668 
Ttib QARDEMNG WORLD 
August 19, 1905- 
came to examine them they are turning grubby 
and rotten at the roots. 1 have dressed them 
occasionally with soot and lime, but they have 
turned grubby. What is the reason? (Constant 
Reader. ) 
Your garden must be very much infested with 
the Onion grub, and it wili certainly cause you 
some labour to so improve it as to get rid of the 
grubs. Lime and soot have not the slightest 
effect upon the grubs after they have entered the 
bulbs, and some are of opinion that the grubs 
cannot be kept away by that means at all. The 
Onions that are grubby certainly will not keep 
well in winter, and we should advise you to use 
all those that are usable and to burn those that 
are worthless. You need not hesitate about doing 
this at once, for the simple reason that if you 
neglect them the grubs will pass into the resting 
stage in the soil, and turn up as files next spring 
to torment you. Having destroyed every Onion 
that is useless, and removed the others after 
they are ripe, we should advise you to trench the 
ground two or more feet deep, placing the top 
spit down in the bottom, so as to bury any grubs 
and pupae that may be in the top soil. We are 
not sure whether you intend to sow the same land 
with Onions again next year, but we know that 
it is certainly possible to take good Onions off 
the same land for twenty years in succession, pro¬ 
vided it is properly worked and manured annually. 
In the springtime, when the weather is inclined 
to be cold after the seedlings are up, it would 
be well to water the Onions with a small quantity 
of guano in water, say a handful of guano to each 
three gallon can of water; ^ oz. of nitrate of 
soda to a. gallon of water would make a good liquid 
to use alternately with guano. The object of this 
is to cause the Onions to make vigorous growth 
as early in the season as possible, as they thereby 
escape being entirely destroyed by the grubs. 
We believe, also, that the smell of the guano 
would help to keep the flies away and prevent 
them from laying their eggs. Judging from the 
present badly-infested condition of your Onions, 
we should think it would be well to make a 
sowing of Onions in the open ground at once, to 
stand the winter for transplanting in spring. A 
still better plan is to make a sowing of Onion 
seed in heat about, the end of January, sowing 
the seed in pans and transplanting them into boxes 
as soon as they have made the second leaf. A 
little heat is necessary first, after which you can 
stand the box in a cooler house, giving more air, 
so that the seedlings will come along slowly until 
the weather becomes fine in April. In the mean¬ 
time, you should have properly prepared your 
Onion ground during the winter, and, when about 
to plant, the rough soil should be levelled down, 
raked fine, and the Onions planted at the re¬ 
quired distance apart in lines 12 in. to 15 in. 
asunder. Onions that are sown in autumn, and 
also those that are reared in heat early in the 
year and transplanted, mostly always escape the 
Onion grub, and people who fail to get Onions in 
the usual way adopt these methods because the- 
Onions can make good growth at a time when the 
flies are not about. 
White and Red Rose. 
We have a lawn in front of our house with a 
path down the centre of it. Instead of two beds 
of Geraniums we would like to substitute a red 
and white Rose. Would you name two that would 
be suitable for this purpose, which would form 
bushes producing plenty of Roses? (C. A. R.) 
We are uncertain what is your taste in the 
matter of Roses, so that we can offer you pairs 
of different types of Roses, any one pair of wnich 
would give you plenty of Roses of a useful charac¬ 
ter. For instance, for a white you might plant 
Rose Celestial, which is blush, but at a distance 
appears white, and makes a large bush, producing 
any quantity of Roses during midsummer. As a 
red for contrast to this one you might plant Red 
Damask. Both of these are old varieties, and 
very sweetly scented. The red one may not make 
so tall a bush as the other. If you would like 
two large bushes you could plant Blanche Double 
de Coubert and Poitevine, white and red varie¬ 
ties of the R. rugosa type. On the other hand, 
you could plant- little clumps or beds of the old 
crimson monthly Rose and White Pet, both of 
which are dwarf. If you would prefer hybrid 
perpetual Roses then you might plant General 
Jacqueminot and Frau Karl Druschki, as free 
flowering red and white Roses. 
Cabbages and Caterpillars. 
I cannot keep my growing Cabbages clear of 
being eaten up by caterpillars. I dusted them 
when young with lime, but to no avail. I have 
given them up disgusted. I have picked scores of 
the leaves. (Constant Reader.) 
We do not think that dusting the plants or the 
ground with lime in the early stages would have 
any effect upon caterpillars whatever. The eggs 
are laid upon the plants by moths and butterflies 
after the plants have attained some size. Ine 
eggs hatch out, giving rise to swarms of cater¬ 
pillars, that often play sad havoc with greens in 
gardens. We cannot advise the use of any 
insecticide upon plants that are intended to be 
eaten. Picking is really the only remedy. The 
worst leaves could be cut off, placed in a basket, 
and carried away to be destroyed by pigs or 
chickens. Then you might set some boys to go 
over the plants systematically and pick off every 
caterpillar they can find. That is the only remedy 
we can suggest. When Greens are grown in open 
situations in well-cultivated ground they are not 
easily infested to the extent you mention, but 
we know that small gardens are often very 
severely punished by what is practically a plague 
of caterpillars. If you persevere in eradicating 
the caterpillars you may not have half the trouble 
with them next year, although there is no abso¬ 
lute guarantee. Still, we think it is worth while 
to persevere in order to save the Greens, espe¬ 
cially if they are intended for winter work. This 
work could very well be done by boys for a small 
amount of remuneration. It may be that your 
garden is infested owing to your neighbours’ 
gardens being in a sadly neglected condition, and 
possibly if you show a good example your neigh¬ 
bours might follow suit. 
Chrysanthemums Losing Leaves. 
I have a small collection of early flowering and 
single Chrysanthemums in pots, but they have 
lost their lower leaves badly. Can you account 
for this? I have watered them well. (W. D. R.) 
It is sometimes very difficult to retain the lower 
leaves of Chrysanthemums during hot and dry 
seasons, but it is often partly due to the weak 
and tender condition of the leaves made upon 
the plant while they are still under glass. If 
the plants are allowed to stand 'too thickly to¬ 
gether the plants shade one another, and the 
leaves never acquire anything like their natural 
substance. Then when they are stood in the open 
or exposed to sun and wind they soon somplete 
their short, existence and wither up. We think 
it would be an easy matter to make a plantation 
of these early flowering and single Chrysan¬ 
themums in the open ground, say in May or June, 
and give them plenty of room, so that the foliage 
will be fully exposed on all s'des fi’om their 
earlier stages. By this means they grow away 
dwarf and sturdy, with good substance. Then 
some time prior to their commencing to flower you 
could run a spade down each side of the line of 
plants and between the plants. This would cut 
some of the roots without checking the growth. 
Then if the soil is dry you should give it a good 
watering a few hours prior to lifting the plants 
for the purpose of potting them up. By this 
means we think you will get more bushy and 
leafy plants with half the trouble that you would 
require to give them in pots. After potting, the 
soil should be well watered down and the tops 
syringed with clean water. They should then 
be stood in a shady position for a few days till 
the roots begin to move afresh. If you follow 
this out carefully the lifting will prove a success 
Names of Plants. 
(A. T. D.) 1, Erigeron philadelphicus; 2, 
Echinacea purpurea; 3, Lilium pardalinum; 4, 
Veronica spicata; 5, Veronica incana; 6, Ver- 
nonia novaboracensis; 7, Erysimum cheiran- 
thoides.—(J. B. W.) 1, Galega officinalis; 2, Digi¬ 
talis ambigua ; 3, Sohdago Shortii; 4. Teucrium 
Ghamaedrys ; 5, Thymus Serpyllum citriodorous ; 
6 Tradescantia virginiana.—(S. C.) 1, Odonto- 
glossum Pescatorei; 2, Oncidium flexuosum • 3 
Gypripedium barbatum ; 4, Cypripedium cham’ber- 
lainianum. (R. W.) 1, Centaurea Scabiosa; 2 
Scabiosa arvensis; 3, Linaria vulgaris • 4' 
Origanum vulgare ; 5, Calamintha Clinopodium •’ 
o, Garduus nutans ; 7, Lotus uliginosus.—(C. T 
Hicks) 1, Spiraea Douglasii; 2, Spiraea japonica 
rmmalda; 3, veronica Traversii; 4, Veronica 
salicifolia; 5, Lonicera japonica; 6, Tecoma radi- 
cans. (H. Wilson) 1, Polypodium p'lesiosorum • 2. 
I olypodium Lingua; 3, Litobrochia vesper- 
tilioms; 4, Pteris longifolia ; 5, Pteris hastata • 
6, Asplemum bulbiferum.—(E. A. S.) 1, Lathvrus 
latitolius; 2, Linaria repexis alba ; 3, Linaria pur- 
purea; 4, Lavatera trimestris ; 5, Linum grandi- 
florum rubrum; 6, Lychnis coeli-rosa.—(A. B.) 
1, Nemophila maculata; 2, Eutoca viscida; 3, 
Mentha rotundifolia variegata; 4, Prunella 
grandiflora ; 5, Salvia Horminum. 
Trade Catalogues Received. 
Sutton and Sons. Reading.—Sutton’s Bulbs. 
James Veitch and Sons, Limited, Roval Exotic 
Nursery Chelsea.-Bulb Catalogue; 'also Cata- 
logu 0 ot Hardy Trees, Shrubs, Conifers, American 
Plants, etc.; and “Far Eastern Maples,’’ an 
illustrated pamphlet on the Maples. 
E. H. Krelage and Son, Haarlem, Holland.— 
Bulb Catalogue. 
John Downie, 75 and 77, Shandwick Place, 
Edinburgh.—Bulb Catalogue. 
Little and Ballantyne, Carlisle.—Bulbs, etc. 
-♦-- 
Contents of this Number. 
Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs ... 651 
Books of Designs ... ... 662 
Carnations from Bloxham ... ... 662 
Cimicifuga racemosa. 660 
Culham Court . 654 
Currant Black Champion ... 660 
Cun-ant White Dutch. ’’’ 660 
Enquire Within 667 
Ferns, Wild Sports of British. ... 661 
Fruit Garden ... ... 652 
Garden, the suburban front 661 
Gardens, our northern ... ... 654 
Herbaceous borders, hardy 652 
Hydrangeas, blue and pink 662 
Hollies Nurseries, the ... 657 
Iris aphylla Mme. Chereau 660 
Kitchen garden ... ... 652 
Lonicera hildebrandtiana 663 
Lonicera japonica nailiana 660 
Mee, Mr. C. J. 655 
Mushroom culture ... 664 
Orchids for amateurs. 653 
Pampas grasses ... 653 
Plant food, sources of ... ... 662 
Plants in bloom in the herbaceous border ... 663 
Poppies Shirley ... 661 
Poultry and pets . 664 
Rodgersia pinnata .662 
Roses, a garden of .655 
Roses, the way do grow them ... 657 
Salpiglossis sinuata . . 660 
Society doings.665 
Stove and greenhouse. .653 
Strawberries for succession . .. 664 
Trees and shrubs, hardy . 652 
Veronica subsessilis ..." 657 
Veronica Traversii ... 660 
Vocalism in the vicinity . 663 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Cimicifuga racemosa .658 
Currant, Black Champion .658 
Currant, White Dutch . 659 
Gardeners, the, must sing . 663 
Hollies Nurseries, the ... 657 
Iris aphylla Madame Chereau. 658 
Lonicera japonica halKana . 659 
Mee, Mr. C. J.655 
Salpiglossis sinuata ... ... ... ... 659 
Veronica Traversii . . 658 
