August 6, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
641 
A Large Orange.— A grower at Bradin River, Konga, South, 
Atrica, lias grown an Orange 12m. in diameter, and weighing 
91bs. 
* * * 
A Chestnut Diet. —There are many districts in Italy and 
Spain where the Chestnut takes the place of oats, rye, and rice. 
Chestnut groves are abundant in all the mountain districts of 
Italy and Spain, and the season of Chestnut gathering is the 
harvest festival of those countries. In the old times Chestnuts 
were the common ration provided for the soldier, and when 
there was a probability that a castle was likely to be Jbesieged, 
out went the soldiers and laid violent hands on all the stores 
of Chestnuts within easy reach. Chestnuts in Italy, dourra in 
Egypt, Sweet Potatos in many inland districts in Africa, 
Bananas, Raisins, Dates, and Figs almost everywhere in the 
tropics, wheat in the temperate zones—these are staples where 
meat is a luxury. 
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 of paper should be used for each question. 
Readers are 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. 
Tomatos not Colouring. 
Will you kindly inform me through the medium of your 
valuable paiper if the enclosed Tomatos are affected with disease % 
If so, will it be safe for me to use any of them, as I have over 
200 lbs. hanging. Can you tell* me the probable cause if 
diseased? Thanking yon in anticipation!. (Anxious.) 
Your Tomatos are evidently affected with what is usually 
regarded as bacterial disease, that is they have been attacked by 
microscopic vegetable organisms known as bacteria. These have 
probably been in the soil or else introduced by water. As they 
are like the Tomatos themselves, merely vegetable organisms, we 
scarcely imagine that they could be detrimental to health. The 
appearance of the Tomatos, however, or at least* Die worst of 
thiean, is against their being used at tablet What you should 
do, therefore, is to pick off and burn all the worst of them. The 
others may colour up sufficiently Ito be of service. The ideal 
against the use of the worst samples is that the flavour would be 
inferior, thus rendering them useless, at least for dessert pur¬ 
poses. There can be no danger, however, of using the best of 
them for culinary purposes, remembering always that those badly 
affected lack both colour and the natural flavour, and should 
be discarded. It is just possible that the bacteria may have 
entered by the decaying -style while the atmosphere was* kept in 
a moist and saturated condition. 
Delphiniums Flowering a Second Time. 
I understand that Delphiniums can be flowered a second time 
by giving them -some particular D'eatiment. Any instructions 
you might give would be thankfully received. (W. M.) 
Some varieties of Delphinium are more ready to flower a. 
second time than others. Seedlings etre usually easily induced 
to flower a second time. As soon as the first* flowering stems have 
gone out of bloom, they Should be cut down and the plants well 
watered if the weather is at all dry *a*t the time. The seoond 
flowering is the result of a second growth made e*£?rly in. the season, 
and that applies to seedlings* which are usually of small size and 
have not fully occupied the ground. At the same time, there 
are several varieties which are more inclined to behave in this 
vay than others. This would include the dwarf growing Azurea. 
Lou could at the s-atoxe time, when cutting it down, mulch the 
ground with short manure or oocoaaiut fibre, to* retain the 
moisture. If after -this we get much rain, this extra trouble 
would be unnecessary. 
Onions and the Maggot, 
Tlie rnaggit has been* very bad this year, ana our Onions* have 
een badly damaged. We are at a loss to know how to dea-1 with 
*iem. Could you suggest any remedy ? (Allium.) 
©move the bulbs with drooping leaves, giving an indication of 
a +v ’ al -n Jna ^ e sure a,ll| l destroy them with the young maggots, 
is will help to prevent trouble in the future. The remain¬ 
ing healthy plants should have frequent good soakings of water. 
Liquid manure water may also* be given at intervals, with a 
sprinkling of guano or blood manure. These three manures 
furnish the Onions with a ready supply of nitrogen, which 
stimulates the plants to vegetative growth.' The chief difficulty 
with Onions in the early stages is that the grub usually kills 
the plant, as the laijter has yet no* reserve. Later in* the season, 
when the plants have attained some size, they may be attacked 
with maggots without showing very much i'll effect. Another 
year you could commence earlier. Should the weather be in¬ 
clined to be wet, you need only apply the manures above* named, 
giving them alternate doses, erring on the weak side rather than 
the sitrong. Soon after germination the plants are more in need 
°'f nitrogen than later on., but by commencing early, and making 
suie Diat they are kept moist at the roots, and furnished with 
the necessary stimulants, you should be able to get better Onions 
than any attempt you can now make* at this advanced period of 
the season. If you know how t-o make petroleum emulsion, you 
could syringe the Onions with a very weak solution of that in 
the early part of the season, and that would help to keep the 
fly at bay, as it dislikes the smell of the oil. 
A Succession of Carnations. 
Our Carnations have flowered splendidly this year but they 
have been of very short duration. Is there any means of pro¬ 
longing the display in dry seasons, so as to give us a supply of 
cut flowers? (J. P.) 
For the mere purpose of getting large quantities of cut flowers 
it would be worth your while to raise a batch of seedlings 
annually, as seedlings give a greater quantity of flowers over 
a longer period than those which have been raised from layers. 
The plan is to raise them fairly early in the season, and plant 
them out in beds of well-j)repared soil which has been pre- 
viously manured. These make vigorous growth during the sum¬ 
mer, and next year form large branching tufts with numerous 
stems, giving a profusion of flowers over a long period. These 
should be planted at least 15 in. apart every way, and if you 
have plenty of ground it would be advisable to give them 
even more, as the plants are capable of making a great amount 
of growth when planted out early the previous summer. You 
should take the precaution of getting a good strain of seed, 
and for cut flower purposes a large number of them will be 
almost as good as named varieties for ordinary decoration. 
Vegetables for Exhibition. 
I had a fine lot of vegetables at our flower show here, and 
some of them were much larger than those on the first-prize 
stand, yet I failed to get a prize. Could you give me any 
reason for this failure? Several gardeners thought I should 
have been first. (Brassica.) 
As you state that some of your vegetables were of large 
size, it is more than probable that yon laid stress upon the 
large ones, when you might have done better by selecting those 
that would match one another for size. For instance, large 
Cabbages are not desirable. Moderate-sized specimens, if 
shapely and firm, would be much more telling than very large 
and coarse cabbages for table use or exhibition purposes. Beet 
should not be very large; Carrots and Parsnips are usually 
admissible, even of the largest size, but the principal points 
are that they should be of even size, and perfectly smooth and 
clean on the skin. In like manner, you should select Potatos 
of as nearly one size as possible. The dressing of these 
and various other vegetables should be done with a cloth 
rather than a brush, so as to avoid bruising the skin in any 
way, as this tends in a short time to discolour the, same. 
By making notes at exhibitions of first-prize lots of vegetables, 
and seeking to make your specimens similar, you may in a 
short time rival, or even excel, the winning exhibitors. Speci¬ 
mens with small defects should not be admitted in dishes of 
vegetables, as the judges are always on the outlook for such, 
even if carefully hidden by the exhibitor. 
Propagating Pinks. 
Our Pinks flowered fairly well, but they did better last year, 
when the plants were not so large. The clumps are getting 
somewhat open in the centre, and I think that young plants 
would be better. Would cuttings be the best plan at this 
season? (D. D. R.) 
Different cultivators have their own particular notions and 
favourite plan of propagating Pinks, and while some growers 
raise them entirely from cuttings, others cannot succeed in 
this way, and resort to layering, in the same way as they do 
Carnations. It is now fairly late in the season for taking cut¬ 
tings, and unless you want a very large number of plants you 
should layer the best of the shoots on the old plants. A layer 
