May 13. 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
m 
The “ Seedless ” Apple Exposed. —Tt appears that about three 
months ago Messrs. Sliearn purchased two of the only four 
alleged seedless Apples which up to the present have reached 
England, paying £3 for them on behalf of the West Ham Dis¬ 
tress Fund. These have been since exhibited by thorn in their 
show window, but disillusion came when on Tuesday, 2nd inst., 
the precious Apples' were cut open, this being done in consequence 
of the criticism directed against the seedless Apple. It was then 
found that these presumably seedless Apples contained as many 
pips as most other Apples, and a harder and larger core. The 
next scene in this strange story will take place in a court of 
law, as Mr. Shearn has determined to bring an action against 
the Covent Garden firm from whom the Apples were bought. 
It may be added one of these four famous Spencer “seedless," 
cureless Apples was presented to His Majesty tho King. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column■ Thes t 
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 he sent hy 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. 
Perns Spotted. 
Could you let mo know what are the causes and remedy for the 
white spots oh fronds enclosed? (Asp.) 
The Scolopendrium and Polystdchum angulare which you sent us 
have been attacked by thrips, which is the result of growing them 
in too dry an atmosphere. They should be. thoroughly syringed 
every day, especially in dry weather, and all the paths and staging 
damped down when you close up the house at night. This would 
create a steamy atmosphere that would prevent thrips from getting 
any foothold in the house. This woidd answer as a means of pre¬ 
vention. In the meantime you should set about trying to destroy 
the thrips upon the Ferns. You will find a reply on this subject 
on page 387 of last week. 
Forsythia not Flowering. 
We have a large Forsythia on a wall here, but it did not flower 
well this spring. It was pruned and carefully nailed to the wall 
in winter. (F. R. A.)' 
You did wrong'in pruning the Forsythia in winter, because the 
flower buds are made up in the autumn and merely expand in the 
spring on the shoots made during the previous year. Your plants 
may, however, have further suffered by the depredations of the 
sparrows, which are very troublesome to plants with prominent 
buds during the winter, especially near houses and where there is 
much shelter for the sparrows. We can understand that you want 
to keep plants on the wall tidy, but beyond nailing up those which 
are required for covering bare spaces on the wall, we should merely 
thin out the rest where very crowded, though this in itself is a 
small matter. The plant, in any case, should not he pruned until 
after the flowers fade. When that has taken place you can cut back 
all the shoots that are not required for covering the wall to one 
or two buds at the base. This will leave the plant plenty of time 
A 0 ii ma ^ e ^ les ^ growth ar *d flowering wood during the coming season. 
All you want to do is to regulate the bush or plant a little until after 
the flowering period, when you can repeat the pruning. 
Rose and Red Wood Anemones. 
The Y ood Anemone has been very fine in a wood on the estate 
and amongst the ordinary white ones were some beautiful rose anc 
red varieties. Would they be difficult to establish in the garden' 
(1. Russell.) 
.The Wood Anemone is very easy to establish provided you lifi 
e rhizomes after the foliage has died down. Your best plan woulc 
ie,to mark the site of the good varieties you wish to procure, sc 
hat you may plant them separately according to colour, if sc 
whm+V. t r ’h'znmes may be lifted at any time during summer, 
be w/ni h v ge 1S down > and though they could with advantage 
micrln rr f F ed) ™ ar y or eaid .V March, the chances are that your pegs 
where ° S -i - n mean time. Select a position in th'e garden 
times tt® i f S fai,r ? moist in summer, yet well drained at all 
to the dentb Iff+i mould m bberal quantity to mix with the soil 
roots avJ’ ^ n 1 ® s P ade - As the Wood Anemone grows where the 
Sr l T Uj ; more r, 1 ® covered with leaves, you need not 
This will ^°° !! 1U(dl soil where you intend to grow them. 
In liftincr tbo + 16 S °i 1 °P €11 ’ and enable the rhizomes to run freely, 
old flower 3* 6Ure of the '' a rieties, follow the stalk of the 
should he u y remove the whole rhizomes if possible. They 
P ed immediately, before they get dried up, putting 
labels or a peg to mark the .site of the rhizomes to prevent them 
getting destroyed by the spade in digging during winter. If von 
have a hardy fernery it would be an excellent situation to plant 
the Anemones in the spaces between the Ferns. The shade in 
summer and the fallen leaves in winter would produce conditions 
highly suitable for the welfare of the Anemones. 
Black Currant Leaves Crumpled. 
I he leaves of several of our bushes of the Black Currant are very 
much crumpled and crippled like the enclosed, and some of them 
have not opened at all. Can vou sav what is the matter with them ? 
(G. D.) 
1 he swollen buds and the crumpled leaves are due to the presence 
of the currant bud gall mite (Phytoptus Ribis). Unfortunately, no 
very certain remedy has yet been found for the extermination of this 
pes'fc. Some people get their bushes only slightly affected, an l i 
that case they might continue to bear a satisfactory crop year aftei 
year. On the other hand, those who get the bushes very much 
crippled are unable to get a crop at all, and resort occasionally to 
the practice of cutting down bushes so as to get clean young wood 
from the base. This may or may not have the desired result for a 
year or two, after which the plants again become infested. In the 
meantime you should take the earliest opportunity of raising young 
bushes from perfectly clean stock, even if you have to get the 
cuttings from some other garden or nursery, or even get young 
bushes, these should be planted on a fresh pie to of ground at some 
distance from the present plantation, and which has not borne a 
crop of Black Currants for a number of years at least. A relatively 
new variety of Black Currant named Boskoop Giant has the reputa¬ 
tion of keeping almost free from the mite even after some years of 
trial. It is a vigorous-growing variety, producing long bunches of 
large berries of good quality. It might be worth your while to 
secure this variety for trial hi your new plantation. 
Dividing the Everlasting Pea. 
Several plants of the Everlasting Rea have made crowns ol great 
size, and last year they were quite large enough for the space in 
which they have to grow. What is the best time to divide them? 
(Lathyrus.) 
These perennial plants make woody roots of great length, that 
penetrate the soil deeply, and although it is possible to divide them 
in March, when there are offsets from the crown, yet we do not 
consider it the best or most expedient method of propagating this 
class of plant. We should advise you to thin out the shoots of the 
old plants, leaving just a sufficient number of stems to occupy the 
space at command without crowding. The plants produce seeds 
freely, and some of the flowers might be left to produce seeds, which 
should be sown in pans or boxes according to their number in the 
autumn, as they take a long time to germinate. Even if they should 
come up in the autumn, you can keep them growing through the 
winter, and they will make larger plants in spring. As a rule, 
however, they do not come up till spring, and if kept in a dry con¬ 
dition until spring, they do not germinate till late in the season, 
and you practically lose the season. If you sow them as soon as 
ripe, the plants will make good crowns during next year, and if 
planted out in a deep, friable soil after they have made shoots of 
two or three inches in length, the crowns will make more rapid 
progress than if you keep them in pots or boxes during the summer. 
You can practically get any quantity of young plants by this means, 
and if well treated they will flower during the second year’s growth. 
Ornamental Grasses. 
Some of the varieties of ornamental grasses have come up very 
thickly, and the seed must have been better than it appeared when 
sown. Ye intend thinning them out. but would like to use some 
of them as edgings to borders if they can be transplanted. Can they 
be relied upon to give good growth? (B. L.) 
All the grasses with which we have had to deal are easy enough 
to transplant, especially if you select a suitable time and conditions 
for the operation. The best time would be just after a wet day. 
when the superfluous moisture has drained away, leaving the soil 
just nicely moist. The young grasses produce fibrous roots freely, 
so that if you tackle them when the soil is moist all that would be 
necessary would be a peg or small trowel to pick out the seedlings 
with the roots attached and soil if possible, but in any case they will 
give you little or no trouble. As soon as the seedlings have been 
placed in position, water the ground with a rosed watering pot, and 
that will settle the soil about the roots and enable them to take 
fresh root immediately. 
Mint Diseased. 
Can you let me know through your valuable paper what is the 
matter with the Mint which I send, and the remedy? (H. L. D.) 
The stems and leaves of the Mint are affected with the Mint rust, 
a fungus known as Puecinia Menthae, and in its early stages has 
been named Uredo labiatarum, which is the most abundant form, 
and the only one present during the early part of the season. There 
is no remedy for plants that are actually attacked, as the fungus lives 
in the interior of the stems, and causes them to become swollen and 
distorted. The fungus does not spread very rapidly unless the situa¬ 
tion is very moist and sheltered. You can generally manage to get 
all the clean Mint which you require by going over the bed once or 
twice during the season and carefully pulling out and burning all 
the affected stems. This will leave the healthy stems to furnish voii 
with leaves. A more effectual method would be to take cutting-* 
