January 23, 1969 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
& 
have trenched it for about 2 ft. 6 in. and 
put in stable manure. Could you tell me 
what vegetables would be most suitable ? 
(B. H. B., Surrey.) 
It is chiefly a question of manure and 
tillage that would enable you to grow almost 
an}' of the common vegetables in that sandy 
soil. Stable manure may have been easiest 
to get, but if you could have got cow manure 
it would have been much more appropriate 
for your sandy soil. You did well to trench 
22 ft. deep, and if manure was put in the 
bottom of the trench, as well as the upper 
one, you should reap the advantage not 
only this year, but in after years when the 
soil gets trenched again, bringing the old 
soil to the surface. It depends largely upon 
what vegetables you wish to gr'ow, but Po- 
tatos, Carrots, Parsnips and Beet should do 
well in that deep, light soil. The Potatos 
may not produce such a heavy crop as they 
would in better soil, but the quality will 
be better. Scarlet Runners and Dwarf or 
French Beans should prove very useful in 
your soil. We see no reason why you should 
not be able to grow fair crops of the Cabbage 
tribe. If you get autumn-sown plants of 
F.arly London Cauliflower and Flower of 
Spring Cabbage you could plant them in 
February if your garden is fairly sheltered 
against wind. You can also rear seedlings 
by sowing any time in March when the 
weather is favourable. Walcheren and Au¬ 
tumn Giant Cauliflower would be two very 
good kinds for a succession. Either the Cab¬ 
bage we mention could be sown, or you could 
use Enfield Market, Wheeler’s Imperial, or 
St. John’s Day to give you Cabbages for cut¬ 
ting at the end of July or in August. Need¬ 
less to say, your first attempt will be largely 
experimental, but if you manage the garden 
rightly there is no reason why you should 
not grow all the vegetables you require if 
the garden is large enough. The chief 
thing is to treat the light soil in a certain 
way, knowing that it is liable to be 
very dry in summer time. Besides the 
manure already used, you could mulch some 
'things with manure to advantage from the 
middle of June till the middle of September. 
In the case of other crops or all crops where 
the soil is bare, keep the hoe going so that 
you may get all over the vegetable ground 
once a week. This will not only keep down 
weeds, but prevent the soil moisture from 
evaporating too rapidly. We have not men¬ 
tioned Peas, but we are afraid that until you 
get experience they would be very liable to 
mildew. 
3567. Main Crop Peas Coining Up 
Thinly. 
Since about three seasons our main crop 
of Peas came up very thinly and then did 
not thrive well. What, could be the cause? 
The soil is rather a heavy one. (R. H. N. W., 
N. Wales.) 
There must be something the matter with 
your soil. If it is wet, it ought to be 
drained, and that would make it warmer 
down below. We suspect, however, that it 
wants trenching to thoroughly loosen it up, 
and to have plenty of rank stable manure 
used betwen every two spits of .soil. It is 
a matter that requires to be determined on 
the spot. Do not soak the seeds in water 
before sowing, as the seeds are liable to 
perish. On the other hand, the Soil may be 
full of weevils or other enemies of Peas. 
In some districts sparrows more or less com¬ 
pletely destroy garden and Sweet Peas alike. 
If you have reason to- believe weevils or 
slugs have been at work, then use a good 
heavy dressing of gas lime at the present 
time and do not sow the Peas till two 
months later. When the Peas have been up 
three inches the soil should be drawn to 
them and sticks put in immediately. This 
will help to protect them against sparrows 
and to shelter them from wind. In the ab¬ 
sence of information about the conditions 
generally, we have made the above sugges¬ 
tions. 
3568. Growing Big Leeks. 
Last November, at our Chrysanthemum 
show, I saw some grand Leeks with long 
white stems, and I should like to grow 
Leeks like them myself, if you would be 
good enough to tell me how it is done. Do 
they require a hotbed, and when is this 
made? (A. D. C., Hants.) 
The end of January or the beginning of 
February will be the best time to make up 
a hotbed for Leeks, if you have no command 
of a stove, heated pit or greenhouse. Get 
some rank stable or cow manure and make 
up a bed 3 ft. in depth after treading it 
down firmly. For the first few days the 
heat will, no doubt, be considerable, tut 
when it begins to sink and has reached 80 
degs., you can sow the seeds and stand the 
boxes on the top of the soil on the hotbed. 
When the seedlings have made two or three 
leaves you should transplant them into other 
boxes in good, rich soil, containing a quan¬ 
tity of leaf-mould and well-decayed cow 
manure. When the heat of the bed sinks 
to 60 degs., and the weather outside is not 
very genial, you can partly renew the heat 
by surrounding the frame itself with fresh 
fermented manure. The glass should, of 
course, be matted up at night to maintain 
the heat within. When tfje transplanted 
seedlings have been a fortnight in the second 
state, it should be necessary lo give venti¬ 
lation during the day, to prevent the Onions 
from getting drawn. Although a good heat 
is necessary to germinate them, they should 
not be forced with a high temperature after 
they are fairly into growth. Some time in 
April you can transplant them into trenches 
running north and south, and which have 
been previously well prepared by digging or 
trenching and manuring. When the Leeks 
get as thick as the little finger, you may put 
collars of thick brown paper round the stems. 
The plants will then rise up so as to get the 
leaves well beyond the paper. You can then 
draw up the collars again and at the same 
time draw some of the soil from the ridges 
against the Leeks, so as to blanch the stems 
and keep up the paper collars. This process 
can be repeated until the stem ceases to 
lengthen, after which the Leeks should be 
earthed up to the base of the leaves. Water 
may also be given them frequently, includ¬ 
ing manure, to keep them growing, but you 
should induce it by making holes quite clear 
of the plants, but in such a way that the 
water poured into them will run down about 
the roots. In proportion as you carry out 
these operations properly, so will you suc¬ 
ceed in getting big-necked Leeks. 
3569. Growing: Cucumbers in Frame. 
I want to try my hand at growing Cucum¬ 
bers, and would be obliged for a few par¬ 
ticulars as to how I should make a com¬ 
mencement. Do they require much heat to 
start them, and wl ;;n is the best time to 
start? What is the best, variety to grow in 
frames? (Practical, Suffolk.) 
Unless you can get the required number 
of plants ready for putting out into the 
frames, you will have to make a hotbed, and 
the beginning of March would be soon 
enough to do this, especially if you have 
had no previous experience of the kind. 
The method of making a hotbed has fre¬ 
quently been described, but to germinate 
seeds the hotbed should be at least 3 ft. 
deep so as to ensure the necessary tempera¬ 
ture of 60 degs. to 65 degs. at night to 
start them. If you sow the seeds singly in 
thumb pots you can shift them into larger 
ones without having to break the ball of 
soil about the roots. Later on in the sea¬ 
son, as the plants get ready for planting 
out, you will have to make up another hot¬ 
bed to keep them growing in the frame a 
which you intend to fruit them. If , e 
plants are ready to put out about the mic e 
to the end of May, 12 in. to 18 in. of man e 
would be quite sufficient to give the pl;.s 
a start and keep them growing until e 
sun gets strong enough. Telegraph is e 
best variety for growing in frames. 
FRUIT. 
3570. Apple Trees Unfruitful. 
About four years ago I planted some Ap e 
trees which have turned out very unpn .. 
able, some bearing plenty of blossom, t 
the flowers drop off before they are set, wl e 
others have very little flowers. Would u 
kindly advise me what to do, as I am thi 
ing of shifting them? (R. H. N. . 
N. Wales.) 
We suspect that your trees are in rat r 
an exposed position, and would be the be r 
for shelter of some kind. On the ot r 
hand, the soil may be heavy and the rt s 
may have gone down into cold and - 
genial matter, so that the wood does t 
get properly ripened before the end of s 
season. Lifting and root-pruning wo 1 
be a remedy for this latter state of thir . 
While this is being done the trees coulde 
laid aside on another piece of ground ;i 
have the roots covered up with mats or s>. 
We should advise you to trench the grot 3 
at least 2 ft. deep, if this has not been d e 
previously. No manure should be burl 
in the soil if you have -reason to suppose 11 
the soil is cold and damp. The roots of e 
tree should then be trimmed. All ths 
strong shoots that went down - deeply into ; 
soil should be shortened and have the e:s 
pared smooth with a sharp knife before - 
planting them. Tread the soil firmly, ;.l 
have the trees staked, at least during |3 
first season, until new roots have taken 
proper hold of the soil. Another suggest 1 
we should make is that a late spring f Jjt 
on some occasions may have destroyed e 
blossoms. On the other hand, there e 
some varieties which do not set their fns 
well unless other varieties are grow2 
alongside . of them to supply the poll . 
These are merely suggestions which 3 
make, as we do not know the circumstam, 
and there are many causes which would f|- 
vent Apple trees from fruiting. It would a 
well to give them some observation to 3 
whether they are not being damaged by - 
sect enemies, especially in the early pjt 
of the season. 
_ I 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
3571. Woolly Objects in Peach Housi. 
Will you kindly inform methrough yr 
valuable paper what the enclosed are? 1 
have found them in the top corners of e 
glass in the Peach house. (J. RichaRDSI, 
Notts.) 
The woolly-looking specimens you Sjt 
us were the cocoons or pupa cases of see 
Dipterous insect. It would be difficult! 
impossible to make out the species, un s 
the pupae were kept until the perfect y 
emerges, but the pupa case was very siny t 
to that of the Chrysanthemum leaf miii- 
We examined a number of them, but fom 
that the greater proportion of them we 
dead,, having been attacked by a yel y 
powdery fungus. Some of them were al f> 
however, so that your safest plan is to L 
lect and destroy all that you can find, ' 
merely in the Peach, but in other fruit « 
plant houses. We think it more likely tp 
the insects feed upon some of the flowerg 
plants rather than the Peaches, but in 
case the safest plan is to destroy them. 1 
you open some of those woolly cases you y 
