THE GARDEN 1 NO WORLD. 
537 
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 ti ees 
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. 
Dealer in Cacti. 
Have you the name of anyone dealing in Cacti ! 
Please also tell me where the “ Gardeners 
Chronicle” is published. (Wm. H. Lawrence, 
California.) 
Several people in this countxy and on the Con¬ 
tinent deal in Cacti, but one whom we might 
describe as a specialist in this class of plants is 
£M. Frantz de Laet, Contieh lez Anvers. Belgium. 
He issues a catalogue entirely devoted to Cacti 
and well illustrated. The “ Gardeners’ Chronicle 
is published at 41, Wellington Street, Strand, 
.London, England. 
Seaforthia elegans. 
I saw a Seaforthia elegans planted out in a 
private place in Alloa showing flower. Is this 
very unusual ? I never happened to see it before. 
(D.‘ L.) 
You do not say whether it stood out all the 
winter in the situation you mention, but if it 
has stood there for some years it must be a very 
uncommon occurrence. We have never seen it 
used out of doors, except for sub tropical gar¬ 
dening in summer. It is very often grown in a 
house with a stove temperature, and when planted 
out and allowed to develop to large size it fruits 
freely and seedlings come up plentifully beneath 
the tree. Even in private establishments, if not 
grown in a stove, at least it is afforded room in 
an intermediate house. It is a native of Aus¬ 
tralia, and, in all probability, hardier than it 
usually gets the credit of being. 
Gooseberries and Mildew. 
I would be much obliged if you would tell me 
if it is mildew that is on the enclosed Goose¬ 
berries. They belong to a friend, and his trees 
had a fairly good prospect of fruit, but lately this 
white powder has come on the fruit and they 
shrivel up and die. His garden faces south, but 
is rather shaded in parts by trees and the dwell¬ 
ing house. Could you tell me any remedy, as 
most of the fruits affected are dropping off ? 
(Gooseberry.) 
The berries you send us are affected with 
mildew, which chiefly attacks the skin in places, 
thereby preventing the fruit from swelling evenly, 
and ultimately causing their destruction. Several 
fungicides might be applied that would be effec¬ 
tive in killing the fungus, as it exists on the 
surface, but as these fungicides are poisonous, 
and the fruits are now far advanced, we should 
not advise the use of such poisons. The skin of 
the berry is very downy, and that in itself would 
serve to hold any poison that might be applied. 
Those berries which were sent us, we are afraid, 
are past curing, Hut in order to save as many of 
the remainder as possible you might dust the 
bushes with flowers of sulphur, taking particular 
care to reach all those portions giving evidence of 
tlie presence of mildew. Where it is not too 
widely established on the fruit, you may be able 
to check it by such means. To facilitate the 
application of the sulphur, it would be as well to 
provide yourself with a sulphurator—that is, a 
vessel with special means of distributing the 
powder in a wholesale manner. Should heavy 
rains occur soon after the sulphur has been 
applied, the operation might be repeated again 
immediately, and thereafter at intervals of ten 
days if necessary. We are afraid the evil lies 
very much in the situation. You say it is shaded 
in parts by trees and by a dwelling house ; that 
in itself would not in all cases foster the disease, 
but we presume the objects which produce the 
shade also give shelter against wind from various 
quarters, and thus aid the development and 
spreading of the fungus. The shelter is all very 
well in its way, but it should be at a sufficient 
distance to allow a free play of light and air in 
the garden which it shelters. We should not 
advise you to cut down valuable trees, but it 
would be advisable when planting to have some 
conception of their likely size and to prevent 
over-shading, sheltering and other inconveniences, 
such as are produced by the roots in impoverish¬ 
ing the soil. 
Gouty Phloxes. 
I send you some stems of Phloxes which have 
made very unsatisfactory growth, the stems being 
short, gouty, and stunted. Will they bloom pro¬ 
perly if left, or what would you advise me to do ? 
(Phlox.) 
There is no chance of the Phloxes doing much 
good which show gouty swellings, such as those 
you send us. Some varieties seem more liable to 
this malady than others, but possibly any variety 
of Phlox is liable to be affected when eel-worms 
are plentiful in the soil. These microscopic 
creatures are frequently plentiful in soils con¬ 
taining much vegetable matter, such as is fre¬ 
quently the case in old gardens, and if Phloxes are 
attacked by them the eel-worms enter by the 
roots, passing up the stems possibly in the pith. 
The gouty stems—that, is, all those showing- 
swellings at any part above the soil—should be 
cut off and burned. Possibly little good can be 
expected from the plants already affected, as any 
of the roots may contain eel-worms, but possibly 
you can get healthy young shoots, which you 
could take off and insert as cuttings. By this 
method you may get a clean stock to plant in a 
different situation. It may even be advisable to 
get fresh plants or cuttings from another source. 
If the stools of the Phloxes left do not show any 
signs of recovery by making healthy young shoots, 
they should be dug up and destroyed by burning- 
in the autumn. The ground on which they grew 
should have a good dressing of quicklime, or even 
gas lime, mixed with the soil when trenching. 
The beds in which you intend to make the fresh 
plantations should also be treated in the same 
way in the autumn, leaving the soil bare for some 
months after the application of gas lime until all 
danger of injury to plant life is past. 
Rose Leaves losing Colour. 
Enclosed you will find some Pose leaves which 
have lost colour, being marked and spotted all 
over with creamy-white. Can you say what this 
is due to and the remedy? (C. F.) 
The disfigured appearance of the leaves is due 
to the presence of one of the plant bugs belonging 
to the section Heteroptera. The damage is 
already so far advanced that there is practically 
no remedy for the evil that- is done, but when 
the Roses make fresh growth they will again 
recover their appearance. In the meantime, how¬ 
ever, you should take steps to destroy or drive 
away the insect which does so much damage by 
sucking the juice of the leaves and thus causing 
them to lose their ordinary green appearance. 
Hard syringing with clean water will be of great 
service by driving away the insects and cleaning 
the foliage, but you can render this still more 
effective by using a strong solution of soft soap 
and water, to which may be added j pint of 
tobacco water to a gallon of the solution. This 
should be applied rather forcibly, preferably in 
the early morning when the flies are mostly 
sitting upon the Rosebushes, as they are then 
less likely to fly away unharmed, to return as 
soon as the bushes are dry. While the upper 
surface of the leaves is thoroughly wetted with 
this solution, it would be as well to syringe them 
from various sides to make sure that all parts 
are wetted alike. You should also use the syringe 
in such a way as to drive the liquid up underneath 
the leaves, where some of the flies may be 
sheltering. 
Peas for Exhibition. 
I intend to compete at our local show with 
various vegetables, but the large podded Peas do 
not seem to make much progress owing to the 
dry weather. Can anything be done to get the 
pods of large size and at the same time to hurry 
them on for the second week in July? (A. E. U.) 
Since you made your request there has been an 
ample rainfall, whether you have got it or not. 
In any case you can assist the Peas by loosening 
the soil on the surface, then cover with a mulch 
of litter, rank manure, the mowings of grass, or 
anything that will serve to retain the moisture 
in the soil. When the ground is mulched in this 
way, you can heavily water it without fear of 
causing it to get baked. You should also pinch 
the top stems of the Peas and then remove the 
badly-formed pods that are not likely to be of any 
service. This will cause the plants to devote their 
energies to swelling up the pods left. If you had 
the recent rain, as most likely you have had, 
water will now be unnecessary, but the other 
operations should be attended to. 
Holes in Peach Leaves. 
Enclosed you will find some Peach leaves full 
of round holes. The pieces first became brown, 
and then fell out. They do not seem to be due 
to caterpillars, and certainly 1 cannot find any. 
The leaves are unsightly, and a means of remedy 
would be much aixpreciated. (F. C. J.) 
The holes were produced by the attacks of a 
fungus named Cercospora circumcissa, which pene¬ 
trates the interior, causing the death of the 
tissues, which ultimately become brown in the 
spots affected. You may stay its further ravages 
by using sulphide of potassium at the rate of 5 oz. 
to a gallon of water, using this as a fine spray 
upon the leaves. We should not, however, use 
it if the trees are laden with fruit, and especially 
if the fruits of Peaches are of any size, as the 
fungicide named is a poison. The probabilities 
are that you will not be further troubled with tire 
fungus, except, perhaps, to a small extent upon 
the young leaves that might yet be made. 
Plants in Shady Windows. 
Some weeks ago we put some boxes filled with 
Pelargoniums. (Marguerites, and scented Tobacco 
plants in windows facing the north, but they do 
not make any progress, and the flowers are 
merely withering away. Do you think they will 
yet do any good, or what should you recommend 
me to do? (C. N. S.) 
The north aspect of a house is certainly not the 
place for flowering plants of most kinds. In the 
open garden on a northern aspect some things 
would grow and flower, but those plants which 
are usually employed for the decoration of green¬ 
houses and conservatories, and which are grown 
by florists for the purpose of filling windows, 
should be grown in the windows facing any aspect 
rather than the north. In situations where there 
is no sunshine to encourage the growth of exotics 
such as you mention, it would be a better plan to 
get plants for the sake of their greenery, and 
which will grow in such situations. For in¬ 
stance, there are many British Ferns, common 
and uncommon, which would not only live but 
thrive in such situations if plentifully supplied 
with water. Th« Periwinkles, both green and 
