June 24 , 1905 . 
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 sent 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 lawn; 
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 
soil 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. 
Beetroot and Radish. 
I find The Gardening World very interesting, 
; and intend taking it out regularly. l)o Beetroot 
and Radish transplant? (Wm. Brown.) 
Either of these vegetables may be transplanted 
on occasion, but we should not care to transplant 
either. Beetroot if grown for exhibition would 
have to be very carefully transplanted in order to 
' preserve intact the long tapering root by which 
alone a shapely specimen can be obtained for 
exhibition. If you have no intention of exhibit¬ 
ing the roots you can transplant them if so dis¬ 
posed, as they take to the fresh soil readily and 
make good growth. We have seen large quan¬ 
tities of Mangold-wurzel transplanted, and they 
succeeded admirably. Select a time when the 
ground is moist just after rain, or you should 
water the ground some time previous to the opera¬ 
tion if it is in any way dry. Radish we should 
not transplant in any case. The more quickly a 
Radish can be grown to a useable size, the more 
. crisp and tender it will be. If you transplant it 
it will have the effect of checking growth for a 
time and causing the roots to become either 
stringy or spongy before they get large enough 
for use. They should be sown thinly where they 
are intended to remain until fit for use. Apart 
from this consideration they may be transplanted 
readily enough without any fear of their failing 
I to root, and if wanted for seeds the process of 
i transplanting would be advisable. 
Tomatos making Slow Growth. 
Would you give me information on the follow¬ 
ing point in your next issue. I would be obliged 
for any hint from you. I have a cool greenhouse 
with fifty Tomato plants. Last year they were 
planted on May 2nd (same as this year), and by 
this (June 7th) were 4 ft. high and doing 
splendidly. This year they are only 9 in. high, 
and only one truss of bloom visible. My neigh¬ 
bours, who planted later than I did—the plants 
were seedlings from the same box for all of us— 
have plants 6 ft. high, with three trusses of fruit 
set. I cannot understand the slow growth as I 
am treating them exactly similarly to last year. 
Ihe plants are quite healthy and sturdy, but make 
no more headway than ^ in. a week. (Cog.) 
We think it is entirely a case of temperature, 
as we have seen similar instances to what you 
! describe. For instance, you tell us that the 
plants are grown in a cold greenhouse. The 
month of May was very cold, with the exception 
of a tew days about the end of it. Sunshine was 
| really scanty during the month, and your green¬ 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
house being evidently unheated would account 
for the slow progress made. Furthermore, your 
greenhouse may be in a cold or exposed situation. 
On the other hand, your neighbours may have 
heated greenhouses, or the latter may be in 
sheltered situations, preventing the cold winds 
from blowing against the glass, especially at 
nights. They may also be hi situations sheltered 
by trees, rocks, houses or other objects, by which 
the sunshine is economised, and the natural heat 
thereby made available for the growth of plants. 
These are, of course, merely surmises, so that you 
must think out these things for yourself, being 
on the spot and knowing the circumstances of the 
case. A certain amount of light and heat, besides 
food necessaries, are required by plants to make 
satisfactory growth. If you made notes of the 
condition of the weather last year, we think you 
will find that the temperature was altogether 
different during the same period this year. We 
have also seen a remarkable difference produced 
in the early stages of Tomatos by plunging the pots 
containing them in a bed of fermenting manure 
whereby the plants were subjected to bottom heat. 
Tomatos to make progress require a little artificial 
heat in the early stages in our climate, and in 
the future if you try this plan you will find the 
plants attain twice or three times the size during 
the same period as they would if not plunged in 
fermenting manure. A large bed is quite un¬ 
necessary, merely sufficient to cause a mild heat. 
Grapes Going Off. 
I shall be extremely obliged if you will explain 
the cause of my Grapes .going off. I have had 
some go off for the last two or three years, but 
not so bad as this. Thanking you for any answer 
in The Gardening World. (F. Freer.) 
Your Grapes are suffering from what is known 
as spot. Some varieties are more liable to this 
ailment than others, and when once the malady 
makes its appearance it may appear year after year 
on the same Vine as if the disease were constitu¬ 
tional. (Muscat of Alexandria is, perhaps, more 
often liable to this ailment than Grapes of the 
Black Hamburgh type. The wet weather we have 
had recently and the cold weather some time 
previous to that may have been responsible for 
inducing you to keep the house closer than you 
would otherwise have done had the weather been 
finer and the temperature higher. The ailment 
commences on the berries, and evidently goes 
down the interior until it breaks out in the stalk 
of the berry, thus causing it either to drop down 
or to fall away altogether. A very close and 
moist atmosphere unduly prolonged is responsible 
for the rapid development of the mischief when 
once it breaks out. Owing to the fluctuations of 
temjierature it is just possible that the atmo¬ 
sphere of the vinery had got overheated, while 
the air was still saturated with moisture, so that 
as soon as the ventilators were opened the 
moisture was carried off rapidly to the injury of 
the berries. During periods of uncertain weather 
especially, it is necessary to exercise great caution 
in the ventilation in making certain that the ven¬ 
tilators are open in time to prevent the accumula¬ 
tion of heat in the house rather than allowing it 
to rise too high, and then putting on a great 
amount of ventilation in order to reduce the tem¬ 
perature. (Much of the fungus that appeared on 
the berries sent us was merely a common mould 
that is always present in the atmosphere, in the 
form of spores, and ready to live upon any decay¬ 
ing matter. Besides attending regularly to ven¬ 
tilation, you should keep a close watch upon the 
bunches during the very early and tender stages, 
and whenever any berries or their stalks become 
affected they should be carefully cut out at once. 
Early thinning is also advantageous in preventing 
the moisture from accumulating and the berries 
from touching one another when in this tender 
and moist condition. 
Essay Competition. 
May I ask if you would kindly undertake to 
inform me through the columns of your excellent 
paper if, in your essay competition Xo. 1, in the 
519 
issue of June 10th, it is to be understood that 
the "ground area'’ occupied by the villa is to be 
included in the 3,000 sq. ft., or, in other words, 
if the competitor is to place the villa according 
to his own fancy both in regard to position and 
size upon the plot of ground measuring about 
3,000 sq. ft. ? Trusting I am not out of order in 
asking this question, and thanking you in anti¬ 
cipation. (H. H. M.) 
The ground area of the villa may or may not 
be included in the 3,000 sq. ft. mentioned in the 
conditions. In giving the size of the garden, it 
was merely intended to be relative rather than 
any exact number of sq. ft. The garden should be 
one of good size attached to a villa and not a mere 
cottage garden. We are aware that gardens 
attached to botli these classes of houses varv 
immensely in the number of sq. ft. allotted to 
them, so that we have no intention of restricting 
it to an exact number of feet, provided the garden 
is relatively near the dimensions indicated. The 
front garden, if there is one, may even be regarded 
as forming a part of the garden as a whole at¬ 
tached to the villa. 
Seed of Cytisus purpureus 
Your correspondent, Mr. W. Dallimore, p. 480, 
5 ol. XX., Xo. 23, mentions the purple flowering 
Cytisus (C. purpureus). Can he please tell me 
where I can procure seed of it? I have tried our 
best seedsmen and cannot get it. (R. A. Clark.) 
W e can quite understand that very few nursery¬ 
men or seedsmen in this country would keep 
seeds of the purple flowering Cytisus. It is 
usually propagated by grafting or budding, pos¬ 
sibly sometimes by layering. These methods are 
usually sufficient in supplying the demand for 
this species, which is not so widely represented 
in gardens as it might be. Seeds of it can, how¬ 
ever. be obtained from Messrs. Yilmorin Andrieux 
et Cie., 4, Quai de la Megisserie, Paris, who are 
specialists, not only in shrubs, but in stocking 
seeds of trees and shrubs for sale. We know they 
have listed seeds of quite a number of species of 
Cytisus, including the one you mention. Our 
correspondent. Mr. W. Dallimore, may also reply 
if he has anything further to disclose." 
Crimson Rambler Weakly. 
Against the wall of a house we have a Crimson 
Rambler Rose t/hat made a good attempt at 
flowering last- year, but the leaves got attacked 
by mildew, and later on they turned yellow. 
Ihe plant is not nearly so promising for a show 
of floweis this year. Could you give anv reason 
for this? (A. L. T.) 
\\ e suspect that your Rose was attacked bv two 
evils, including the mildew which you mention. 
Crimson Rambler veiy often does well for a 
number of years when nailed to a wall, but it is 
liable to go off afterwards, especially when of large 
size. 1 he mildew attack would cripple it con¬ 
siderably, but red spider is even more injurious. 
M hen once this pest gets a footing in dry weather 
it spreads very rapidly until the whole plant 
becomes more or less infested. The shelter of 
the wall is liable to bring about this result, and 
no doubt the reason for it in the case of the 
Crimson Rambler is because so many shoots are 
allowed to grow away from the wall to a consider¬ 
able extent, making a mass of foliage which is 
sheltered from the wind and rain, and thus favour¬ 
able to the red spider. The mildew should be 
attacked on its very first appearance by spraying 
the leaves with water and then dusting with 
flowers of sulphur. The only effectual cure for 
red spider under the conditions is a heavy washing 
at frequent intervals of clean water by means of 
the garden engine. It could be done with the 
syringe, but if you have a garden engine that 
would apply it with more force and therefore 
prove more effective. In the meantime, we should 
advise you to prepare young plants of Crimson 
Rambler and plant them against pillars, trellises, 
espaliers, arches, or any other method of training 
them which you may devise. You can select 
positions for these young plants where they will 
not be exposed to heavy gales, but yet have a free 
play of light and air on all sides. 
