42 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
January 14, 1905. 
the bare trunks of older trees. We think, however, that the 
young trees might be rendered distasteful to the vermin by 
being syringed with a weak solution of petroleum emulsion. 
We should recommend you to leave the young damaged trees 
in the ground as a bait for the rabbits, and apply the emulsion 
only to the fresh lot after they are planted. Provided the 
ground is not covered up in winter, you may not have any fresh 
trouble this year, but it would be well to think of the young 
trees next autumn, and repeat the application of the emulsion 
until the trees get sufficiently high to be beyond the reach of 
the rabbits. 
Pruning Roses. 
Will you please tell me in the next issue of The Gardening 
World in what way I should prune the following Roses in my 
greenhouse? They are all climbers. I have a yellow 
Banksian and Reve d'Or just planted in my greenhouse 
and trained under the glass roof. I also have a climb¬ 
ing Nephetos which had been planted last year. It has 
grown quite 15 ft. this summer. I have cut very few 
flowers from it. Do you think it is growing too fast ? I should 
like to know when and how to prune it. It has made a terrible 
lot of growth all over the roof quite 15 ft. long. Should I 
shorten or cut clean out? I have a Gloire de Dijon as well, 
which has made a lot of growth, but I do not know how to prune. 
Some tell me they only want a little thinning. 1 have been 
told to cut right back after flowering and to let them grow again, 
but I do not know wliat to do with the new growth while the 
other is flowering. (J. Bean.) 
The Yellow Banksian Rose requires a considerable amount of 
room to grow it properly. When strong young shoots are sent 
up from the base they will throw out shorter and spreading side 
ones in the following year, but even then you cannot expect to 
get many flowers from the same. The best return in blossom 
from these strong shoots is only obtained in the third year. 
Many people prune them too hard, and for that reason are 
unable to get many flowers. We should not attempt the cul¬ 
tivation of this Rose in a greenhouse owing to its bulky character 
and the height it must be allowed to attain before flowering 
freely, especially if not very sure about the treatment to be 
given. After the plant lias been well established it will of 
course give flowers every year provided you tie in some of the 
side shoots that have been made, about their full length. Reve 
d’Or should be pruned much in the same way as a Tea Rose. 
The young stems that come from the base should always be pre¬ 
served, or at least as many of them as you can conveniently 
accommodate in your house. During the second year these will 
give an abundance of flowers from side shoots. The long stems 
produced the first year may only be slightly shortened back to 
the properly ripened wood. After they have finished flowering 
the side shoots can then be pruned back and a fresh set of 
shoots will give rise to flowers again in the same way. The main 
stems will last for a number of years provided the roots are 
healthy. We fancy that you have planted your Roses too 
thickly to allow of the training up of all the young shoots that 
may come, but your aim should be to preserve the best shoot 
or shoots which you have room to accommodate and to cut back 
the rest to the base. As the first-made shoots gef old and less 
productive of flowers they can then be cut back to the base to 
mate way for younger stems. Your climbing Riphetos Rose 
has certainly been making very vigorous growth, but with 
climbing Roses you must always calculate upon this, especially 
when young, and leave plenty of room for training the stems. 
If you" commence cutting them down severely you cannot expect 
many blooms from climbing Roses, as they bloom from the 
side shoots during the second year of the stems. From what 
you say we judge that you have too many stems to be accom¬ 
modated in the space at your command. We advise you to retain 
just a sufficient number of the best stems to fill the space, allow¬ 
ing for the growth -that will be made this year upon last year’s 
suckers. The rest should be cut clean away. The Gloire de 
Dijon should be treated in exactly the same way as Riphetos. 
Reither of them may send up strong shoots from the root every 
year, so that you will have to rely upon the younger ones pre¬ 
viously made, but in all oases it simply means thinning out 
useless wood and leaving the best suckers almost at the entire 
length of the shoots. After the side shoots have finished flower¬ 
ing they may again be cut back within a bud or two of the main 
stems, and they- will simply repeat the process of the previous 
year." In such a case you will probably not be able to lay m 
young suckers every year, but you should always look suffi¬ 
ciently ahead to have at least one or more stems on ea-c-h plant 
in good bearing condition. You will thus see that we do not 
ask'you to cut back the main stem after flowering, but only 
the side shoots unless the main stem is too old to give good 
flowers or a sufficient number of them. We think if you keep 
your eye on these matters for a season or two you will be able 
to grasp the routine of these strong-growing Roses. 
Cinerarias P lagging. 
Many of the Cinerarias here from time to time present the 
appearance of flagging as if for want of water. The soil is not 
dry, but the leaves never rise up again though th£ crown con¬ 
tinues to live. I should be pleased if you could let me know 
what is the matter. (T. M.) 
One cannot always be certain from a description as to what 
is the matter with Cinerarias when the leaves show signs of 
distress by flagging. In some cases they will do this° on a 
bright day after a more or less lengthened period of cloudv 
weather. In such a case, however, they usually recover after 
sunset. A hen they refuse to rise up it is generally a sign 
that something is wrong with the roots. The drainage of the 
pots may be bad, and the soil water-logged. There might also 
be the grubs of certain weevils in the" soil, or they might be 
suffering from some fungus. A good plan would be to turn the 
soil out of the pots and inspect the soil as well as the roots 
themselves. By that means you can often trace the cause of 
the evil. Cinerarias are rather delicate soft-wooded plants, and 
it is not easy in all cases to account for their behaviour, but 
plants that behave in the way you mention might as well be 
removed from the house at once so as to give those left more 
space. Attend to ventilation and the proper exposure of the 
leaves to light on all sides, and that will help to keep the 
plants in healthy condition if watering is properly attended to. 
Colour of the Bullace. 
An argument has been going on here as to what is the Bullace. 
Some say the fruit is black and others say it is white. Please 
give us your opinion. (Bullace.) 
We should say that both of you are right, as some varieties 
of Bullace are black and others white. The wild one lias blue- 
black fruits similar in colour to most of the Damsons. White 
varieties must have turned up amongst seedlings at one time or 
other, and these have been propagated, but they may be re¬ 
garded as garden varieties, though nevertheless Bullaces. The 
white varieties are very popular or more frequently found in 
gardens than black ones according to our experience. 
Verbenas and Mildew. 
Our Verbenas from seed last year were so good that we rooted 
several batches of cuttings of the best of them, but some of the 
boxes are now badly .affected with mildew. What would you 
advise us to do ? (A. M. P.) 
We suspect that you have placed them in a house'that is too 
close and warm. Verbenas are nearly hardy or sufficiently so 
to thrive in a cool house, and, being soft-wooded, are very 
liable to be affected by a close and moist atmosphere, and this is 
probably what has happened in your case. The boxes should be 
placed on shelves near the glass of some cool house, or a vinery at 
rest but near the glass, so that the leaves will receive all the 
light possible at this season of the year. Plenty of ventilation 
on all favourable occasions will also serve to harden the foliage 
and enable it to resist the inroads of mildew, which is one of the 
evils to which Verbenas are particularly subject under the 
artificial conditions of treatment under glass. Your best plan 
as matters stand would be to apply flowers of sulphur in the same 
way as you would dust Roses suffering from a similar malady. 
Grubs in Primula Pots. 
Some of our Primulas died, and on turning them out of the 
pots I found a number of white grubs. Could you say what 
these are likely to be, and how they can be destroyed without 
injuring the plants? (B. T. W.) 
We should expect them to be the grubs of some of the weevils, 
which are well-known enemies in the garden, and glasshouses in 
particular. The most common one, committing depredations on 
a great variety of plants under glass, is the Black Vine Weevil 
(Otiorhynchus sulcatus). It may give you a clue to methods of 
dealing with the pest when we say that the old weevils lodge 
in crevices of the walls and under pieces of wood or anything else 
that will conceal them in plant houses. They come out at night 
and commit ravages on various plants grown in such houses. 
The grubs you found in pots would have been hatched out from 
eggs laid by the old weevils in the soil, either in the house itself 
or in the soil in the potting shed or in the soil out of doors, as 
the case may be. In all of these cases you can prove for yourself 
by hunting about until you find the weevils present by searching 
m all likely places about the house. As a safeguard everything 
should be removed from the house that is unnecessary for the 
wants of the plants. At the same time all cracks and crevices 
that would afford shelter should be filled up with mortar or 
cement, and the house generally kept tidy and clean, even in 
places where they do not come under the eye. As the perfect 
weevils come out by night to feed, you may often secure them 
by uaving the house a visitation at night after having previously 
laid down white sheets of cloth or paper underneath any plants 
