July 22, 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 slated 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, ana 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an enquiry 
is sent. 
Growing Tall Dahlias, 
Last year my Dahlias grew very dwarf and 
bushy, and though they flowered fairly well, 
they were not so effective as I would have liked. 
How can I make them grow 4 ft. or 5 ft. high ? 
(Denewood.) 
In the first place you should make certain that 
your Dahlias are naturally tall growers, other¬ 
wise you cannot get them to grow above their 
natural stature by artificial means. You do not 
state whether your Dahlias are of the ordinary 
show kinds or Cactus Dahlias. If, however, 
your varieties should naturally assume the height 
you mention, the fact that your plants merely 
grew dwarf and bushy would indicate some fault 
in cultivation. It would either mean that they 
were started into growth too late or allowed 
to start naturally without artificial heat, thus 
giving them only a short season hi which to 
make their growth. The roots should be put 
into heat some time in March to start them into 
growth. We do not know what system of pro¬ 
pagation you use, but cuttings will require a 
longer period to make good plants than the divi¬ 
sion of the old roots with buds or eyes upon 
them. In any case you should make provision 
for giving the plants a long season of growth. 
During dry weather water them freely, and if 
they make numerous side shoots while still dwarf 
these should be cut out, leaving only three stems 
at first to form the plant. It may still, however, 
be necessary to remove side shoots during the 
summer if the plants are given to branching in 
this way. The energies of the plant will then 
be devoted to the lengthening of the main cr 
pi incipal stems, and you will get sufficient 
growth on the top of them for all the side shoots 
that you can require. 
Moth in the Garden. 
Just now a pretty white moth with orange 
markings and black spots is very plentiful in the 
garden here, flying about among the fruit trees 
and birshes. Can you suggest the name of it 
and if it is harmful? (C. James.) 
The moth you mention suggests that it is the 
Gooseberry moth (Abraxas grossulariata). 
Although it gets the name of the Gooseberry 
moth, it is never so great ah enemy as the Goose¬ 
berry sawfly, because not so plentiful. It also 
feeds upon Euonymus and various members ( f 
the- Rose family. If over plentiful you may, 
however, catch them with a sweeping net, as thev 
do not fly very swiftly. 
Malmaison Carnations in the Open. 
, h possible to grow Malmaison Carnations 
in the open with any degree of satisfaction’ 1 
have some m pots, but have never seen them 
grown in the open. (J. R. D.) 
The blooms ol this variety are too large 10 
THE OAR DEN/NO WORLD. 
attain any perfection in the open, and for tint 
reason most people cultivate them in pots in 
greenhouses, and certainly if fine flowers are 
wanted they must be treated in this way. Pos¬ 
sibly some of the varieties would be sufficiently 
hardy to stand in the open. But it is doubtful 
whether you would be able to obtain much satis¬ 
faction from plants grown undei these condi¬ 
tions. Wet weather, for instance will destroy 
the blooms. Another point is that the plant 
grows in winter, as well as summer, and should 
do so. Our climate is unsuited to growing tree 
Carnations in the open, and for that reason the 
plants would be held in check. Light soil would 
be preferable to heavy soil, as the roots would be 
less liable to perish in winter. If you have any 
garden soil of this character and surplus plants 
of any of the varieties, you may make an experi¬ 
ment to see what could be done in your garden. 
Pruning Gooseberries in Summer. 
Our Gooseberries are pruned on the spur 
system, but during the summer season some of 
them make a lot of growth, and it is very diffi¬ 
cult to gather the few berries produced by those 
bushes. Would it be proper t-o prune them in 
summer? (C. Lewis.) 
Gooseberries and Red Currants are often 
pinned in summer in order to remove the super¬ 
fluous growths and give the berries a better 
chance to ripen, as well as to encourage the for¬ 
mation of spurs instead of long useless shoots. 
This applies most often to Currants grown upon 
walls. Gooseberries pruned on the system you 
mention do, however, often behave in the manner 
you state. Pruning in summer is a partial 
remedy, and may consist in shortening the shoots 
to within 3 in. or 4 in. of the base. We should 
not make them shorter at this period in case 
they may start into growth a second time. When 
left at a length of 4 in. the second growth will 
be removed at the winter pruning, leaving the 
buds at the base still dormant. We should sug¬ 
gest that these bushes which grow rampantly 
and produce only a few fruits should be root 
pruned. This may be effected by taking out a 
trench all round the bushes and not at any 
great distance from the plants themselves. The 
roots can then be shortened back to the ball of 
soil left. Provided the bushes are not very old 
they may be lifted out of the ground altogether 
and replanted after having their rambling roots 
trimmed back. The process of transplanting 
has the effect of checking over-rampant growth, 
and inducing the bushes to assume a more fruit¬ 
ful character. This process is not often adopted, 
but it has been done with success, and if the 
bushes are not too old it would be well worth 
making the experiment. 
Wrinkled. Vine Leaves, 
Will you inform me through the pages of your 
journal whether the enclosed leaves indicate any 
kind of disease, and what is the cause of it? 
(C. C. W.) 
We should describe it as a condition of the 
leaves, rather than a disease, and it is usually 
brought about by some fault in cultivation. 
Usually it is due to keeping the atmosphere of 
the house in a moist and saturated condition, 
especially during the early period of growth. 
The term usually applied to Vine leaves in this 
condition is simply that they are wart-ed. The 
warts or outgrowths on the surface of the leaves 
simply indicate a pathological condition brought 
about by the young leaves being in an atmo¬ 
sphere saturated with moisture, and therefore 
unable to perform their functions properly. If 
not particularly numerous over the Vines" they 
will do no great harm. Next year you should 
make an endeavour to prevent it by giving ven¬ 
tilation, so that the atmosphere of house will 
not be saturated during the whole length of the 
day. They should be dry for an hour or two at 
least—about mid-day. 
Pyrethrums After Flowering. 
I have a bed of Pyrethrums which flowered 
well in June, but -they keep green and show no 
signs of dying down. The rain seems to keep 
them growing. Do they require any particular 
treatment? (A. L.) 
Pyrethrums do not die down after flowering, 
but usually make a considerable amount of 
growth during summer, if moisture is fairly suffi¬ 
cient. For this reason they often make a con¬ 
siderable growth with the advent of rain in 
autumn. What we should advise you to do is 
to cut down the flower stems immediately after 
they have done flowering, leaving the root leaves 
untouched. This process often causes Pyre¬ 
thrums to make a vigorous growtli during the 
summer and to flower again in the autumn. 
Indeed, we have seen this system carried out, 
and large quantifies of useful flowers for cutting 
have been obtained in the autumn. 
Parsnip Leaves Tunnelled. 
I send you some Parsnip leaves which have 
been tunnelled by some insect. What do you 
think it is and how can it be cured, if possible? 
(C. R. Sims.) 
The leaves of your Parsnips are being tunnelled 
by the Celery fly (Tephritis Onopordinis). Your 
best plan is to remove and burn the worst of the 
leaves and examine the rest for the traces of the 
grub inside the leaf. When you find the posi¬ 
tion of the grub it may be squeezed between 
the finger and the thumb. The plants might 
also- be syringed with tobacco water, so as to 
make them distasteful to the fly and to prevent 
her from laying her eggs there. If you follow 
out these hints assiduously, the grubs cannot do 
your Parsnips any particular harm. 
Canon Hall Muscat Grape. 
I herewith enclose a few berries of Canon 
Hall Grape, sufficient, I think, for you to see the 
unsatisfactory state they are in. I have two rods 
of it in a house with four rods of Muscat of Alex¬ 
andria, and while the Alexandrias are very satis¬ 
factory, the Canon Hall will not have a bunch 
fit to cut. As it is my first experience with this 
variety, I shall be very grateful for any infor¬ 
mation upon its culture, as I hope to alter the 
condition another season if possible. I feel sure 
that you and your readers will gladly help me 
with advice for their future treatment. Thanking 
you for the same favours. (Oanox Hall.) 
You are not the only gardener who has had a 
deal of trouble with this variety, which was at 
one time largely cultivated, but for many years 
past has been gradually disappearing from the 
vineries of every establishment. It is a very 
handsome Grape, though inferior to Muscat of 
Alexandria, from which it is said to have been 
raised. The Vine grows very rapidly, but at the 
same time continues so late in the season that the 
thick pithy shoots never ripen properly, and that 
is probably one of the chief reasons for its mis¬ 
behaviour in a variety of ways. The Vine really 
requires a long season with plenty of heat to 
bring the fruit to maturity, and some heat to 
assist in ripening it off in the autumn. You have 
evidently succeeded in getting berries of large and 
handsome size, though they have been spoiled by 
what is termed rust on the skin. We presume you 
have taken great care with it, and that the rust 
has not been due to the careless handling of the 
berries, but to other conditions, possibly cold 
draughts while the door was being opened in the 
early stages of the grapes, when the skin was thin 
and tender. You do not say whether your vinery 
is heated by hot-water pipes or a flue, but we pre¬ 
sume the former. The pipes might possibly have 
been overheated at some time, thus causing a dry 
atmosphere, which is very injurious to the berries 
in the young state. We are unable to say whether 
you may or may not have been using sulphur to 
destroy red spider. It is desirable to avoid its 
use in the case of all Grapes while the skin is yet 
young and tender, but more particularly in "the 
case of Canon Hall Muscat and white or yellow 
skinned Grapes in general. Possibly some of our 
readers may recently have had practical experience 
with this variety, and can assist with further 
information. 
Insects from South Africa. 
I am enclosing three small insects, hoping that 
you may be able to give me some information con¬ 
cerning them. (H. R., Port Elizabeth.) 
The insect which had been labelled No. 1 would 
seem to belong to the ladybird family, but it had 
all been smashed in coming through the post, and 
the pieces scattered through the box. The other 
insects are quite unknown to us, so that we can 
