November 19, 1904 THE GARDENING WORLD. 
ago, but did n.ot see anything attacking them. Why should 
they be perforated in this manner? (T. E. 8.) 
You have probably been too late in observing the skeletonised 
condition of the leaves to see what has been attacking them. 
1'hey give every indication of having been attacked by the 
slug worm, which is not confined to Pears, but attacks various 
trees belonging to the same family. The slug worm in ques¬ 
tion is Eriocampa limacina, not a true slug, but merely a grub 
or caterpillar stage of a sawfly. These attack the leaves from 
the end of July to the beginning of October, during which time 
you will find the black slimy-looking creatures upon the leaves. 
The safest remedy is to hand-pick them, though that is a slow 
process if the insects are very numerous. You can, however, 
dust them with newly-slacked lime, at the same time placing 
a layer of this under the trees just where the grubs are likely 
to drop to the ground. They will probably get rid of the lime 
by casting their coats, but in order to defeat this object you 
should look over the trees next day and give them a fresh dust¬ 
ing of lime, which would settle the grubs. The layer of lime 
under the trees will also act beneficially against those which 
may have escaped being dusted. At this late period of the 
year no remedy can be taken against the grubs, as the insect is 
now pupated and passed into the surface soil to a depth of an 
inch or two. For this reason it would be advantageous to point 
over the surface soil after applying a good dressing of lime. 
We should not recommend gas lime on account of the roots of 
the Pears. 
Gooseberries and Birds. 
Please inform me how to protect Gooseberry buds from birds. 
(W. G.) 
A very common custom is to make up a mixture of lime and 
soot in water, adding a little paraffin to it to give it a disagree¬ 
able smell. It would probably be better to make this into an 
emulsion before applying it to the Gooseberries, as it would 
then be less likely to injure the buds. Another plan is to get 
some black cotton thread and wind it through and amongst the 
branches of the bushes. The black thread is difficult to see, 
and sparrows usually fight shy of it when placed about other 
bushes as well as Gooseberry bushes. It might be worth your 
while to try both of these plans on different rows of bushes to 
see which of them is most effective in keeping away the birds. 
Variegated Japan Hop. 
With us this variety of Hop always dies out every year, and 
must be renewed. Could it be preserved by means of cuttings 
so as to be well advanced before the usual planting time arrives ? 
(W. D.) 
It might be worth your while to take cuttings or shoots that 
have not flowered and try to root them. You would require to 
take those that are rather short and beginning to get firm. It 
would be necessary also to do this earlier in the season, say 
about the end of August or beginning of September. If the 
cuttings make roots you would then have to prevent them from 
flowering if they attempt to do this during the winter. We 
think, however, that it would be less trouble to sow seeds in 
the autumn and keep seedlings growing slowly all through the 
winter months. They would then be well established before 
spring, and would commence to grow rapidly as soon as they 
get established in the open ground or in their new quarters. 
Very little heat would be required for this purpose so long as 
frost is merely excluded. 
Temperature Required by Echeverias. 
4Ve have several species of Echeveria which we used in a 
variety of ways for bedding out purposes last summer. As they 
take up a considerable amount of space, would you say whether 
any of them could be kept in frames? (George Westland.) 
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weary brain-worker, and recuperates' the body after 1 physical 
fatigue. 
The most common one used for bedding purposes, namely, 
Echeveria secunda glauca, can usually be kept in cold frames if 
they are perfectly water-tight. The chief danger with this plant 
is the damping or rotting of the crowns by drip falling in them 
during the winter months. If you have frames with good 
sashes you can put in two or three inches of soil, and plant the 
Echeverias in this sufficiently close for the leaves to touch one 
another, and in this they will keep admirably without any water 
during winter. So hardy is this plant that in the more favoured 
parts of the country it is merely lifted in the autumn and 
planted under the shelter of a wall outside. The method of 
doing it is to commence with a layer of soil, then place a layer 
of Echeverias on their sides with the face- outwards, placing them 
sufficiently close to one another that the leaves may 
just touch. Another layer of soil is put on, then 
another layer of plants, until a high bank has been built up 
against the wall of a house covered with the Echeverias. In this 
condition they are even ornamental, so that they may be per¬ 
mitted ini well kept parts of the garden. In the case of E. 
Peacockii, E. gibbiflora, and E. g. metallioa, the plants being 
more tender must he kept in pots and placed in a sufficiently 
warm greenhouse to dispel moisture and enable the plants to 
take hold of the fresh soil. 
Grass Land and Crops. 
A very old piece of grass land is to be added to the garden here, 
and during the winter we intend to trench it. What class of 
crops do you think would do best on it the first year ? (T. W. H.) 
Grass land that is trenched now should be in a very good 
condition for planting Potatos in spring. These usually 
revel in newly taken in land, and are usually more free from 
disease on such fresh soil than they would be on land that has 
recently been much manured. Any of the Cabbage tribe would 
also succeed admirably on such land, even with little or no 
manure, unless the turfy material is placed in the bottom of 
the trench and poor soil brought up. This canl be remedied, 
however, during the second winter by retrenching the soil, and 
thus bringing the turfy material to the top, for by this time it 
would be in admirable, condition to nourish a great variety of 
plants. There is one danger, however, with which you will have 
to contend, and that is. the wire- worm, which is usually very 
plentiful in old pasture land, and when the grass, is turned 
down they often do damage to .a great variety of subjects sown 
or planted there for the first few years. They would give you 
least trouble during the first year in the case of Potatos. 
Fig Tree on House. 
I have read somewhere that Fig trees will thrive in a small 
quantity of soil. We want to plant one oh each side of the door 
of the house and the gravel close up to the wall. How much 
of a border would be sufficient to enable them to thrive ? 
(T. B. H.) 
If once you can get the trees to become established they pro¬ 
bably would not require any border to be made, that is if the 
soil is fairly good under the gravel path. Usually, however, 
the material under the pathway is made up of stones or some¬ 
thing similar to a considerable depth. In such a. case an 
opening 3ft. along the wall about 2ft. wide and 2 ft. deep, would 
give them a start, and enable them to become fruitful subjects 
in a few years. Figs do. best where they have not a great deal 
of root run, and for that reason they succeed best in the open 
garden on chalky soils where the chalk is of no great depth 
below the surface. You can, however, use. a good quantity of 
lime in the compost of loam and sand which you may make up. 
In case the trees have too great a root run, they will in a few 
years grow rather rampantly; that would depend upon the 
depth and the quality of the soil. In such a case we would put 
in a concrete bottom to the holes before planting the trees, and 
even then if in after years you find that they grow too ram¬ 
pantly it would be worth while taking out a trench, cutting back 
the roots and putting, in a brick wall so as to make a box in 
which to confine the. roots-. In most circumstances, however, 
the presence of a hard gravel walk above the roots will be 
sufficient to check their vigour. 
Storing Beetroot. 
What is the best method of storing Beetroot in winter ? We 
want to clear the ground for trenching. Last year we had a 
good crop, which was piled up under a north wall, but it did not 
keep well. (R. T. Wilson.) 
It is just possible that because the crop was good you did not 
take the trouble to be careful with the roots. Those who lift 
them should be careful not to break the roots in any way, and 
to cut off the leaves without injuring the crown of the root in 
the slightest way, as this causes it to bleed, and induces the 
roots to rot, especially if subjected to frost. It. is possible also 
