October 7, 1905. 
788 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Runner is a perennial. It may be remarked 
also that the roots are very poisonous. 
It was in 1633 that this Bean was first in¬ 
troduced into this country from South 
America, the famous John Tradescant, gar¬ 
dener to Charles I., being the first to grow 
it. At this time, and for quite a hundred 
years later, it was raised solely for its bright 
scarlet flowers, these being in great request 
among the ladies of fashion at Court and else¬ 
where. Then somebody discovered that its 
pods were edible, and that fact robbed the 
plant of its aristocratic connection. It was 
then relegated to the kitchen garden, 
although for a long time it was extremely 
popular as a climber trained against the 
walls of rural cottages. 
Strange it is that a flower, because some¬ 
thing edible grows on the same stem, loses its 
qualification as a decorative object. Who 
grows-the Tomato now in the flower garden 
for its bright, pretty fruit ? The Rose by any 
other name would probably smell as sweet, 
but would it be the immense favourite it is 
to-day if it were discovered that the blooms 
or the seeds were good to eat ? E. W. C. 
Supplementary Replies 
BY OUR READERS 
To Answers in the ‘‘G. W." Eniuire Within. 
Bellflowers for the Border. 
As a selection of six Campanulas for the 
border I should recommend the following : — 
C. grandis, a very fine hardy perennial, 
with beautiful deep blue flowers, and possess¬ 
ing a robust habit, attaining a height of from 
3ft. to 5ft. The flowers are borne on a ter¬ 
minal spike, and are larger than in C. pyra- 
midalis. It flowers in June, and can be in¬ 
creased by offsets or cuttings. There is also 
a very showy white variety. 
C. lactiflora, a hardy perennial of great 
beauty, the flowers being milk white, some¬ 
times tinged with blue, and quite blue in the 
fine variety caerulea. It grows to a height 
of from 2ft. to 6ft. 
C. primulaefolia, a very beautiful purple 
blue species, not seen so-often as it ought to 
be. It grows to from 2ft. to 4ft. high, and 
flowers in July and August. 
C. latifolia variety macrantha is a consider¬ 
able improvement on the type, being much 
stronger in every way. It has flowers of a 
very beautiful purplish colour. The above 
four, with the inclusion of C. pyramidalis 
and C. medium, undoubtedly two of the very 
finest for the border, would be half a dozen 
which would give “ W. J. C.” every satisfac¬ 
tion. Dunn. 
Perennials for Cut Flowers. 
“ Ignoramus ” might try the following plants 
in the order named to plant in his border, which 
would have a charming effect and some of them 
would be useful for cutting purposes :—Front 
row : Arnebia echioides, Iberis sempervirens, 
Veronica prostrata, Mrs. Sinkins Pink, 
Veronica incana, Campanula persicifolia, 
Veronica gentianoides, Geranium pratensis, 
a few Pentstemons, Tiarella Cordifolia, Heli- 
anthemum fruticosum. Second row : 
Pyretlirums, Gaillardias, Polemoniums, Malva 
Moschata alba, Coreopsis, Chrysanthemum 
maximum, Achillea Ptarmica, Geranium iberi- 
cum, Doronicum Harper Crewe. Third row : 
English Iris, Phlox, Delphiniums, Harpalium 
tigidum, Lupins, Aconitum Vapellus, Chry¬ 
santhemum Maria Masse, Mme. Desgranges 
or Harvest Home, Tritoma uvaria. Fourth 
row : Galega officinalis alba, Rudbeckia 
Newmani, Galega o. rosea, Helianthus Max¬ 
im iliani, and some perennial Asters and 
Hollyhocks. All the above can be obtained 
from nurserymen for a reasonable price, and 
will come into flower in rotation through the 
season. He might also plant at intervals down 
the middle of the bed Liliurn auratum, specio- 
sum, candidum, rubrum, the latter in the 
front; and also a patch or two of Iceland 
Poppy near the edge or a few Campanula 
Pyramidalis in the middle at intervals. These 
with proper attention paid to staking and tying 
would have a graceful effect. 
B. E. G. Bowyer. 
Morton Hall Gardens, Swinderby, Lincoln. 
Wireworms in Soil, 
If “A. M. D.” should still be suspicious of 
any wireworms remaining in the ground after 
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WORLD to each of my students, and also 
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The originals of the above may be seen at the 
offices of The Gardening World. 
following out the instructions given in 
“G.W.,” I would advise him not to- forget 
the plan of burying pieces of Carrot and 
Potato around his most valued plants -and 
examining these every morning. If found 
full of the pests put fresh daily until no 
more appear. The Carrot or what is used 
should be partly hollowed out, and a thick 
loop of string" to draw it up by, as it should 
be well buried. 
I believe I have seen it stated that a prepa¬ 
ration called “ Strawson's Vaporite ” will get 
rid of wireworm, but have no personal know¬ 
ledge of this. Perhaps some other reader may 
have tried it. D. V. E. 
Our Imports of Garden Produce.— Great 
Britain’s yearly imports of flowers, fruit, and 
vegetables are valued at over £3,000,000, 
Apples accounting for £2,000,000. 
[By Rosecohb.] 
Interior Arrangement of Bantam-houses, 
Each house should have a doorway extending 
from the floor to the roof in height, and two 
feet wide, and be fitted with a lock. Narrow 
doors cause a wealth of trouble. Have a good- 
sized door, and then all the operations connected 
with the collection of eggs, whitewashing, 
cleaning out, etc., may be conducted in comfort, 
and without the expenditure and loss of temper. 
Nest-boxes should be made to fit in the back 
of the houses, but do not have them fixed, let 
them be portable so that they may be taken 
away and thoroughly cleansed whenever the 
house is cleaned out. The perch should be about 
a foot from the floor, and fixed midway 
between the front and back of the house. A 
good ventilator should also be fixed close to 
the roof back and front. Mine are of 
perforated zinc, and I use sliding shutters. 
Access to Houses. 
The Bantams should be given access, to their 
houses by means of a small doorway with slide 
affixed, and a ladder fixed to the front of each 
house. This ladder should be a piece of board 
about eight inches in width, with strips of wood 
three-quarters of an inch wide and half an inch 
thick nailed to it four inches apart. 
Covering for Floors. 
The floors of all poultry-houses should be 
well covered with fine peat moss. This being 
very absorbent, and also a deodorant, tliere is 
little or any smell in the houses, whilst its 
capacity for retaining the ammoniacal proper¬ 
ties of the droppings renders the peat moss 
most valuable for use in the garden when it is 
removed from the poultry-house. If the floor 
is covered to the extent of two inches, it can be 
turned over each week, and will last then about 
three months. Before giving it the weekly 
turning over all the droppings which can he 
collected should be removed to the manure 
heap. 
Keeping down the Insects. 
Bantams, like other birds, must be allowed 
some dry earth or ashes in which to dust them¬ 
selves, and it is wise to give them the ashes 
from the house. Not only will the ashes 
supply them with dusting material, but they 
will also afford the birds much valuable 
material for the making of egg-shells, whilst 
the odd bits of carbon which they pick out act 
as a cleanser of the internal organisation. 
About every three months it is wise to give the 
walls of the house a good scraping and brush- 
ing ; and put on a fresh coat of lime-wash in 
which a little carbolic acid has first been 
sprinkled. A little pure carbolic should 
occasionally be painted round the corners of 
the nest-boxes and on the perch ends; this 
will do much to prevent insect life from 
thriving. 
Answers to Correspondents. 
House for Fowls (Ilfordian).—(1) If you 
are intending to keep a few hens simply for egg- 
production they will do far better without a 
cock than with one, as being released from the, 
attentions of the cock they will lay more eggs. 
(2) If all the space you have is ten feet square. 
I should advise you to relinquish all idea oi 
keeping six ordinary hens upon it- The ground 
