6 go 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 31, 1908. 
flat and spread out horizontally or nearly 
so. This should give a circular flower, re¬ 
calling, to some extent, a single Pyrethrum, 
or a Dahlia, but in the Anemone Chrysanthe¬ 
mum the disc should be fuller or more raised 
up like a dome in the centre. A third point 
is that the colours should be good and in 
prime condition. If any of these parts of 
the flower are defective the bloom would 
lose in points. 
3334. Early-Flowering Chrysanthemums 
for a Border. 
Please give names and colours of a dozen 
early-flowering Chrysanthemums suitable 
for the purpose stated. How far apart 
should they be planted? Of course, I do 
not want the Chrysantheriiums till spring, 
but I must begin making preparation to get 
the border put in order. (H. Norman, Dar¬ 
lington.) 
The following varieties should meet your 
requirements : — Mme. Marie Masse (mauve), 
Robbie Burns (cerise), Horace Martin (deep 
yellow), Market White, Mme Desgranges 
(white), Goacher’s Crimson, White Quintus, 
Goacher’s Pink, Harvest Home (bronzy-red), 
Le Cygne (pure white), Mrs. A. Thomson 
(goldon-yellow), and Mrs. E. V. Freeman 
(deep crimson). 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
3335. Solanum jasminoides m Bud. 
Will you please inform me through your 
paper whether this creeper can be expected 
to do anything more than to be just budding 
into flower, situated as it is out of doors in 
a sheltered warm position to which it was 
shifted last winter from a draughty one? 
(Medeto, Hants.) 
It depends very much upon the treatment 
which it has received the previous season 
as to what it will do in the way of flowering 
this. Last year we saw it flowering beauti¬ 
fully a few miles to the west of London on 
the wall of a dwelling house about this time. 
If it were planted in a greenhouse and 
pruned immediately after it has done flower¬ 
ing it will commence growing again soon 
after and thus be able to complete its growth 
fairly early in the season. It then com¬ 
mences flowering early. We presume that 
your one is still feeling the effects of shift¬ 
ing last year. The shifting, of course, de¬ 
stroys many of the roots and that in itself 
would make growth backward. We should- 
expect it will, nevertheless, flower with you 
in^ your warm .southern locality, provided' 
the autumn remains fairly mild. Next year 
it will flower earlier, as it w.ill be able to 
make and finish its growth at a much ear¬ 
lier period of the year. We suspect, how¬ 
ever, that it will still remain an autumn- 
bloomer when grown out of doors, as it has 
to bloom on the slhoots that are made during 
summer. 
VEGETABLES. 
3336. Age of Asparagus. 
Will the Editor kindly let me know the 
age of .the enclosed Asparagus roots? I 
have just bought and planted fifty, and 
should be obliged fox advice as to general' 
culture. Should the seeds be allowed to 
fall on the beds and sow themselves, and 1 
should the plants be covered in. winter, and, 
if so, what with? (M. M. Lees, Lancs.) 
The specimen of As-par.agus you sent us 
was three years ol-d. It might have been a 
larger crown, but we presume you did not 
send one of the largest. In the culture of 
Asparagus one of the principal items is to 
have the bed properly prepared before 
planting, which we presume you took care 
to do. It should have been trenched at 
least 2 ft. deep, and if the soil was very 
heavy and inclined to clay, all the natural 
material should have been taken out and 
the whole filled up with some lighter and 
richer material, either with soil from some 
other and better part of the garden, or, bet¬ 
ter still, with old potting soil in which 
there is a good .deal of sand. Asparagus 
liikes p-lenty of sand, but if your soil is. 
fairly good and not too heavy .the trench¬ 
ing would have made a suitable bed. The 
seeds need not be allowed .to fall upon the 
bed, as they would only prove a nuisance 
by conning up and making numerous small 
crowns where there is only room far those 
that are already planted. About the end of 
this month or some time early in November, 
when the branching stems turn yellowish, 
they .should be cut down and taken away to 
the rubbish heap. It is a good plan to 
mulch the beds in winter with about 3 in. 
of stable manure. After this has been laid 
on equally all over the bed, some soil from 
the pathway should be thrown over the 
manure to keep the wind from blowing the 
manure about during winter. In spring the 
rougher parts of it ijjay be taken off and the 
finer material pointed into the bed by means 
of a digging fork, talcing care not to injure 
the crowns duninig the operation. A dress¬ 
ing of salt may be given the bed in the 
spuing when .pointing in the manure. Cut¬ 
ting commences earlier or later according 
to the locality, but you would do well not 
to out any during the first season, and in 
the following year -the plants should have 
much stronger crowns and gave better stacks 
of Asparagus. You .should leave off cutting 
about the second or third week of June. 
3337. Insects on Broccoli and Cauli¬ 
flower. 
Can you tell me what is the cause of the 
large knots on the roots of Broccoli and 
Cauliflower? Is it an insect or a fungus? 
How can I prevent it? I here are also large 
yellow patches on the Broccoli leaves and 
some sort of white insect on the spots. I 
would be grateful for information about 
these. (H. Davids, Surrey.) 
The large knots are,, in all cases, due to a 
fungus known as club-root or ambury caused 
by Plasmodiophora Ilrassicae. Small knots 
are sometimes produced by a weevil named 
Ceuthorhynchus sulcicollis. Both of these 
should be combated by digging up the roots 
after the Broccoli has been cut and having 
the roots burned. While digging or trench¬ 
ing the soil in autumn or winter, you should 
give the ground a good dressing with gas 
lime to destroy any weevils or fungus spores 
there may be in the soil. The yellow patches 
on the leaves of Broccoli would be due to the 
white Cabbage Aphis (Aphis Brassicae). 
They do not, as a rule, do very extensive 
damage, although they disfigure your plants. 
The worst of the leaves with the insects 
upon them should be collected arid burned. 
Then the remainder may be syringed with 
strong soapsuds, having some tobacco juice 
in them, but you should avoid spoiling the 
curd of a Cauliflower, if any is present. 
FRUIT. 
3338. Vine Leaves Dropping-. 
I have a Grape Vane. I got i.t last sum¬ 
mer, in June. It h.as till roe stems and the 
leaves seem to be dying off, but sit'd 11 lihe 
stems seem to be growing. Shall I cut the 
half-decayed leaves off or let them drop off ? 
The Vine is three years old. (Urmston, 
Lancs.) 
You did not tell us whether t'he Vine is 
in a house or growing out of doors. If 
outside that would explain it growing so 
late. We should not adviise you to cut off 
any leaves, whether decaying or not, but 
allow them to hang on the plant until tihey 
have properly ripened, when they will drop 
off. If your Vine is in a house, we should, 
imagine that you are keeping it too hot or 
too close. A good plan in cases of Vines 
that keep green till late in the autumn is 
to create a gentle heat in the house and a 
the same time give plenty of verutiiatioi: 
This wiilil soon, cause the Vines to stop -grow¬ 
ing and to ripen off their leaves, afte 
which they will drop of their own ac 
cord. What you want to see is a rich 
brownish yellow hue on the sheets, thus im 
dioat-ing that they have ripened proper! 
and gome to rest. About a fortnight of thd 
treatment should be ample to make the Yin- 
go to rest. 
3339. Neglected Strawberry Bed. 
I have in a very neglected garden a fa: 
sized bed of Strawberries clothed with seed 
They have had no attention the past sea- , 
I should be glad of instruction for clear 
Lnig and cultivating the same for next year 
I do not know the kind. As- early as yo- 
can reply, to get what advantage I can, 
s-ball be obliged. (Newcomer, Essex.) 
We presume your Strawberry bed is ver 
much, overgrown with runners from th 
Strawberry plants, and that the ground be 
tween them is very hard. Your best pla 
would be, under those conditions, to la 
down the garden line at a certain distanc 
from each Line of Stxawherries, and wit 
the spade cut through the runners an 
weeds.. Them get ,a fork and proceed to for 
out all the runners in this space that ha 
been cut between the lines. All these mi¬ 
ners should, of course, be shaken clear . 
earth and taken to the rubbish heap with a! 
weeds. If the lines themselves are ovei 
crowded owing to runners growing in then 
you should make an effort to thin them ou 
leaving only t'he good plants about iS ii 
to 2 ft. apart -in the lines. The next pla 
would be to mulch the Strawberry bed wit 
a good coating o.f stable manure, laying 
close up to the plants but not covering th 
foliage. This manure will help to mat 
the plants m-ore fertile next v r ear, if the 
are not too- old. A much better plan woul 
be to trench and manure some ground earl 
i,n August next and to make a fresh p-lai 
tation of Strawberries. The runner 
should, of course, be laid down in June <, 
July to get- them well rooted. That can l 
done by loosening the soil a little with 
hand fork, placing the runner thereon an 
putting a stone upon it to keep it in pla( 
until roots are formed. The best plan c 
al.l is, of course, to root the runners 1 
small pots. You can then sever them fro: 
the plant and have the new plantation mai 
some time in August or September, the ea 
Her the better. By this means you can g- 
a good crop of fruit from good vametx 
in -the following year if the soil is in ar 
way good. You should, however, be ab 
to get something off the old bed next sui 
nrer and thereby .avoid a blank. _ 
1340. Raspberries and Goutweed. 
My Raspberry and Strawberry beds a 
nuch over-run with a very had weed, whir 
am tolid .is Goutweed. The roots m 
l long way under the soil, and 1 find 
■oats of the Raspberries quite near the su 
:,ace. What would you advise me to do, - 
: think they are not growing so well as-tlx 
night to do. (T. Ford, Kent.) 
You can. only partly remedy such a ca 
jy getting a fork and loosening up as mu 
>f the Goutweed as possible and there" 
Greatly reducing the crowns-. Raspberri 
lo roof shallowly, and where the Goutwe 
s interlaced with the Raspberries, the mi 
fou can do is to keep the leaves- pu led « 
nr closely cut in. summer, and make p>|- 
oaxations for a fresh plantation of 
rerries, so that you can clear the grc-ui| 
w uprooting the old plantation m 
jourse of a year or two. It wall be m>- 
iifficult to deal with the Strawberries 
ill that vou can do is to fork out the Go j 
veed in the open space between, the lines 
Strawberries. The true. solution o 
question in both cases- is to make a 1 
