October 21, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
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 
vaper 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 sending supplementary replies—see 
Prize Competitions. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best me of this column are invited to prepare 
and forward to us a rough outline drawing or plan 
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of their gardens, indicating the position of beds 
and lawns, the character and height of the fence 
or wall ; position of vegetable garden, orchard, 
etc. The north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It should 
also be statea 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 its to give satisfactory replies. When such, 
plans are received they will be caref ully filed., with 
the name and address of the sender, and will be 
consulted by the Editor whenever an enquiry is sent. 
Name of Seeds. 
I have enclosed two kinds of seed I have had 
given to me. Would you kindly, through your 
valuable paper, The Gardening World, tell me 
the names of the same, and when it is time to put 
them in? I have also sown Broom seed; when 
is the proper time to put them in? I shall be 
obliged to you for information. (Mat.) 
The woo-lly seeds you sent us are some species 
of Anemone, possibly St. Brigid's Anemone. The 
other is an annual species of Delphinium or 
Larkspur, or possibly Nigella ; but it would have 
been more easy for us to determine if you had 
sent some seed-pods as well. In any case, both 
of them might be sown under glass in a green¬ 
house temperature about the second week of 
March. As soon as the seedlings have made the 
first rough leaf, you could prick them, off into 
boxes, about 2 in. apart each way, keeping them 
growing on until fine weather sets in some time 
in May. They should be properly hardened off 
in a cold frame before putting them in the open 
aii’. You state that you have sown Broom seed, 
but presumably you want to know w T hen to plant 
them in the open. If you keep them in a green¬ 
house temperature, the seeds should come up in 
spring, when the weather begins to get warm'. 
All that, you mould have to do is to prevent them 
from getting crowded, if they come up freely, by 
transplanting into boxes, or, better still, potting 
up each separately in a small pot. Even if only 
a few inches high, you would be quite safe to 
plant, them out in June, or earlier if they are 
ready, after they have been hardened off. They 
might be put in nursery lines at a foot apart 
and 18 in. from line to' line until they flower and 
show which of the seedlings come true to name. 
You do not say whether it is Cytisus scoparius 
andreanus or not, but we presume that is what 
you have got. Some of the seedlings come with 
the velvety-brown wings, and others do not, from 
seed. 
Asters Failing. 
I have this year lost dozens of splendid Asters 
in all stages of their growth, even after coming 
into bloom and when 18 in. or more in height. 
They turn black just above the ground, and go 
down quite suddenly. I shall be obliged if you 
can tell me the cause of the disease, for such I 
presume it is, and also kindly let me know if 
it -can be remedied. (Comet.) 
The malady of which you speak is widespread 
in this country, and many Asters have suffered 
recently on account of it. It has been attributed 
to various ailments, including a small worm, 
and possibly the ailment is not- always due to the 
same thing. We found fungi and mites upon 
the specimens which you sent, the former, wa 
think, merely living on the dead matter, and the 
mites might be so likewise; but usually vege¬ 
table mites are very injurious to plant life when 
they get a beginning on unhealthy plants brought 
about by some fault or other in cultivation. It 
often happens that the seedlings get into a bad 
state in the seed-pans before being transplanted. 
A fungus there commences the evil, and that may 
be an incentive or a pathway to various other 
evils that follow afterwards. It is probable, how¬ 
ever, that the disease in many cases is contracted 
on the ground where they are finally planted out, 
and this might be due to the presence of fungoid 
and animal enemies in the old garden soil. 
Ground that, has been planted with Asters year 
after year is liable to contract the malady. We 
should therefore advise you to follow the system 
of clean culture, transplanting the seedlings from 
the seed-pan as they are fit to handle. The seed- 
pans may contain 'a water-logged or over-damp 
soil, and transplanting would induce a healthy 
growth under cool conditions in a frame. You 
should also avoid planting in ground that had 
Asters the previous) year. We have also seen 
Asters destroyed in the early stages by green, 
fly in the opening buds or on the young growth 
crippling the plants. In some cases, however, the 
plants do get over this, and flower freely enough. 
They no doubt would have flowered better if 
thqy had not been crippled and stunted in their 
earlier stages. A dusting of lime round about the 
neck of the plants might be given as soon _ as 
ever you see any signs of the seedlings getting 
black about the neck. This would serve as a 
check to fungoid and possibly other enemies. 
Constructing a Greenhouse. 
Having lately taken your valuable paper in, and 
followed with much interest the advice you have 
so kindly given in the “Inquire Within” page, I 
thought'I would write to you myself for a little 
advice. I wish this winter to construct a green¬ 
house, a lean-to one, about 8 ft. by 6 ft. We have 
a south wall about 5 ft. or 6 ft-, high. If I raise 
the wall, say, another foot or 18 in., would that 
he high enough, or could I go below the level of 
the garden; or would it be better for me to buy 
one out-and-out of Messrs. Cooper, who advertise 
in your paper? Please note I want to build as 
cheaply as possible. Re glass for it, please tell 
me what it means by 100 super, ft. boxes, as adver¬ 
tised. Any advice will be greatly appreciated in 
your next issue. (New Reader, Salop.) 
You could no doubt construct a substantial green¬ 
house for yourself if expert, with the saw and plane : 
but whether it would be cheaper in the end wonld 
depend upon what value you place upon your own 
time. In the case of some people it would be a 
piece of good amusement to build a ei-eenhouse 
in their spare time, and this you would be able 
to determine for yourself. Greenhouses at the 
present day are obtainable cheaply, and it is for 
yourself to determine whether you could not bin- 
one already made, or take the trouble to build) 
it yourself. If you resolve upon the latter, the 
cheapness of the home-made article may only be 
a difference between it and the carriage paid upon 
the house built in London. You might also like 
to use stronger wood in the building of it. but 
in the case of the sashes or frame-work for hold¬ 
ing the glass, the strength of the wood is often 
overdone at the expense of obstructing the light. 
The 100 super, ft. boxes would mean that they 
contained 100 sq. ft. of glass, but whether the 
glass would be cut to the size which you desire 
we cannot say. This would have to lie ascertained 
from those who offer it. It might be possible to 
get glass cut to any size you desire. If you have 
to cut it yourself, you would require a diamond, 
anil, not being an expert, it might be a trouble¬ 
some operation, resulting in the breakage of a 
deal of the glass. Probably it would be to your 
advantage to get the sashes already made of a 
certain size, and this you would have to ascertain 
before attempting to build the frame-work. If 
there are sashes already in store of a suitable 
size, it might be a little cheaper to buy these than 
to have a certain size made specially. Whether 
you can do this will depend upon the space at 
command. The south wall would answer ad¬ 
mirably, and if it is strongly built you might 
safely raise it to 7 ft. or 8 ft. at the back. We 
should nott advise you to sink the walk below 
the level of the garden, as that has a tendency 
to keep the atmosphere of the house wet when 
it should be perfectly dry. It might answer for 
propagating-pits and plants requiring mucli 
moisture even in winter, but a greenhouse should 
be kept dry at that period. 
Communication on “Culinary Peas.” 
Will you kindly let me know, through the 
columns of The Gardening World, if you re¬ 
ceived my communication of a month since on 
“Culinary Peas”? (L.) 
We received the article you mention, and have 
'had it in type for several weeks, but have not 
been able to find space for it. There are several 
other articles belonging to other writers which 
are also delayed, so that writers might restrain 
their hands for a little, until the surplus gets 
worked off. 
Dwarf French Beane and Runners. 
Will you kindly recommend me a good strain 
Dwarf French Bean fit for keen competition in 
an open class ; also a good Runner? (J. Davies.) 
A good strain or stock of Dwarf French Bean 
is Canadian Wonder, which is difficult to beat 
for exhibition purposes. Magnum Bonum is 
another excellent exhibition variety. Scarlet 
Runners contain a number of fine varieties ad¬ 
mirably adapted for exhibition purposes, and 
amongst these we should place Best of All, Prize¬ 
winner, Champion Scarlet, and Monarch Runner 
Bean. The climbing French Bean Tender and 
True Is also a handsome Bean for exhibition. 
Making a Pond. 
I propose making a pond about 16 ft. by 9 ft. 
for the purpose of growing Water Lilies. Can 
you inform me if fresh-water snails will keep the 
water from getting green, and, if so, whether they 
will injure the Water Lilies. Also, whether the 
Lilies will succeed in semi-shade, and what thick¬ 
ness of plugged clay will suffice to keep the pond 
watertight, A reply through the medium of your 
valuable paper will much oblige. (J. Reynolds 
Hole.) 
We have very much doubt whether water 
snails would serve in any particular way to keep 
the water from getting green. Besides, when they 
are getting numerous they become unsightly, and 
are liable to eat tender plants, while their spawn 
gets deposited on the. same. We should prefer 
goldfishes, or any ordinary fresh water British 
fishes of moderate size. Even then we think 
that you would require to clean the water occa¬ 
sionally if there is much green vegetation in the 
water that is to feed the pond. There is nothing 
like a good current of water and a similar outlet 
for keeping the water clean, provided the current 
is not such as to disturb the Water Lilies. We 
presume, however, that you have only a small 
supply. Of recent years some experiments have 
been made in America with a dilute solution oi 
Bordeaux mixture for destroying the green Algae 
on the surface of water, and if this were carefully 
carried out in the form of a spray, we believe that 
it would be successful in destroying the more 
lowly organised water weeds. At the same time 
