298 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
April 8. 1905. 
Lettcojum verntm carpaticttm. —Tire leading marks by which 
this may be distinguished from the ordinary spring Snowflake 
are the yellow blotches instead of green ones near the tips of 
the segments, and usually twin instead of solitary flowers on 
the scape. These distinctions are not very great, but they are 
sufficiently obvious. 
* * * 
Utility of the Wasp. —According to observations which 
have been made at the Canadian Government College, the ob¬ 
servers have arrived at the conclusion that many errors are 
fostered by people concerning the wasp. It is here considered 
that the wasp removes much putrid matter, and preys upon 
other • insects. It is considered a beneficial insect, entitled to 
protection unless it appears in excessive numbers. 
* * *■ 
Historical Pageant at Sherborne'. — A great historical 
pageant is in active preparation at Sherborne, Dorsetshire, to 
commemorate the 1,200th anniversary of the founding of the 
town, bishopric,. and school by St. Ealdhelm, a.d. 705. The 
pageant, which takes the form of a unique “ Folk Play ” 
specially written and invented by Mr. Louis N. Parker, deals 
with the chief historical events of the interesting town of Sher¬ 
borne, and will be presented in the ruins of the ancient castle 
on June 12th. 13th, 14th, and 15th. No more fitting stage could 
be found, and the town, with its rich historical associations, 
should draw large numbers of visitors to witness this interesting 
outdoor play, which will be entirely performed by the towns¬ 
people of Sherborne. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for repl>/ 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 
enve'ope 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. 
Iron Sulphate for Grass. 
I see in the issue of The Gardening World for March 4th the 
use of iron sulphate as a moss destroyer. Could you inform me 
wli'ere it can be got from, and oblige ? (A. B.) 
You should have no difficulty in getting iron sulphate from 
any wholesale druggist. In large quantities it is obtained at 
35s. per ton, possibly sometimes cheaper. In small quantities 
the rate would no doubt be higher, but your best plan would be 
to go into town and ask the local druggist to get you iron 
sulphate in a quantity which would meet your purpose. The 
substance is also known as copperas, ferrous sulphate, and green 
vitriol. We do not think you will have any difficulty in obtain¬ 
ing it in your town, but if not obtainable there the druggist 
can get it from Aberdeen. In using it be careful not to exceed 
the quantities given in the article you quoted from The Garden¬ 
ing World. 
Plants in Border. 
I send you some seedlings of a plant growing rather thickly in 
a border here. Before digging them down I should like to know 
if you can say what they are. (Seedling.) 
The specimens to which you refer are simply seedlings of 
Honesty (Lunaria annua), which is annual or biennial, according 
to the time the seeds are sown. When allowed to sow them¬ 
selves in the autumn the seedlings usually come up and last over 
the winter. Under such conditions the plant is a biennial, but 
if sown in spring it would flower during the summer if the 
conditions are favourable. 
Moss on Walk. 
Certain parts of the walks in the grounds here are always 
more or less green with very fine moss even in summer, thouo-h 
they are always well rolled. They are overhung by trees’ in those 
places, and have a weedy appearance. A means of getting rid 
of this would be much appreciated. (T. P.) 
No amount of rolling will destroy the green appearance in 
the places you mention, unless the surface is actually disturbed 
by the amount of the traffic. The green appearance is duo to 
the lower organisms, which may or may not be moss plants. I n 
some cases they are merely green Algae, which are microsco¬ 
pical individually, but in the mass serve to give the stones and 
ground a green appearance. Being members of the vegetable 
kingdom, however, you can destroy them by means of salt or 
some of the weed-killers offered by the sundriesmen. If those 1 
spots are sprinkled occasionally with sufficient amount of table 
salt to give the surafee a white appearance, the green matter 
will disappear. It may be watered after being placed there, or 
simply allowed to lie till melted by rain. The salt will only take 
effect for a limited period of time, and the weeds will grow'ao-ain 
when the salt has been completely washed away by rain. flih 
will take some time, however, and another sprinkling will clear 
the walk as easily. 
Cutting Ivy on Walls. 
When would it be safe to cut the Irish Ivy on walls? It 
harbours sparrows, which are busy building and very noisv 
(J. He RDM AN.) 
The Irish Ivy is simply a broad-leaved form of the common one. 
and quite hardy. It can therefore be cut at any time durum 
winter or spring as far as hardiness is concerned, but for appear' 
ance sake the Ivy should be left uncut until about to commence 
fresh growth. The green appearance is then soon after restored, 
the wall being covered with leaves in a short time. You should 
therefore cut the Ivy at once. It would be a vood plan to do 
this annually about this season of the year, which would prevent 
the Ivy from growing away from the wall and furnishing space 
for nest-building. If done every year there would scarcely be 
anything to cut in spring except leaves and a few young shoots. 
Stained Daffodils. 
I understand that Daffodils may be changed into various 
colours, or stained. Can you say how this is done? (R. W.) 
There is usually no difficulty in staining Daffodils by means 
of aniline dyes, which you may get in a considerable variety of 
colours. We prefer to see the natural colours, though if you 
are determined to stain them, even, this can be done with some 
artistic taste. For instance, orange, scarlet, or red would he 
the shades of colour that would answer well for the staining of 
yellow varieties of Daffodils. The white varieties, on the other 
hand, might be stained with pink, rose, or green. The method 
of doing this is to get some of the dye, dissolving it in warm 
water. It must be used in rather a diluted state, otherwise the 
flowers will fail to take it up. The temperature must also be 
fairly high, or circulation will be sluggish. All that you 
require to do is to put the dilute solution and the required dye 
into a tumbler or other vessel,and place the stalks of the Daf¬ 
fodils into this. The water containing the clye will gradually 
rise through the stalks, and entering the tissues of the flower, 
will colour the large veins first, and afterwards penetrate or 
percolate into the finer tissues. Should the~temperafure be low 
at the time of the experiment, all you have got to do is to plac? 
the glass and flowers in a warm room or put some warm water 
into the dye solution. 
Snowdrops Discoloured. 
Many of our Snowdrops this year have been much discoloured 
and crippled. I have never seen them behave in this way before, 
and I should be much obliged if you can say what it is and how 
it may be cured, if possible. (A. M. D.) 
At present you can scarcely do anything that will be of any 
avail. It would be a mistake to completely cut all the foliase 
at a time when it should he attaining its full development and 
assisting the bulbs. When the leaves die down the bulbs may 
be lifted, cleaned of earth, and placed in a bag with a handful 
or two of sulphur. The bulbs should be well shaken up, so 
that the sulphur may find its way amongst the scales, and 
thereby check the growth of the fungus which is the cause of 
the mischief. There is another method of dealing with the 
Imibs—that is to thoroughly wash them in a dilute solution of 
Condy s fluid. After the bulbs have lain awhile, they could 
again be treated by either of these two methods we mention. 
V\ hen you have lifted the bulbs from the ground, spread some 
quicklime over it where the disease was rampant amongst the 
Snowdrops. The bulbs may be kept in a cool, dry place until 
autumn, but- should not be kept out of the ground longer than 
can he avoided. Select a fresh piece of ground for them, some. 
distance away from the spot where the disease appeared. 
Pruning Rambler Roses. 
How would you prune Crimson Rambler and other Roses of 
that class to get the greatest quantity of bloom ? (Rambler.) 
1 all-growing Roses of the class you mention should be treated 
