342 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
April 22, 1905. 
Gardens, Shillingford, twelve plants of Cyclamen, which showed 
exceedingly high cultural skill, and were some of the finest 
specimens ever exhibited in the club room ; Mr. G. Cartel, 
Gordon Lodge Gardens, some fine plants of Cineraria, carrying 
large blooms of beautiful colours; Mr. W. Townsend, Sand¬ 
hurst Lodge Gardens, some interesting plants of Eupatorium 
ianthinum, with purple Ageratum-like flowers ; Mr. W. Barnes, 
Bear Wood Gardens, some excellent blooms of Gardenia; Mr. 
C Woolford, The Knowle Gardens, a vase of beautiful blooms 
of Marie Louise Violets ; and Mr. Slyfield, Wmnersh Lodge- 
Gardens, two vases of Anemone blooms, produced from self- 
sown seed, blooms of good size and varied in colour. 
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 
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. 
Azaleas not Flowering 
Usually very little attention is given to Indian Azaleas after 
they have finished flowering. They are merely kept in a green¬ 
house till fine weather enables them to be placed outside. Next 
year, after apparently ripening up well, they had not given 
such a display as imported plants. Is it possible to get a good 
display the next year after flowering? (Azalea.) 
According to your own account, the Azaleas are ripened up 
well after having flowered, but, beyond watering them, that is 
apparently all the cultural treatment given them. Years ago, 
when the big Azaleas were popular at flower shows, the same 
plants could be taken to the show year after year with a reason¬ 
able hope of gaining prizes. After the plants go out of flower 
all the blossoms and seed pods should be carefully cut off with 
scissors or a sharp knife to avoid injuring the buds in the axils 
of the upper leaves. The plants should then be placed in a 
warm house, say with a temperature like that of a stove, and 
well syringed in the morning and again before the house is 
closed for the day. This would induce the leaf buds to come 
away strongly and make good growth. This is the essential 
part in the culture of Azaleas that is often overlooked, seeing 
that small plants may be had so cheaply from the Continent. 
After growth has been completed, the plants may be placed in 
a cooler house to harden them off, or, if they are the sole occu¬ 
pants of the warmer house, the temperature may be allowed 
to drop till it has a greenhouse temperature. After a short 
period under the cool conditions the plants may then be placed 
in the open air on a bed of ashes in a well-lighted place, though 
not exposed to sunshine during the afternoon. Under these 
conditions they will plump up the flower buds for next year’s 
display. 
Boomed Potatos. 
The price of last year’s greatly-boomed Potatos is now much 
reduced, and it is possible to get a supply at quite a reasonable 
price. In face of these facts would it be risky to get a stock if 
they have deteriorated at such a rate? (R. S. D.) 
We do not consider that the Potatos have deteriorated to the 
extent you indicate, unless your word,is merely a slip for de¬ 
preciated, which would mean that they have simply lost in 
money value. From different sources we learn that most of the 
boomed varieties are not entirely disease-proof, any more than 
older ones. Being of recent origin, we should expect, at least, 
that they are still possessed of a relatively vigorous constitution. 
You should not hesitate, therefore, to get a stock of those varie¬ 
ties for planting which you fancy or think would suit your 
ground. The best plan would be to get a number of sorts and 
determine which gives the most satisfactory results both as to 
cropping and quality, rather than invest in a large quantity 
of any particular one. 
Repotting Growing Ferns. 
We procured some of the newer Ferns in small pots last 
January, and they are now in full growth, but the pots seem 
too small altogether. Will it be safe to give them a larger shift 
at this stage? (Pteets.) 
Seeing that the plants are making vigorous growth, we pre 
sume the soil in the small pots is well permeated with roots. 
There will be no danger, therefore, in repotting the plants, pro¬ 
vided you exercise care not to disturb the roots nor bruise 
the young fronds that are being made. If only slightly damaged 
at present the fronds will appear worse when they get fully 
grown. By careful handling and repotting there should be no 
danger in carrying out the necessary shift into larger pots. 
Dividing Tuberous Begonias. 
I have been told that tuberous Begonias of good varieties 
may be increased by dividing the tubers. Would you consider 
this a good method with this class of Begonia? (H. J.) 
We are aware that this method of propagation has been pur¬ 
sued by several growers of Begonias in private establishments. 
We do not think it is the best method, however, and should 
advise you to take cuttings of young unflowered shoots prac¬ 
tically at any time during the summer months till the end of 
August. These cuttings should be inserted in very sandy soil, 
and well watered when newly inserted. If you root them in a 
greenhouse or any other house in which the temperature is 
rather low, you must act cautiously with the watering pot. 
This does not mean that the soil may be allowed to dry out 
in the pots, but rather that it should be kept just moist until 
the plants have callused and commenced rooting. They will 
form small tubers before the leaves die down, and make nice 
little plants for starting into growth early next year. Young 
tubers that have not been cut will always be better than divided 
ones, and give you better plants in the long run. Good-sized 
plants will furnish plenty of cuttings during the season. 
Fruiting Recently Planted Strawberries. 
As a rule we lay our Strawberry runners in trenches in the 
autumn, and plant- them out in spring. They make good roots 
when so treated and are not thrown out by frost. They produce 
a few bunches of fruit, but the plants do not make so much, 
headway a,s I should expect. Please give your opinion on Tiis 
matter. (C. H. Bentley.) 
You state that the runners make good roots when put in 
trenches, but we have no doubt that they would make equally 
good roots if properly planted in September, even in yuur 
district. When about to make a new Strawberry plantation 
you should look ahead and endeavour to plant early crops of 
vegetables on sufficient area of ground on which to plant Straw¬ 
berries after the vegetables have been used. By this means the 
jolant-s will become well rooted before winter, more especially 
if you take care to plant the runners properly. We are aware 
that Strawberries even when planted out in March will produce 
a few fruits, but they are scarcely worth the trouble that would 
save them from being eaten by birds or otherwise spoiled. It 
would be necessary to mulch the ground with litter and to net 
the beds. The quantity of fruit thus ensured would scarcely 
pay for the trouble, besides which it tends to stunt the plants, 
preventing the weight of crop that you should get in the follow¬ 
ing season. By planting in August or September you would 
have good crowns, and the crop in the average of seasons would 
be worth protecting. Spring-planted Strawberries should have 
the flower trasses picked off them. 
Peach Leaves Blistered. 
I send some Peach leaves that seem blighted. The tree is 
growing on a wall outside. Please say what is the matter 
with them and the remedy. (T. A.) 
It is merely the early stages of what is known as Peach blister, 
and is caused by the fungus known as Exoascus deformans. If 
the tree is very bad it is probable that a certain amount of 
disease existed there last year even if you failed to notice it. 
It may, however, have been introduced by Peach trees or 
Almonds grown in the gardens or about the premises for orna¬ 
mental purposes. The fungus lives inside ihe tissues of the 
leaves and the younger branches, in which it proves perennial, 
so that when once the Peach blister has been established on a 
tree it may continue to appear year after year. When once the 
tree is badly affected it very rarely completely recovers if the 
situation is at all favourable to the fungus. In the meantime 
you can hold it greatly in check by removing and burning the 
blistered leaves, and if any of the shoots give the appearance 
of also being affected they also should be removed and burned. 
If a tree once gets so bad as to be unable to- bear good fruits 
it is scarcely worth the trouble of keeping. The best plan under 
such circumstances would be to uproot it and have it burned. 
By taking the precautions we have just mentioned you may 
be able to keep it in check. 
Tiger Lilies. 
A bed of Tiger Lilies here looks well at present, and we 
should like them to make an extra good growth. Would it be 
safe to mulch them with farmyard manure? (D. R. E.) 
