September 3, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
713 
Cheap Plums.—T he Worcestershire! Plum crop is so good that 
the fruit is being retailed in the provincial markets at a penny 
a pound. 
* * •* 
Big Gooseberries at Winlaton Mill. —Some fine Goose¬ 
berries turned up at the annual exhibition held at Winlaton 
Mill, Neiwea&tle-on-Tyne. The heaviest weighed 26dwt. 12gr., 
26dwt. 8gr., and 25dwt. 19gr. respectively. 
* * * 
Accident to Altrincham Gardeners. —At Broom Edge a ’bus 
containing about thirty members and friends of the Altrincham 
Gardeners' Improvement Society overturned in consequence of 
a landslip. Beyond a shaking, and in some instances bruises, 
the occupants of the vehicle were, none the worse. 
* * * 
Potato The Pearl.— On Wednesday, the 24th ult., a party of 
Potato experts paid a visit of inspection to the experiment 
grounds of Messrs. W. W. Johnson and Son, Ltd., of Boston. A 
root of the new Potato The Pearl was lifted, and the visitors were 
so pleased with the result that one of them offered five guineas 
for the next root before it was lifted. Mr. Deal, the general 
manager of the firm,, was so> taken with the novelty of the situa¬ 
tion that he accepted the offer. Others followed suit at the same 
price. At 9,000 plants to the acre the Potatos would realise 
£47,000. 
* * * 
Blackberries from Holland. —The annual imports of Black¬ 
berries from Holland have again commenced. They gO' largely to 
the midland and northern counties, where they are much appre¬ 
ciated by the operatives and miners. They are also- uised in 
quantity by fruit preservers,. Blackberry jam meets, such a 
demand that there are never any stocks, of it left on the market 
after the year has closed. The Continental and also the 
British Blackberry crop is excellent this season. In each of the 
four kingdoms the bushes in the hedgerows are smothered with 
berries. Although not so large as they were last year, they 
will be quite as abundant, and in Wales they are perhaps finer 
than in any other quarter. Much of the fruit is consumed 
locally, and some is despatched to Bristol, Birmingham, and 
Liverpool for sale. 
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. 
Todea superba not Thriving. 
Some good sized plants of Todea superba were placed in a 
collection of greenhouse Ferns here, hut they have not done 
at all well. Is it possible to grow them with such Ferns as 
Lomaria gibba, Pteris Aspleniums, etc. ? (J. W. P.) 
It is not an easy matter to keep Todeas in healthy condition 
with fresh and green fronds in houses where such Ferns as 
you name can be grown successfully. The fact is that these 
Ferns have much firmer fronds, of harder texture than Todeas, 
and therefore capable of withstanding the evil effects of a dry 
atmosphere, to which they must often be subjected during the 
hottest parts of the day. Todeas might be kept in such houses 
during the winter, but if you are an enthusiastic grower, and 
would like to succeed with Todeas, it would be worth your 
while to make a frame of sufficient size to hold them, and place 
this in a shady position under a north aspect wall, either the 
garden wall or a house. In such a place it would be possible 
to keep these plants continually cool, and not at all subjected 
to sunshine at any period of the day. Under such conditions 
you could easily maintain the atmosphere in a sufficiently moist 
condition, even while admitting a small amount of air at the 
top of the frame in order to keep the plants healthy. 
Grapes Mildewed. 
I am sending you a bunch of Grapes which is in a very bad 
state of disease. It seems evident to be a severe attack of 
mildew, but this is not confined to the one house. The whole 
of the Vines are infested alike and in all houses. I should 
like, if you can oblige me in your next issue, information on the 
following matters : —Do you think that those Vines have had 
bad treatment previous to this season’s crop, and could the 
bad state of root be the outcome of the present? Would you 
advise destroying the whole stock and clean the house 
thoroughly with paraffin and soap to kill the germs of disease? 
Those Vines are not under my charge, an:l have been sent me 
for inspection, so if you can oblige me with a good opinion on 
the same it will greatly oblige. (E. Harris.) 
The Vines, as you suspect, are very badly attacked with the 
ordinary mildew, and it seems to us simply a case of sheer 
neglect. We have had very uncertain and very unsettled 
weather at times, bringing about conditions that are very much 
in favour of the rapid spread of mildew, but it could have been 
checked if taken in time with diligence and perseverance. We 
do not think that any previous bad treatment would have 
determined the present bad state of the Grapes, as mildew 
spreads so rapidly when it gets a footing that only one season 
is necessary for it to completely destroy the foliage and the 
berries if left to its own freedom. If the bunches are all as 
bad as the one you sent us, it would certainly be useless to 
leave them hanging on the Vine and drawing nourishment for 
Grapes that will never be fit for table. If there are any good 
bunches you should, of course, try to save them, otherwise the 
chief attention should be given to the destruction of the fungus. 
We should hesitate, however, to use paraffin and soap unless 
it is made into the form of an emulsion. Instead of this we 
should, with the object of preserving the leaves of the Vines 
so long as they are serviceable to the plant, merely attempt to 
destroy the fungus completely by painting the hot-water pipes 
with a thin paint of sulphur and water. At the same time we 
should, however, get a sulphurator and dust every affected leaf 
with flowers of sulphur. If there are no Grapes worth pre¬ 
serving, we should first lightly syringe the Vines to be dusted, 
so as to make the sulphur hang on and then make sure of apply¬ 
ing the sulphur to every leaf. It will be rather a tedious 
operation, but we should do it with the object of preserving 
every leaf intact upon the Vines that are of any service until 
they ripen off naturally. After this there will be less danger 
of applying paraffin as you state, but even then we should exer¬ 
cise great care, as the oil would prove injurious to those buds 
in which it might get. Paraffin emulsion would certainly be 
much safer. 
Points of Dispute at Shows. 
I will be much indebted to you for your opinion on a point 
of dispute at or.e of our local shows, and at which I was acting 
as one of the judges. One exhibitor showed a plant of Japanese 
Chrysanthemum W. H. Lincoln in a class for two flowering 
greenhouse plants. The point at dispute was whether a. plant 
of Japanese Chrysanthemum could be shown as a greenhouse 
plant or should it he classed herbaceous. I also saw a plant of 
Hydrangea paniculata shown in the same class, which, how¬ 
ever, did not get an award ; hence I suppose was not disputed. 
Your opinion on the point will oblige. (Birdeis.) 
We should not consider either of the plants you mention as 
greenhouse plants in the proper sense of the term. We do not 
think that the schedule makers would intend those to be in¬ 
cluded in a class for greenhouse plants, and the judges should 
not be justified in passing them as greenhouse plants. The 
Chrysanthemum is certainly a herbaceous plant, and, though 
not usually grown in borders devoted to this class of plants, 
it is, nevertheless, sometimes planted amongst them ; more 
often it is planted out in mixed borders of plants chiefly of a 
herbaceous character both annual and perennial, and' some¬ 
times borders are entirely devoted to them. It may not be suffi¬ 
ciently hardy to stand the winter in your locality in the open, 
although it would in the south. It may be used for greenhouse 
or conservatory decoration, but that would not alter the fact 
that it is mostly grown out of doors until required for use in 
such structures. Hydrangea paniculata is a hardy shrub, and 
would be desjrib :d as such at most shows where it is well known. 
On the other hand, judges would be more likely to accept H. 
hortensis (the common Hydrangea) as a greenhouse plant. 
Making a Watercress Bed. 
We have a good command of water, pumped up from a neigh¬ 
bouring stream by means of a hydraulic ram. I should esteem 
it a favour if you would say what would be till© best method of 
making a Watercress bed using the water obtained in this Way. 
(Nasturtium.) 
In preparing a bed, we should take out the soil to the depth 
of 12 in. to> 16 in., and then puddle the bottom and sides with a 
good, well-worked clay to prevent the water from sinking into the 
soil and escaping in that way. The object- should be to- cause it 
to rise up for a few inches in the bed and then, escape at one end 
of the bed, thus causing a down current in the water. That 
