THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 30, 1909. 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters, discussing any 
gardening subject. 
Letters should not exceed ifjo words 
each in length, and 7nust be written 
on one side of the paper only. 
Two Prizes of 2s.- 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the 
best. 
Labels on Fruit Trees. 
58 
top of the interior dark part. A spirit 
lamp is also a very useful means of ig¬ 
niting the ribbon. The ribbon may most 
conveniently be held by a pair of pliers, 
but if these are not at hand, we can quite 
well make a couple of penny pieces serve 
by gripping the end of the ribbon between 
them and holding them firmly together. 
Let us now look at the illustrations. 
Fig. 1. This shows us a group of flower's 
held in test tubes on feet and made steady 
by strips of lead in the way previously 
described (p. 685, October 31st, 1908). 
Ordinary plate. Lens 2 ft. from subject, 
f/6. Four inches of magnesium ribbon 
burned 2 ft. away from the leps on the 
right-hand side. General result under 
exposure. 
Fig. 2. Imperial ortho, plate (no 
screen). Stop f/8. Light grey back¬ 
ground. Four inches ribbon burned at 
side of and 2 ft. from lens. Result: The 
shadows are much too strong. 
Fig. 3. Same brand of plate with 6 
times screen. Stop f/8. Same back¬ 
ground as in Fig. 2. Eighteen inches of 
ribbon burned at right-hand side and 2 ft. 
away from lens an d 6 ins. burned at left 
side of lens also 2 ft. away so as to light 
up the shadow side. Result: Better re¬ 
lation of flowers and background, better 
and softer arrangement of light and shade. 
I repeated the last experiment, but used 
a reflector oh the shadow side, and only 
burnt 18 ins. of magnesium ribbon on the 
right-hand side of the lens. The print 
from No. 4 is slightly more delicate than 
No. 3, but the difference is so little that 
it would not appear in a half-tone repro¬ 
duction. Yet, on the whole, I should pre¬ 
fer No. 4. 
One general hint I may give with 
respect to the use of magnesium light, 
viz., that if sharp-edged shadows are re¬ 
quired, then hold the burning ribbon 
quite still; but if soft-edged shadows are 
wanted, then move it about in a circular 
sweep while it is burning. 
When developing artificial-light nega¬ 
tives care must be taken not to carry de¬ 
velopment too far — as one is often tempted 
to do—or our plant will look too chalky 
and hard. 
P.S. — A one ounce coil of magnesium 
ribbon, costing is. 3d., will last for scores 
of exposures. 
-f-M—- 
Chrysanthemum Maud Allan. 
The above is a decorative variety which 
Was brought up to the meeting of the 
R.H.S., on January 12th, by Mr. N. 
Molyneux, Wickham. The blooms are 
pure white, 35 in. to 4 in. in diameter, 
with rolled and twisted and likewise 
wfhorled florets. Award of Merit. 
Odontoglossum ardentissimum Norman Cook- 
son. 
The above is a beautiful round flower 
like the others belonging to the same 
section and of moderate size with broad, 
overlapping segments. The sepals have 
a large bright brown blotch covering the 
whole surface, except for the white edges. 
The petals are rounder and the large 
brown blotch is shaded with purple. The 
lip has an angular blotch in front of the 
crest. Award of Merit by the R.H.S. 
tvhen shown by N. C. Gookson, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. H. J. Chapman), Oak- 
Wood, Wylam-on-Tyne. 
Treatment of Gooseberry Bushes. 
I have 30 sturdy Gooseberry bushes 
which hitherto have borne well and look 
well whilst other people’s have been shorn 
of leaves and bore puny and dirty fruit, 
and this is how I treat mine:—October: 
Clear suckers; make a quantity of grease 
(truck grease) to a liquid, and with a 
brush apply it to the tree up to 6 inches 
from the ground, the object being to snare 
the female caterpillar. November: Give 
each bush a feed of dry closet, dig slightly 
3 feet from the bush, dump it down, and 
cover with earth. December to February : 
Prune liberally. I suggest the closet 
stuff every other year owing to the amount 
of wood it makes. 
Cranwood, Carlisle. C. H. 
Winter Colour Effect by Willows. 
Those fortunate owners who possess a 
stream or a lake, or indeed even a very 
moist place in their gardens, can, by the 
judicious use of the various coloured 
barked Willows obtain a most picturesque 
effect during the sombre days, of winter. 
One of the best forms for this purpose in 
my opinion is Salix britzensis, which has 
bark of a rich bright red, rendering it 
very conspicuous, especially if there be 
a carpet of snow. A few other good sorts 
are S. vitellina, bark bright yellow; S. 
daphnoides, a very robust growing kind, 
having its stems covered with a beautiful 
wax-like violet bloom, and S. laurina, 
with nice dark green growths. Although 
Willows are more at Lome on the mar¬ 
gins of lakes or in swamps, they succeed 
nearly anywhere in very heavy damp soils. 
Propagation is very easily effected by 
means of cuttings. 
Sheffield. J. W. Watson. 
Two Useful Shrubs. 
At the back of the herbaceous border or 
for any position in the garden the Syringa 
(Philadelphus), or Mock Orange, and the 
Weigela are both ornamental and pretty. , 
The Syringa, or Mock Orange, from its 
considerable resemblance to the blos¬ 
soms of the Orange tree, is a very hand¬ 
some shrub, bearing sweetly scented 
white flowers in small clusters with yel¬ 
low stamens. It is hardy, requiring no 
particular culture, growing in ordinary 
garden soil not too damp in nature, and 
generally flowers about May and June. 
The Weigela has much the same habit of 
growth, and blooms about the same time. 
It is a very handsome and hardy shrub and 
very free-growing, adapted to any good 
ordinary garden soil. It bears blossoms 
of a rosy-pink shade, which appear 
slightly in advance of the foliage, -which is 
very handsome. They are both increased 
by cuttings or layers, and are very effec¬ 
tive and ornamental in the garden. 
Wimbledon. A. D. C. 
It is often a matter of difficulty to o 
tain a label for fruit trees which will sc 
cessfully resist the -weather and reta 
unimpaired the writing on it. A very sui 
able article for the purpose is the met; 
tablet which is now obtainable from tl 
penny-in-the-slot machines at most lar< 
railway stations. Thirty letters can 1 
engraved on them before extracting ther 
and they contain a small hole, and \ 
threading this with a piece of wire th 
are easily attached to the fruit trees 
plant, and remain impervious to clima: 
conditions. 
Putney. (Miss) D. SPARKES. 
Scabious. 
A few hints may. prove useful to the 
who have not tried to grow these plant 
If they have caused you pleasure throug 
the summer months, why throw them aw; 
because they have lost their beauty? 
you have the plants separate, so much tl 
better, if not, select the brightest colon, 
with strong shootspushingfromthebottom 
li f t them and pot them in 3 in. pots in 
compost of two parts loam, one of lea 
mould, and a little sand. Keep them in 
cool frame free from frost, and give plem 
of air until the flower buds appear, an 
then remove them to the conservator! 
If slender stake them neatly, and when i 
bloom they will give you satisfactioi 
Antirrhinums may be treated likewise 
these two give a bright display with littl 
expense. 
Bideford. Henry Page. 
Corortilla glauca. 
There are two kinds of this pretty plan 
one with green foliage, the other varit, 
gated. They are generally accepted a 
greenhouse plants, and are very ornamer 
tal either in or out of flower. The objec, 
of this note is to attract attention to the’ 
somewhat hardier nature than is usuall 
accredited them. A large plant of tb 
former variety was two years ago planter 
out in the open in a very exposed pos 
tion where it grew remarkably vel 
despite the cold -winds it had to endun 
In November of 1907 it was full of flowe 
buds which continued to expand througl 
out the winter until April, irrespective c 
the weather, which at times -was ver 
severe, and this without any protection 
The same plant is now’ expanding it 
flowers again this season, many of whic 
have already been cut for decorative put 
poses. 
H. Rowles. 
Partridge Green, Sussex. 
[The specimens sent with this note i. 
December were in perfect condition as tj 
foliage and flowers, the latter being i' 
all stages of development on the shoots 
up to fully expanded flowers. — E d.] 
