THE OA rdenino world. 
623 
July 30, 1904. 
Mr. Lester Morse.— At present we have a number of 
Americans sojourning with us, amongst whom is Mr. Lester 
Vtorse, of California, of Sweet Pea fame. He turned up at the 
Ugibition of the National Sweet Pea Society, and was received as 
L „u e st at the table where the new varieties were passed under 
■eview for the purpose of giving awards to deserving novelties. 
VIr. Morse is considered the largest grower of Sweet Peas in the 
L 0 rld. He was highly satisfied with the display at the Crystal 
Palace. The blooms were slightly smaller than usual, but other- 
vise in first rate condition. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
TAe Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column. These 
inquiries may cover any branch of gardening. Questions should be put 
s briefly as possible, and written on one side of the paper only; a 
iparale sheet of paper should be used for each question. 
Readers are also invited to give their fellow gardeners the benefit 
f their experience by sending supplementary replies. 
Replies cannot be sent by post, even if a stamped, addressed 
nvelope is enclosed, and the return of specimens cannot be undertaken. 
Inonymous communications are treated in the usual editorial manner. 
Address letters: The Editor, “The Gardening World,” 37 and 
18, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
closes on their own Roots. 
For some time past I have been considering whether Roses 
would do better on our soil if grown on their own roots than 
on the Brier. Would layering answer the purpose as well as 
cuttings? (T. Williams.) 
A few layers might be obtained, and would give strong plants, 
but Roses are often difficult to layer, owing to the stems being 
rigid and difficult to bring down to the surface o"f the soil with¬ 
out breaking the shoots away at the joints. A better plan, 
would be to take cuttings about six or nine inches long, cut¬ 
ting them away from the parent stems-with a small heel of 
the old wood. If the tops of these cuttings are too soft to stand 
up without flagging, it would be advantageous to remove them. 
A bed of soil should be made up of old potting bench material 
mixed with a good proportion of sand and leaf mould. If this 
were thoroughly incorporated with the natural material it 
would form a good medium for rooting. A hand-light or frame 
placed over this bed would serve to retain the moisture and 
save a good deal of watering, while at the same time prevent¬ 
ing the cuttings from getting exhausted of their moisture. Un¬ 
less this frame is in a shady position.it will be necessary to shade 
the cuttings for a week or ten days, until they begin to callus 
and to absorb sufficient moisture from the soil to support the 
leaves. 
5hrab3 for the Seaside. 
We would like to add considerably to our stock of shrubs on 
the sea bank here. It is a new garden, and we find that 
Euonymus, green and variegated, do well. Please name any 
others that would be likely to succeed. (A. L.). 
A very large number of flower and foliage shrubs are capable 
of making good growth even, quite close to the sea, provided, 
there is anything to shelter them from strong sea breezes in 
summer or winter, but especially in summer, when they are 
making their growth. It is easier to shelter dwarf plants than 
tall ones, ,and most of those which we name are of dwarf habit. 
All are naturally adapted to live by the sea shore by reason of 
the small size of their leaves, which are not liable to get toi'n 
by the winds. In any list that might be employed, you should 
not overlook the value of Tamarisk, Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae 
rhamnoides), Escallonia macrantha, Yaccinium corymbosum, 
I eronica Traversii, Y. ligustrifolia, V. pinguifolia, V. salici- 
folia, V. decussata, and Kalmia latifolia. The last named 
should be planted' in peat, especially if the natural soil is at 
all heavy. In the absence of peat you could use a liberal supply 
°f mou lI- Several other plants which succeed well at the 
seaside are the Sea Purslane (Atriplex Halimus), the Groundsel 
p ant (Baccharis halimifolia), and Tree Ivies in great numbers. 
he last named are oush forms of the Ivy, which form erect 
p ants and self-supporting, and, the Ivy being naturally well 
adapted to the seaside, these might be planted in a great num- 
pi of varieties. Somewhat tailer plants that would succeed 
'*' e Elaeagnus argentea, E. pungens variegata, E. umbellata, 
lagnolia glauca, and various others. The above are valued 
either for their flowers or foliage, or both. Nearly all of them 
are evergreen, so that this would give your garden the advan¬ 
tage of being well furnished, even in winter. 
Celery Leaves BILtered. 
The leaves of our Celery are very badly blistered with die 
fly, and large portions of the leaves are collapsing. Could you 
advise anything that would check it? (Perplexeu.) 
You have evidently allowed the pest to go unchecked until the 
leaves have been greatly injured. Your best plan now would 
be to remove the worst of the leaves and burn them. You must 
not, however, completely defoliate the plants, or you will check 
them as badly as the fly. All the sounder leaves should be 
retained, but you could examine them to discover whether 
any grubs are present in the leaves, and, if so, crush them 
between the finger and thumb. This operation might well be 
performed by boys, if you can rely upon them following out 
your instructions to be: careful and give every plant close in¬ 
spection. Some people succeed in keeping away the fly by dust¬ 
ing the plants with dry soot about the time that the females 
come about for the purpose of laying eggs. It might, serve the 
same purpose by syringing them with tobacco water, but the 
time for that is now past. There are more broods than one 
in the course of the season. The grubs now in the leaves will 
presently pass into the pupa stage for a few days, and the 
perfect flies, when hatched, will commence laying eggs upon 
the leaves again. By destroying every grub that you can find 
at the present time will be a great check upon future opera¬ 
tions. Attacks late in the season are not so dangerous as those 
in the early part of summer, when the plants are young ; but, 
all the same, you should not relax your attention, so as to 
keep them in check and save you from trouble for another 
season. 
Raising Hollyhocks from Cuttings. 
I believe there is a method of raising Hollyhock cuttings 
without heat, but I cannot lay my hands on the information. 
Would you kindly give me a few hints in your valuable paper? 
(Althaea.) 
Hollyhocks are very easily raised from cuttings any time 
now until the end of August, in the open air, fully exposed to 
everything except sunshine. You should therefore select a 
shady position under trees or behind a north-aspect wall, where 
you can stand the boxes until the cuttings are rooted and begin, 
to grow. They must not be allowed to get dry, but if the boxes 
are stood in a shady position less water will be required than 
if fully exposed to sunshine. There is another reason why 
they should not be exposed to sunshine, viz., that some of the 
cuttings would fail to root owing to the great heat prevailing. 
The method of procedure is to take young leafy shoots that have 
not flowered ; cut these into lengths about 2 in. long, each 
having an eye ; only the stalk of the leaf should be left. Get 
some boxes, drain them well, and fill them with a compost of 
light and very sandy soil along with a little leaf mould in it. 
Into this you can dibble the cuttings the proper way up, and 
just cover them over the top. After this operation give a good 
watering with a rosed watering-pot to settle the soil about 
the cuttings, and then stand the box in the position named, 
giving water only when necessary. 
Broad Beaus and Black Aphis 
The black fly is so numerous on our Broad Beans that they 
are checking the growth. Is there any effectual remedy? 
(S. Id.) 
By this time the Beans should have set a sufficient number of 
flowers to give you a full crop. The aphis is always worst on the 
young leaves, so that you can destroy a large number of them by 
removing the young- tops of the plants and burning them. 
It is not sufficient to throw the tops down, as the black fly 
would simply crawl up the plants again, and when the young 
leaves are destroyed the aphides only crawl down the stems to 
the older ones. After the removal and burning of the tops, 
however, you should syringe the plants with a very strong solu¬ 
tion of soapsuds mixed with a little tobacco juice. The black 
fly is rather difficult to destroy, and it might be necessary to 
repeat the operation, but by adopting such drastic measures as 
we indicate you should effectually check the fly. It would be 
ail advantage also’ to give the Beans a good watering at least 
once a week until the pods are nearly full size. 
White Fly on Tomatos. 
For some days our Tomatos have been getting dreadfully in¬ 
fested with the white fly, and syringing does not seem to have any 
effect on the pest. The leaves are getting speckled with white 
matter, which I have been told are eggs. W hat can be done to 
clear the plants without injuring the fruits ? (G. B.) 
The white specks are not eggs, hut the pupa or resting stage of 
the fly. Syringing would, of course, have no effect upon this 
