982 
and other branches seemed from indications likely 
to suffer from premature decay. There are no 
drains in the vicinity. What can the cause be 
owing to ? (J. H., Carlisle.) 
Practically any tree is liable to lose branches 
for which there 'is no accounting in many cases. 
It is just possible that the roots of your Beech 
tree are in a very unsuitable medium, the soil 
possibly waterlogged. In such a case the Beech 
cannot' thrive very long, because, although a 
robust and long-lived tree, it is largely dependent 
upon micro-organisms upon its roots, by which 
alone it is able to get a sufficiency of the food 
it requires. The decayed branches should be cut 
away close to the main trunk or branch from 
which they spring. The cut surface should then 
be smoothed over and painted or tarred in order 
to keep out the wet and prevent decay. It the 
whole tree dies we should conclude that some¬ 
thing is wrong with the roots, and make pre¬ 
parations for having it removed and a young one 
planted in its place or close by, after taking out 
the old roots and supplying some fresh soil, it 
the soil is water-logged it would be necessary to 
drain it. 
Selection of Apple Trees. 
I am about to purchase ten standard Apple 
trees, to be planted along the centre path of a 
garden ten miles from London. I want each of 
crood sorts, and shall esteem it a favour if you 
will help me with a list. (T. F.) 
You do not state so, but we presume you desire 
both dessert and kitchen varieties. In such a 
case, we think an equal number of each would 
meet vour requirements as well as anything. We 
select them in the order of ripening to give you 
some idea of how long they keep good. Dessert 
varieties are Devonshire Quarrenden, Worcester 
Pearmain, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Allington Pippin, 
and Sturmer Pippin, the last-named keeping good 
till May. For cooking purposes you may get 
laird Suffield, Ecklinville, Warner’s King, Wel¬ 
lington, and Lane’s Prince Albert, the latter 
keeping good till March at least. 
Variegated Ground Ivy. 
Last spring I bought a plant of variegated 
ground Ivy in a basket, and it looked well all 
the summer in a shady conservatory with Ferns. 
Will it grow from the' root again next year, and 
how can I propagate it? (C. H. W.) 
The plant is a perennial, and will come up 
again from the crowns next year. It can be pro¬ 
pagated by division just when young growth is 
about commencing, separating each crown, which 
can be cut away with a few roots to it. If the 
plant is not very large, we should advise you to 
give it some fresh soil in the same or another 
basket by taking it out, removing all the loose 
soil, and putting entirely fresh material in the 
basket. 'Several stems will, no doubt, proceed 
from the crown, and some of these can be taken 
off and put in pots of sandy soil as cuttings. If 
you exercise a little patience until the plant has 
attained some length, more young shoots will 
come up from the base, and you may also get 
shoots from the long stems. At the same time, 
these lengthy pieces may be cut up with two 
joints and one of them inserted in the soil, while 
the other end wilFproduce the crown of the young 
plant when rooted. 
American Aloes. 
We have some American Aloes in 6-in. pots, but 
they seem to make very slow growth, and we 
want them of a good size to stand on either side 
of the door. Do they require manure-water to 
make them grow? (E. Benson.) 
The American Aloe makes very slow growth in 
small pots, but you can get the plants to grow 
much more rapidly bv planting them out in the 
garden in good soil in the month of June and 
allowing them to remain until the end of Sep¬ 
tember. They must then be lifted, potted up and 
taken under glass to keep them safe for the 
winter. You will find them require larger pots 
than those they were previously in. The same 
process may be repeated during the following 
season, and by that time your plants should be of 
considerable size. If you desire small ones, the 
tHB GARDENING WORLD . 
young plants or suckers that come up from the 
base should be taken off and planted out or potted 
up separately. 
New Zealand Daisy Bush. 
Could you give me the botanical name of this 
shrub, and say whether it is hardy? Does it 
require pruning? (T. Ross.) 
The botanical name of the plant is Olearia 
Haastii. It is perfectly hardy in various parts of 
this country if planted in a well-drained soil from 
which rain-water can readily drain away. It 
grows very slowly, and requires very little or no 
pruning, unless you desire to keep it in the form 
of bushes of very small size. It would scarcely 
flower so freely if many of the branches are cut 
away in spring, so that we should advise you 
merely to shorten any straggling shoots on the 
plant to maintain the. shape of the bush. 
Pelargonium Leaves Spotted. 
I send you some leaves of Pelargonium which 
are marked with pale spots as if diseased. Could 
you give any explanation of this? (Dewsbury.) 
Many varieties of Pelargonium are liable to 
become spotted at this season of the year. Some 
attribute it to the want of light and proper ven¬ 
tilation ; but as all ailments have their causes, the 
spotting of the leaves is probably due to some 
insect or to bacteria, the latter living in the 
tissues. The worst of the leaves can be removed 
and burned. Usually, Pelargoniums grow out of 
this in spring or early summer if they have been 
fairly well treated during winter. 
Ferns for Baskets. 
Will you please name some easily-grown Ferns 
that may be planted in baskets to hang up in a 
cool conservatory? (E. M. Roberts.) 
Several of the Aspleniums are very suitable for 
this purpose, including A. bulbiferum fabianum, 
A. lucidum, and A. flaccidum. A number of the 
Polystichums are suitable for baskets, but none 
of them are finer than P. angulare or any of its 
fine varieties which are now obtainable. A very 
pretty one and easily obtainable is P. a. pro- 
liferum, which produces numerous little plants on 
the old fronds. Nephrolepis exaltata and its 
varieties, as well as N. davallioides furcans, are 
handsome basket plants. Some of the Polypodies 
make a beautiful basket for a cool house, of which 
some of the best are Polypodium vulgare cam- 
bricum and P. v. cornubiense. The former is of 
a massive habit of growth, but the last-named is 
very much divided and very graceful. 
Blackberries not Fruiting. 
I planted half a dozen Blackberries in the 
garden last autumn, but though they made good 
growth, they did not produce any fruit. They 
are in a well-lighted and sunny position. Can you 
say what is the matter with them? (Middles- 
BOROTJGH.) 
Blackberries require to attain some consider¬ 
able size, or, in other words, to get well estab¬ 
lished before they fruit freely. Possibly the 
stems of the plants were cut down when you 
planted them. You must remember that Black¬ 
berries can only fruit on the wood made the 
previous season, so that the shoots made this 
year may fruit freely enough next year. On 
the other hand, we know that they sometimes 
make so much young growth that there is little 
inclination to produce fruit in the early stages, 
or at most only a few bunches. We advise 
patience for a year or two and the plants will 
become more inclined to produce fruit than to 
make rampant growth. 
Pear Trees on Wall. 
We have a large Pear tree on the end wall of 
the house facing the west, but although it makes 
plenty of growth every year it does not fruit well. 
Can you say if it is possible to remedy this? 
(P. T. Jackson.) 
In the case of over luxuriance the best plan 
is to root-prune the tree about the end of 
September by taking out a trench about 4 ft. 
from the stem of the tree and cutting back any 
rampant roots which you may find. Take every 
December 23, 1905. 
care of the small fibrous roots, using a fork to 
avoid bruising or cutting them. You should 
work well in beneath the tree without breaking 
the general ball of soil, and if any roots grow 
straight down into the subsoil they should be 
cut. The tree should also be pruned by cutting 
each of these shoots that stretch away from the 
wall back to a good bud near the base. If the 
spurs are crowded they must be thinned out, 
taking care to remove those which do not give 
any promise of flower buds. 
Gooseberries in Pots. 
At a flower show in this locality I saw some 
Gooseberries grown in pots and laden with fruit. 
Do you think I could grow them in this way to 
fruit freely for placing on the table for dessert 
purposes? (W. Warden.) 
We think you would have no difficulty in grow¬ 
ing single-stemmed Gooseberries in pots by com¬ 
mencing with cuttings if you have no young 
plants. They should be allowed to run up with 
a single stem only, and after the leaves have 
fallen the leader should be shortened consider¬ 
ably in order to encourage the production of 
spurs all along the sides. Some of these side 
shoots will grow out into lengthy branches, but 
they should be shortened in summer to 3 in. and 
in winter to ^ in. The Gooseberry fruits freely 
enough on spurs, and consequently it lends itself 
to being pruned and trained in this small form. 
When the plants are in flower, they should be 
stood in some sheltered position to prevent their 
being destroyed by late frosts until the berries 
have set. Then you can move them into some 
open and airy situation well exposed to sunshine 
and air to induce good flavour. 
The Proper Mint. 
Can you give me the name of the proper (Mint 
for making Mint sauce? I got some last spring, 
but it does not seem the right sort. (M. Wilson.) 
It seems largely a matter of opinion and taste 
as to which species or variety of Mint may be 
used for the purpose you name. In our experi¬ 
ence that most commonly used is Mentha 
piperita, the common Peppermint, but there are 
several other species gi’own in gardens and 
utilised for precisely the same purpose. There 
are also several varieties of Peppermint, and for 
flavouring there cannot be any very great dif¬ 
ference if the leaves undergo boiling. 
Fig Tree on Wall. 
Which is the best wall for planting Figs, facing 
east or south? A gravel path runs along the 
foot of the wall facing south and the border 
would be very narrow. What is the best time 
to plant? (T.‘B. Thomas.) 
Of the tw'o aspects you mention the south 
aspect is the better, as you would get a greater 
amount of sunshine there and heat to ripen the 
fruits. The narrow horde# which you mention 
would be no great drawback, but rather an 
advantage to Figs. We should advise you to 
take out the soil to the depth of 2^ feet or 3 feet, 
and to put in a good deal of drainage in the bot¬ 
tom. If lumps of chalk can be used rather 
freely in this drainage, so much the better, as 
Fig trees seem to do well upon a chalky formation. 
Some turves with the grassy side downwards 
may be placed over the drainage, and the soil 
filled in to within 6 in. or 8 dn. of the surface. 
This should then be trodden firm, made level, 
and the trees planted upon it, carefully spread¬ 
ing out the roots and treading the soil firmly. 
Fig trees seem to fruit best wdien their root run 
is ^restricted so as to induce them to produce 
short-jointed wood, which will ripen in our 
climate, and be more likely to fruit well and to 
ripen during the following year. As the season 
is now far advanced, we should advise you to 
let planting alone until well into March, as there 
would be no severe frost to injure the trees until 
they have become well established in their new 
site. 
Currant Bud Mite. 
Some of my Black Currant buds are very much 
swollen, like enclosed. Are they really affected 
by the mite? If so, what is the remedy? (P. 
Davis.) 
