14 
January 2, 1909. 
have seen a row of Lime trees whose roots 
were covered with 2 ft. of mud from the 
roads, and every one died. On the other 
hand we have occasionally seen roots covered 
to some depth with lighter material, which 
did not prove so harmful as the mud we 
mention. Possibly some of the material 
which you take out of that hole will be 
rather of a heavy nature, as well as poor, 
and that would, of course, be against the 
trees. If the soil you place there is kept 
loose on the surface and frequently hoed 
this will enable the air to get more readily 
to the roots. It is simply a question of being 
in contact with air, as trees, like human 
beings, have a means of breathing, or, in 
other words, taking in the air of the atmo¬ 
sphere so that they can utilise the 'oxygen in 
respiration. It would be as well, therefore, 
to bear this in mind when spreading the 
soil over the surface. If any of the material 
is very heavy you might find a means of 
disposing of it rather than placing it over 
the tree roots. If the trees are of moderate 
size it might be possible to lift and replant 
them on the surface. You could then cover 
them up with the soil taken from that hole. 
You do not say whether they are fruit trees 
or ornamental trees, but if the former we 
should advise you to transplant. 
3514. A Weedy Garden. 
There is another matter in which I would 
like your advice. Before we came here the 
garden was much neglected and at the far 
end is a part I was unable to keep clean 
for any length of time as it seemed full of 
seeds of weeds of all sorts. Can I apply a 
weed killer that would destroy these seeds 
without injuring the soil for other plants? 
(R. Jack, Notts.) 
We are not by any means in favour of 
applying weed killers to land that is in¬ 
tended for the cultivation of plants of any 
kind. The quantity necessary to kill seeds 
embedded in the soil would have to be con¬ 
siderable, and even then it would not be 
very effective. The best plan would be to 
tiench the soil at least 2 ft deep, placing 
the top spit in the bottom. This will give 
a certain amount of respite because in all 
probability most of the seeds are in the first 
6 in. of soil. When turned to the bottom of 
the trench they would be unable to ger¬ 
minate until again brought to the surface. 
You could then plant Potato:,, Cabbages or 
anything of the Cabbage tiibe at distances 
sufficiently far apart to enable you to hoe 
the ground at frequent intervals during the 
summer. This would reduce the weeds and 
at the same time improve the soil. We pre¬ 
sume they are annual weeds, which increase 
fast enough in neglected giound. A very 
effective plan is to keep the ground bare a 
year, so that it can frequently be disturbed 
in order to get fresh crops of weeds, but 
so long as you can grow a useful crop of 
anything we have named it would be bad 
policy to let the land lie idle. The principal 
fact to bear in mind is to prevent the weeds 
from seeding. 
3515. Thistles in the Garden. 
I have been watching some plants in my 
garden for some time thinking that flowers 
had turned up that I did not expect being 
in the garden and intended to send you one 
to see if you could tell me what they were, 
but they have turned out to be Thistles. As 
far as I can see there are none of the same 
kind anywhere about the place. Could you 
say how they have come ? They seem to be 
of the same kind that run under the ground 
and come up anywhere amongst plants. I 
do not want them to get established as they 
are a pest among other plants, especially 
when they come up in the heart of a bed of 
Roses or Carnations that I cannot lift. (J. 
Moss, Staffs.) 
The seeds of such thistles may have come 
a long distance during windy weather. It 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
is just as likely, however, that they have 
been brought amongst the manure employed 
in the garden. Some farms or even fields 
are favourable to the growth of Thistles, 
and, if neglected, seeds are produced in 
Large quantities that get carried away 
amongst the fodfler of cattle and are thus 
distributed far and wide. We presume you 
mean the creeping field Thistle, and in such 
a rase they should be destroyed before they 
have formed underground stems of any 
length. Seedling Thistles, in most cases, 
are easily destroyed during the first season. 
The biennials, of course, only require to be 
hoed and they are immediately settled, but 
even the perennials may be kept in check by 
a timely application of the hoe or the weed¬ 
ing spud or fork. 
3516. “The Gardening World” Diary. 
I enclose stamps and coupon for the 1909 
Diary. I have used one this year, and find 
it invaluable. May I make a suggestion for 
1910? It is this, that you include Sundays 
on one page and allow a space on the oppo¬ 
site page for the week’s summary. ;N. B. 
Barnes, Surrey.) 
We very much appreciate your remarks 
about The Gardening World Diary, and 
are pleased that you find it useful. Your 
suggestion about inserting the seven days of 
the week is a very good one, and, no doubt, 
would be useful to others beside yourself. 
It would not, however, afford any more space 
on the page, so that for the work you require 
to do it might be worth while pasting in a 
small piece of paper that would enable you 
to conclude your notes. At the same time 
we wish you to remember that the Diary is 
specially got up as a work for the pocket, 
and to increase it in length or in bulk, es¬ 
pecially the latter, would militate against 
its general utility. Mafiy people would ob¬ 
ject to carry a book about with them in the 
pocket which took up more space than an 
ordinary pocket book. That is the reason 
why we think it unadvisable tc have a very 
bulky volume. The text employed-through¬ 
out is of small size for this same reason. At 
the end of the book are a few pages for 
memoranda. Would it not be an advantage, 
in order to avoid bulk, to make a brief sum¬ 
mary of the week’s work in those spaces, 
simply placing the date on which the record 
is made at the beginning of each line? We 
occasionally have fo interleave books, or else 
fix an inset of some sort or other for a 
variety of purposes in note-taking, and if 
these pages of memoranda do not furnish 
you with sufficient space it would be pos¬ 
sible to use an inset consisting of a number 
of small, folded sheets to be held in place 
by means of an elastic band. 
NAMES OF PLANTS . 
(T. D. W.) 1, Pernettya mucronata; 2, 
Fiery Thorn (Crataegus Pyracantha); 3, 
Holly Silver Queen. 
(J. B. West) 1, Cupressus lawsoniana; 2, 
Thuya gigantea; 3, Petasites fragrans or 
Winter Heliotrope. 
(Enquirer) 1, Epiphyllum truncatum; 2, 
Pelargonium Radula. 
trade catalogues received. 
James Veitch and Sons, Ltd., Chelsea 
London. -—Gatalogue of Seeds, 1909; also 
Chrysanthemums. 
John Peed and Son, West Norwood, Lon¬ 
don, S.E.—Peed’s Seeds. 
William Bull and Sons, Chelsea, London. 
Bull’s Catalogue of Seeds, etc. 
Webb and Sons, Wordsley, Stourbridge.- 
Webb s Vegetable and Flower Seeds. 
Wm. Cutbush and Son, High gate, London, 
■ Catalogue of Seeds 
John K. King and Sons, Coggeshall, 
Essex. Manual of Gardening, an Illus¬ 
trated Book of Seeds. 
Dobbie and Co., the Royal Scottish See 
Establishment, Rothesay, Scotland.— Cat? 
logue for Spring, 1909. 
-f+4- 
£oUa$e and JUlotmwt Satfonty 
Under the title of “A Practical Guid 
to School, Cottage and Allotment Gaf 
denmg, ’ a book has been written by Mi 
John Weathers as a guide to those wh 
have not yet commenced giving instruc 
tion on these matters to students, bu 
desire to get some knowledge of the sub 
ject so that they can put it into practice 
The author discusses where to make 
garden, how to make paths, besides whs 
a school garden should be, the value of , 
garden plot, laying out a cottage garden 
allotment garden and things that pert an 
thereto. He then discusses the soil, it 
origin and different kinds. Various othe 
chapters on physiological subjects an 
practically much the same as may b 
found in other school books that des 
with the science of the subject. Prat 
tical matters are also discussed and illus 
trated ; for instance, pruning is illustrate! 
by various forms of fruit trees that an 
found to be useful for different purposes 
By means of illustrations he shows proper 
and improper methods of making the cm 
when pruning trees. The propagation 0 
other subjects is also dealt with, including 
small fruits, and hardy flowers for the 
border in their various kinds. Fo: 
teachers in rural schools the book shoulc 
prove a mine of information in the sub¬ 
jects with which it deals. It may be 
obtained from Messrs. Longmans. Greer 
and Co., Paternoster Row, London, foi 
2s. 6d., with postage extra. 
-- 
Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society 
Lord Eversley presided over the 
monthly meeting of this Society held on 
the 7th. December, at 25, Victoria Street, 
Westminster. It was stated by Sir Robert 
Hunter that the Scheme for the acquisi¬ 
tion of Ludshott Common had now been 
completed, the sum raised by the Society 
and the local Acquisition Committee 
amounting to £1,810. The Common, 
which was situate in the Hindhead dis¬ 
trict, had been vested in the National 
Trust and was 550 acres in extent; the: 
purchase also included a strip of wood¬ 
land lying between the Common and 
Waggoners’ Wells. 
Clematis Lady Northcliffe. 
The most common Clematis in garden: 
of small size is C. Jackmani with riel 
dark purple flowers. Several varietie; 
are in cultivation rvith large flowers o, 
light blue, but Lady Northcliffe stand 1 
out prominently as a rich bright blue. 
The plant is of the Jackmani type o 
growth and its large flowers are made uu 
of six broad sepals. A good blue woulc 
be a desirable feature in many gardens. 
HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS 
Send for a copy of oor new booklet 
giving full instructions. Post free. 7d 
Jokatsons Ltd. 
Twyford Abbey Mushroom Farm, 
WILLESDEN, LONDON, N.W. 
