leaves are just at the base ot 
this year’s growth, and the foliage is healthy enough over 'the 
rest of the Vine except at this young rod. (G. T.) 
The leaves presented a very peculiar appearance, owing to the 
tissue between the principal veins not having developed in the 
usual way.' Instead of this the tissue .has grown out on the 
underside of the leaf, forming ridges of tissue, one side of which 
•is coloured green, like the upper side of the leaf, and the other 
resembles the under side. It would be difficult to say what lias 
caused this peculiar development, which we should describe as 
a malformation, and not a disease. It may be that the V i lie is 
rather starved, owing to the narrowness of the border, the poverty 
of the soil, or some similar cause. We do not think this is likely 
to be permanent or t o appear next year, but in the meantime we 
should advise you to examine the state of the border to see tha t 
the drainage is clear and the soil not water-logged. It might 
have been a case of starvation, owing to the roots being in bad 
condition at the commencement of growth. Otherwise we think 
there is nothing to be alarmed for, because the malformation is 
not due to a fungus nor to an insect, enemy. After seeing that 
the border is in good condition and the. drainage perfectly clear, 
you may resort to feeding the A 7 ine with weak liquid manure at 
intervals of ten days or even once a week, later in the season, 
when the border is drier and the Vine in its full growth. 
To Get Hesperis in Vigorous Condition. 
Our plants of Hesperis matronalis alba plena axe very strong 
this year, and we have a lot of them. We usually divide the 
plant's when they get large. Is there any better way than this 
to get strong plants ? (W. J.) 
In order to get healthy young roots the best plan of propa¬ 
gating these plants is to take cuttings in September and insert 
them in light soil in pots. In February, if the cuttings have 
made good roots, they may be potted on into 60 sized pots, or 
even 48’s, if they exhibit signs of making good growth. The 
young plants may then be hardened off and planted out as soon 
as the weather becomes sufficiently fine not to injure the young 
leaves. These young plants will flower well the first year after 
hein,»- rooted. They may be allowed to remain and to flower 
a second time, but we have always found the healthiest pieces to 
come from cuttings taken in good time in the autumn. 
Tomatos on a Hotbed. 
Can you give me any idea of what is the matter with our 
Tomatos ? They were all right until planted out in a frame and 
set over a hotbed the other day. (R. "W. J-) 
It is. just possible that the hotbed was too recently made up, 
and the 'Tomatos were put in the frame before the fermenting 
manure had cooled down sufficiently to be safe for the Tomatos. 
Newly made up beds of manure generally give off large quan¬ 
tities" of ammonia, and this gas acts injuriously upon the 
foliage of Tomatos in a. single night. The plants will recover 
if not too much injured, but you will have to he cautious on any 
future occasion by not being in too great a 11111*17 to place the 
