12 
January 4, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
sufficient, but you can only expect a plant 
of limited growth with a small proportion 
of flowers by comparison with what the plant 
is capable of doing if planted out in a 
border against a wall. The last-named 
would be the best situation for it, but 
whether you plant it out or grow it in a 
box it must be well drained, then use good 
fibrous loam in a box with a good propor¬ 
tion of well-rotted cow dung mixed with the 
soil. If planted out, good loam would be 
sufficient, provided you take care that the 
base of the hole is naturally well drained, 
so that no superfluous water may lie about 
the roots. Pruning is a simple operation. 
Nail the main stems to a wall or tie them 
to some support, as the case may be. Then, 
after it has made side growths in such a 
position, it could be pruned after the leaves 
have fallen in autumn or winter. The side 
shoots for which you have no room could 
be cut back to a good bud at the base of 
each lateral shoot. Flowers will be pro¬ 
duced on the apex of the shoots which grow 
during summer and bloom in August or 
September, according to the amount of sun¬ 
shine they get during summer. Each year’s 
pruning would simply consist of the removal 
of the side shoots, as above stated. Good 
side shoots may be laid in full length, pro¬ 
vided there is space to do so without crowd- - 
ing. As this plant requires a warm summer 
to make it flower best, and the shelter of a 
south aspect wall, it would be well to give 
it such a situation if at your command. 
2488. Culture of Passion Flower. 
Kindly give me a few hints with regard to 
culture, piuning, etc. (C. B., Sussex.) 
We presume that the particular Passion 
Flower you mean is the common blue one, 
which is hardy. You might have given us 
some idea as to the size of the plant, as it 
would have helped us to the precise direc¬ 
tions to give you. There is no particular 
form in which a Passion Flower may be 
kept. It is planted, as a rule, against the 
walls of dwelling houses, and all .the lead¬ 
ing stems are trained, some upright and 
some slanting, as the case may be, so as to 
cover the whole face of the wall with stems 
at regular distances apart. During summer 
these main stems give off side branches pro¬ 
fusely, and they often hang down to a con¬ 
siderable length, necessitating a reduction 
of the material in winter or spring. If your 
plant covers the space allotted to it, then 
all the side branches that hang away from 
the wall may be cut back to one bud at the 
base. This will allow for the production 
of fresh shoots during summer, and will 
give the crop of flowers and possibly also 
fruits, which are bright yellow and about 
the size of a pigeon’s egg. Pruning should 
not be done until all danger of severe frost 
is over, say, about the middle of March. 
The blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caeru- 
lea) is not quite hardy, but is liable to get 
killed back during a severe winter. In your 
part of the country this would not often 
happen, so that you can pursue the system 
of pruning we have given year after year. 
Not much other culture is necessary, if you 
have taken care to provide a good root run 
for it bel re planting it. This need only 
be of mod*. ate depth, so as to restrain it 
from growing too grossly. The bottom of 
the hole must, however, be well drained, and 
this will enable the plant to ripen its wood 
better than if growing too grossly.. If it is in 
shallow soil and likely to get dry during sum¬ 
mer, then it would be necessary to mulch 
the soil with well-rotted cow manure. If 
the Passion Flower is in a position where 
the manure would be objectionable, take off 
2 in. or 3 in. of soil, place on the manure, 
and cover it again with the soil. This will 
enable you to give the plant a good water¬ 
ing now and again during dry, hot sum¬ 
mers. With this exception, however, the 
Passion Flower is very easy to cultivate 
when planted out. 
VEGETABLES. 
2489. Asparagus Kale and Curled 
Kale. 
Last June I planted some Asparagus Kale, 
and the plants are-now of large size. What 
time should they be cut, and what part of 
them is used ? I have never grown them be¬ 
fore. What is the best time to use tall 
curled Kale? I have been told they are best 
after frost. I suppose the whole tops should 
be cut off. (E. C. D., Herts.) 
Asparagus Kale is usually grown for the 
sake of its sprouts in spring. Sappy 'and 
strong shoots will spring up when the 
weather gets warm in spring, and when 
about 6 in. long, these sprouts may be cut 
off and used in the same way as Asparagus. 
Of course. Asparagus is used in more than 
one way, but, as a rule, Asparagus Kale 
would be used as a vegetable with meat. The 
young sprouts, if not allowed to get too old 
before cutting, make a very tender and tooth¬ 
some vegetable. Tall curled Kale usually 
ceases growing some time late in autumn, 
and their leaves then get more or less tough, 
but if you wait until they get a little frost, 
that makes them much more tender. You 
could, however, have used the leaves 
throughout the summer, removing a few of 
the lower ones from time to time while they 
were still quite tender. If intended entirely 
for winter, then you should cut off those 
that are still perfectly green and fresh, but 
it would be economy to leave the crowns upon 
the plant, as it will keep the plants alive, 
even if you get severe frost between now and 
March. Then, in spring, you will be able 
to obtain side shoots furnished with tender 
young leaves,, which will be much more 
delicate used as a vegetable than the large 
leaves in winter. 
FRUIT. 
2490. Pruning Young Fruit Trees. 
In the autumn of 1906 I planted several 
standard fruit trees three years'old, Apples, 
Pears and Plums. They have not been 
pruned since they were received from the 
nursery. They now have shoots about 2 ft. 
long. Should I cut them back to about 
’8 in.? Do the Apples, Pears and Plums 
all require the same treatment? Also please 
state if I should cut back to a wood bud 
or fruit bud? In pruning bush Apples or 
Pears, do you cut back to a wood bud ? 
(A. A., Kent.) 
If we had planted the trees we should 
have pruned them when they came from the 
nursery, as we presume the heads were small 
and the branches, perhaps, not all regularly 
arranged for the formation of a regular 
rounded head. Nevertheless, you can pro¬ 
ceed on these lines now : When you put 
them at all, prune to a wood bud pointing 
in the direction you wish the next shoot 
to go. This, of course, refers to all lead r 
ing branches that will ultimately form the 
limb of the tree. Needless to say, all dead 
wood and weak, useless shoots, as well as 
those which cross each other, should be re¬ 
moved, retaining those that are best situated 
for making a regular head. While this is 
being done, keep an eye upon all the lead¬ 
ing shoots that are necessary to form the 
head of the tree. Shorten these one-third of 
their length—that is, cut away about 8 in. 
You need not follow this slavishly, but look 
for a bud pointing m the right direction 
near where you wish to prune them, and cut 
them there. You should also a.im at keeping 
the heads of the trees open. Some of the 
main branches may be allowed to give off 
branches at some distance from the main 
trunk, provided there is space for them to 
occupy. Pruning, as a rule, is only neces¬ 
sary in the case of standards, until you get 
a sufficient number of branches to form the 
foundation of the tree, then they can be 
allowed to grow freely, regulating them in 
September where they happen to be crowded, 
and removing dead wood. In some cases a 
branch or two may be inclined to run away 
in advance of the others, making an un¬ 
shapely head. Such a shoot should be 
shortened back to make it of equal length 
to the others. Bush Apples and Pears are 
usually pruned for a much longer period 
than standards. Where you can safely cut 
away anything, remove about one-third of 
their length, to encourage the production of 
spurs all along their length, and in the case 
of varieties which do not readily form spurs - 
you can shorten the shoots to half their 
length, or even to 8 in., as you say, but 
as a Tule it is unnecessary to prune so se¬ 
verely as this. Always prune to a wood bud 
in the case of leaders. Some varieties habitu¬ 
ally produce the best flower buds at the end 
of the shoots, and likewise the best cluster 
of fruits at the points. In such cases you 
will get a better crop of fruit by allowing 
those varieties a little more play. The lead¬ 
ing shoots should not be shortened, but you 
should attend to the thinning out of side 
branches wherever they happen to be 
crowded. Cut them back to one bud, with 
a view to forming spurs. Some of the varie¬ 
ties which fruit best at the end of the shoots 
are Worcester Pearmain, Irish Peach, Mr. 
Gladstone, and Yorkshire Beauty. You thus 
see that it is necessary to vary your practice 
occasionally according to the varieties, and 
this can only be done by good observation. 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
2491. Grubs in Leaves of Marguerites. 
Last August some Marguerites in pots m 
the greenhouse were very much disfigured 
with a kind of grub between the two skins 
of the leaf, and I cut them down and burned 
the branches. They sprouted again soon 
after, but I notice the pest beginning again. 
What is the best means of getting rid of 
it? (Baffled, Sussex.) 
If your plants were very badly attacked in 
August it was the best plan you could have 
done to have cut them down, and thus get rid 
of the maggots. There must, however, have 
been some flies about, or possibly others m 
a resting condition. That is the reason for 
you now being troubled again, as several 
broods are produced during the year, fumi¬ 
gating would destroy the perfect fly, if 
any .are about, but those that are resting in 
the pupa stage would not be affected. At 
the same time, the flies that are Troubling 
you may have been bred out in the leaves of 
the ordinary Chrysanthemum, if you have 
any, or they might have come from some 
other garden. If any of the leaves are badly 
affected now, pull them off and burn them. 
If only a few tunnels are to be seen m the 
leaves, then look on the underside of the 
leaf for the situation of the maggot and 
squeeze it. Then, to prevent further attacK, 
syringe the leaves at intervals with strong- 
smelling tobacco water or weak^ paraffin 
emulsion. This usually keeps the flies away, 
thus* preventing them from laying eggs on 
the leaves. 
2492. Roots of Primula Eaten. 
Some of my Primulas have been looking 
seedy for a week or more past, and to-day j 
I turned one out and found four or five I 
small white grubs that appeared to be cut- 
ting the roots. Can you say what they might | 
be and how I can check them? (T. B., a 
Essex.) 
