September 23, 1203. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
W. G. Belford said he could remember the 
day when some of the exhibitors presented 
their exhibits in black bottles. In some cases 
the exhibits now, instead of filling a black 
bottle, took the body of a box cart to hold 
_The proposal has been made, anti 
will probably be adopted, to add a class or two 
for Dartmor© ponies bred in the district at 
future shows of the Crownhill (Devon) Cottage 
Garden and Poultry Society.-The financial 
report read at the meeting, on the 21st ult., of 
the Brechin Horticultural Society, showed a 
small credit balance, after paying prize money 
in full-The first show promoted by the 
newly-formed Blyton and Dist. Horticultural 
Society was held last month, and the results 
were very gratifying.-The flower show of 
the Bridgwater Horticultural Society was this 
year under new management, the former 
organisers having become disbanded after the 
last exhibition, but a number of practical 
horticulturists formed themselves into a com¬ 
mittee and decided to carry on the show, and 
they are to be congratulated on the results) of 
their efforts.-The Buchlyvie Horticultural 
and Industrial Society has come of age, and 
their show on the 26th ult. was a record one. 
-As a means of meeting foreign competi¬ 
tion, the Herefordshire fruit-growers have 
organised a Co-operative Fruit-Grading 
Society.-The East Leeds Floral and Horti¬ 
cultural Society, a new organisation, of which 
Councillor Dr. Heald is president, held its 
first annual show on the 19th ult., and was a 
success, although the large marquee was blown 
down.——After being allowed to lapse for 
several years, the Bakewell Horticultural 
Society’s show has been revived. 
Diary of Shows and Meetings. 
September. 
25th—Alyth H. S. (annual meeting) ; Birstall 
and District Chrysanthemum and 
Paxton Society (committee meeting) ; 
Horsforth Gardeners’Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Society (weekly meeting). 
26th—The Royal Horticultural Society (meet¬ 
ing and lecture); National Rose Society 
(autumn show at the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Hall—two days) ; Loughboro’ 
Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Society (annual meeting and dinner) ; 
Tunbridge Wells Chrysanthemum and 
Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Association (meeting and competi¬ 
tion) ; Saltwood Cottage Gardeners’ 
Association (monthly meeting). 
27th—Maidstone Gardeners’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Society (bi-monthly show); 
Harriettsham Gardening Society 
(monthly meeting). 
28th—Bristol and District Gardeners’ Mutual 
Improvement Association (monthly 
meeting and autumn Rose exhibi¬ 
tion) ; Southampton Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society (monthly meeting) ; 
South Shields Floral, Horticultural 
and Industrial Society (monthly meet¬ 
meeting) ; Lee, Blackheath and Dis¬ 
trict Horticultural Society (monthly 
meeting). 
29th—Ulster Horticultural Society (committee 
meeting). 
30th—Sparkhill and District Amateur Horti¬ 
cultural Society (hardy Chrysanthe¬ 
mum show); Leeds Paxton Society 
(weekly meeting). 
Mr. William Paul, of Waltham Cross, 
Herts, the famous Rose grower, left estate 
of the value of £38,440. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may cover 
any branch of gardening. Questions should be as 
brief as possible and written on one side of the paper 
only; a separate sheet of paper should be used for 
each question. Readers are invited to give their 
fellow gardeners the benefit of their experience by send¬ 
ing supplementary replies—see Prize Competitions. 
Replies cannot be s nt by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make the 
best use of this column are invited to prepare and 
forward to us a rough outline drawing or plan of their 
gardens, indicating the position of beds and lawns, 
the character and height of the fence or wall ; position 
of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The north side of 
the garden and any overshadowing buildings should 
be denoted. It should also be stated whether the 
garden is flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the nature of the 
toil will also help us to give satisfactory replies. 
When such plans are received they will be carefully 
filed, with the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an enquiry 
is sent. 
Lawn Sand and Plantains. 
The lawns here have been dressed with lawn 
sand, and though the leaves have been killed the 
crowns seem alive. This being so, the cure cannot 
be regarded as perfect. What would you advise 
me to do? (R. P.). 
The effect of the lawn sand, which contains 
nitrate, is to kill the broad leaves of the Plantain 
which hold it. The narrow-leaved grasses do not 
hold the lawn sand in this way. The stout crowns 
of the Plantains are just as likely not to be 
killed as otherwise. A good plan, therefore, 
would be to get some implement which would 
readily pull out the Plantains below the thick 
crown. That would certainly be a reliable means 
of getting rid of them. The Dandelions might 
be served in the same way. Other broad-leaved 
weeds which have not a stout crown nor a tap¬ 
root would, of course, get killed with the lawn 
sand. Possibly, however, some of the crowns 
will yet die which have thus been checked by the 
lawn sand. 
Onions Diseased. 
In the early part of the season our Onions 
looked well, but in July the plants got mildewed 
and made scarcely any further progress. Would 
the plants have got the mildew from the Roses 
close by, the latter having suffered much? 
(D. D. R.). 
The mildew of Onions and the mildew of Roses 
are two very different things, so that the one is 
not likely to affect the other. The mildew which 
attacks Onions is a fungus known as Peronospora 
schleideniana. Your best plan when you noticed 
the Onions diseased would have been to syringe 
them with Bordeaux mixture, so as to check the 
spread of the fungus. The worst of the plants 
might as well be pulled out and burned. The 
disease is a very destructive one, so that you 
should keep an outlook for the first outbreak and 
apply the remedy at once. The remainder of the 
Onions you still have, and practically all the 
rubbish on the same ground should be carefully 
gathered up and burned on a smother heap, so as 
to destroy the spores from which the fungus 
would spring again next year. 
Holly Hedge. 
Every year after growth has been made our 
gardener trims the Holly hedge with the shears, 
and although it is otherwise neat, the clipped 
appearance of the leaves remains an eyesore for 
many weeks or even months. Could a better 
plan than this be devised? (M. J. R.). 
It is the usual plan to cut Holly hedges with 
the shears, and it is almost indispensable if you 
want the hedge to have a flat surface. We think, 
however, that a Holly hedge would still maintain 
its neat and ornamental appearance if it was 
pruned with the knife or secateurs, rather than 
the shears. By wearing gloves the operator can, 
with a sharp knife, cut away every shoot which 
projects in the least from the hedge, and thereby 
trim it into neat form without cutting and maim¬ 
ing the leaves. We think this idea worthy of 
consideration, especially in the case of hedges 
near the house. 
Tuberous Begonias. 
We have been very successful with our tuberous 
Begonias in beds this year. Are the tubers 
difficult to keep in winter? Please give instruc¬ 
tions for this, and also the best time to lift the 
tubers. (F. R. W.). 
The tubers are very easy to keep during the 
winter. All that you require to do being simply 
to keep them cool and moist. The best time to 
lift them is when the frost blackens the leaves 
As soon as this happens, the tubers should be 
lifted and the soil roughly shaken from them. 
To prevent any further mishap, the tubers, with 
short pieces of stem on them, should be put in 
boxes and carried to the greenhouse or to a pit or 
any house from which frost is excluded until the 
stems naturally fall away from the tubers. W hen 
this takes place you can clean them, and there¬ 
fore greatly reduce the bulk of the tubers. W hen 
these have parted with some of their superfluous 
moisture, you can then pack them in layers in 
the boxes with cocoanut fibre. This will keep 
them from getting dried up too much. All that 
you need to do is to keep the boxes in a house 
from which frost is merely excluded. By care¬ 
fully following out these instructions you will 
find' the tubers in good condition in spring. 
Carnations and Wireworms. 
On a piece of ground recently added to the 
garden we planted some beds of Carnations, 
thinking the fresh soil would be of great advan¬ 
tage to them. This might have been the case, 
but they have been badly cut up with wireworm. 
Can you tell me in the next issue of The 
Gardening World how to eradicate the pest ? 
{A. M. D.). 
It is a common penalty that one has to pay in 
planting anything in new ground. Land that has 
lain in pasture or grass for a number of years 
is almost certain to be full of wireworm, which 
live upon the roots of the grass. We presume 
that you layered your Carnations at the proper 
season, and, if so, all that you would have to do 
now would be to lift and pot the layers as soon 
as they are rooted. These pots could be kept in 
cold frames for the winter. The ground you 
intend to plant with Carnations next year could 
then be carefully dug and all the wireworms seen 
picked up and destroyed. The operation might 
be repeated several times during the winter, and 
the disturbance would certainly be against the 
welfare of the wireworm. and leave many of them 
exposed to the eyes of birds, besides what you 
may be able to destroy for yourself. 
Tagetes siguata pumila. 
We used this plant in some carpet bedding, 
believing it would only grow 3in. high, but it 
has grown lOin., and in some cases more. Do 
