JUL UARDBMNO WORLD. 
ugust I, 1908. 
» hat done. Thanking you again for your 
i advice. (G. S., Haddingtonshire.) 
« the answer to the question on “ Points 
f. Sweet Pea ” for various details. You 
1 keep cutting the flowers as they open till 
it; upon the time of the show. With these 
cars you should practice setting them up 
, i a t you may have some experience in set- 
1 them out loosely and gracefully. The 
j >es' can then see every flower without 
tiling them. To cut them three days be- 
i the show would be too early. 
morning ~ of the day before the 
tv is a better time. Place the flowers 
t once in water where the sun will 
i shine upon them. Only those that are 
ly to be in their freshest condition on the 
; of the show should be selected. It is 
cssary to shade some varieties of Sweet 
1 s in order to get them a good colour. 
' 3 shading should consist of tiffany or 
: e light material fixed up on the sunny 
; ; of*the rows, so that the plants will still 
• plenty of light, though not direct sun- 
! le. 
T. Asters Dying. 
’ould you in your next week’s issue of 
' : Gardening World tell me what is the 
■ ter with the enclosed Aster ? I sowed 
:e in the greenhouse the last week in 
'-ch and some in a cold frame in April. 
compost I used consisted of loam, leaf 
ild and sand. They all grew up well, 
ricked them off in boxes and hardened 
! n off. I got ready for planting them out 
1 ;atches; some went off in the boxes^, and 
: whole lot has gone off like the one en- 
ed. I have taken your Gardening 
' rld for nearly three years, and like it 
/ much. (G. D. P., Yorks.) 
he damage to your plants occurs just at 
collar of the seedlings where they enter 
soil, and in all probability this took 
1 :e while the plants were still in boxes in 
I cold frame. /The damage is done by the 
: aping off fungus (Pythium debaryanum). 
cold frames they should be kept rather 
on the surface, and when transplanting 
n the seed pans into boxes they should 
be planted too deeply. We-often see some 
he lower leaves buried in the soil. These 
•?es must damp off, and they serve to keep 
moisture about the collar of the plant, 
that encourages the growth of the-fun- 
Although some of your plants have 
:d till now, the decay has been gradually 
ng on, and the leaves are now living en- 
' ly upon the resources of the stem above 
wound. Another year you should be a 
le more careful with the watering-pot, as 
y little really is required at that early 
son of the year, unless the sun is very 
verful. 
12 . Name of Plant and Treatment. 
'an yotf'tell me the name of the enclosed 
nt, and whether it can be raised from 
d, or how it may be propagated? Will 
bloom again next year ? It is sweetly 
nted, and I should like to get a good stock 
it. (F. Norris, Surrey.) 
he plant is the double Dames Violet 
esperis matronalis Acre pleno). They must 
v be out of flower, so that you can cut the 
ver stems down. It will then shoot out 
m the rootstock, making short tufts of 
ves. Then, about the beginning of Sep- 
iber, you can take off these crowns, with a 
all portion of the fleshy rootstock. Trim 
one or two of the oldest leaves and insert 
h cutting firmly in a thumb-pot of light, 
idy soil. Stand these pots in a cold frame, 
ter them down with a rosed can, and keep 
frame closed for a week or ten days, ac¬ 
hing to the state of the weather. After 
5 cuttings have callused over, the foliage 
. cease to flag, and you could then give 
ittle more air. During tlm course of the 
umn these will make nicely rooted little 
ihts, and keep growing while the weather 
is open during winter. These pots can be 
plunged in ashes during winter, and they 
will not require much, it any, water. If you 
require them to be a fair size, give them a 
shift info a larger pot in March and then 
stand them on a bed of ashes in a frame. 
Some time in April you can plant them out. 
They should flower as well next year as they 
did this. 
ROSES. 
307 3. Preparing Soil for Roses. 
I have ordered some Roses for November, 
and have started to make up a bed. I find 
the soil is very light in colour, and it seems 
poor. It is fairly heavy clay, and 1 should 
be glad of your advice on the question of 
manure. Shall I be doing right if I dig in 
horse manure? If I do, it seems to me to be 
difficult to prevent it touching the roots of 
the Roses when I plant them. On the other 
hand, would it be sufficient to fork in guano 
in the early spring? (W. R. S., Essex.) 
Your heavy clay soil may be poor in plant 
food, but it is a soil that can rapidly be 
greatly improved by trenching and manur¬ 
ing. A soil of this character may be made 
good for Roses with much less trouble than 
a sandy soil. You can use horse, cow, or 
pig manure to work in with the soil when 
trenching, as this would not hurt the roots 
of the Roses. When you dig out holes for 
the Roses next November, and come across 
some of the manure while doing so, all that 
is necessary is to put a thin layer of soil 
over the manure and place the roots of the 
Roses on that. The manure should not be 
all placed in one layer, but in two or three 
layers through the soil, so as to induce the 
roots downwards and keep the soil in good 
heart for some years. In like manner, when 
filling in the soil upon the roots, be careful 
to put soil over the roots first; the manure, 
if any is present, can then be distributed 
about the hole while filling it up. As a rule, 
guano or other nitrogenous stimulants of 
that kind are unnecessary, and in some cases 
even undesirable in spring, as the roots have 
not by that time taken sufficient hold upon 
the soil. They should be allowed to make a 
fair start before you give them stimulants. 
Towards the. end of June and in July, you 
can then apply guano or nitrate of soda, or 
any of the good standard manures sold by 
the sundriesman. Most of these manures 
can be put into water and in that way equally 
distributed over the ground. Others may be 
lightly pointed in if not suitable for dis¬ 
solving in water. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
3074. Clipping Veronicas and Coton- 
easters. 
I am quite a novice at gardening and 
would like to know the best times of the year 
at which to clip and make tidy such things 
as Veronicas and Cotoneasters. (S. P., 
Kingstown, Ireland.) 
When Veronicas have finished flowering 
is the best time to cut them into shape. We 
do not use the word pruning nor even clip¬ 
ping unless you really wish to make formal 
objects, such as used to be done when the 
people everywhere in this country practised 
topiary gardening. We presume the plants 
would be out of bloom by this time, and that 
being so, if you wish to flower them again 
next year, you should get your knife and 
trim back the more straggling shoots to keep 
the bushes into form. These Veronicas 
flower upon the strong terminal shoots, and 
if closely clipped back the}' would not only 
be formal but would give you very few 
flowers. Cotoneasters may best be trimmed 
in March,- although if you merely wish to 
keet) them within dite bounds vou could cut 
back fhe straggling shoots with your knife. 
At the same "time you may remember that 
you will be cutting away flowering wood 
which will bear berries in the autumn. 
Veronicas should not be clipped unless you 
actually wish to get them into certain 
shapes of birds or other animals.. If you 
merely desire to keep them within due 
bounds you can give both Veronicas and 
Cotoneasters a slight trimming with the 
knife now. 
3075. ivy Withering at the Top. 
I herewith enclose a piece of Ivy, and 
shall be much obliged if you can assist me 
as to the cause of it withering up. I have 
four plants,, four yards apart, covering the 
front of the house, facing south-west. It 
looks all right up to the bedroom windows 
and between them and the roof the Ivy is 
withering in patches the whole length of the 
house. If a fungus is present, could you 
suggest anything to prevent it spreading 
further? The plants will be quite fifty 
years old. Immediately over the roots we 
have a gravel walk, four feet wide, under 
which the roots can pass through into the 
lawn and flower beds. Please reply through 
the columns of The Gardening World, 
which has assisted me for a number of years. 
(Ivy, Yorks.) 
We have carefully examined the specimen 
you sent us and find neither insects or fungi 
"to account for the withering. The fact that 
the plants are fifty years old, and that a 
walk is laid over their roots, must be telling 
upon soil fertility. The heat and drought 
a short time ago must have told upon the 
Ivies with the confined condition of their 
roots. Portions of the shoot were dead, so 
that the leaves above these, having nothing 
to sustain -them, keep gradually dying. We 
should have all the withered portions cut 
clean away and burned in case any fungus 
might be present there, but we think it 
hardly likely. The plants will then shoot 
up again next spring and cover the spaces 
which are now bare. At the same time, you 
should try to get some water to the roots if 
possible by making some holes against the 
wall by means of a crowbar or something of 
that sort. You can also make some holes on 
the opposite side of the walk and fill these 
holes at intervals for a fortnight or more. 
Some manure water may be used if you can 
get it. 
FRUIT. 
% **“■ " 
3076. Victoria Plum Dropping Fruits. 
One of my Plum trees (Victoria) bears a 
very heavy crop, and some of the branches 
have to be supported. A good many of the 
fruits are dropping. Ought they to be 
thinned, or if I use liquid manure will that 
prevent them from dropping? I may say it 
is the first year it has borne so heavily, al¬ 
though planted six years ago. (Prunes, 
Lines.) 
The thinning of the fruits now may assist 
the trees a little, although it could scarcely 
have much effect upon the size of the 
Plums. If you had done it in June the 
Plums would have had the advantage. 
Some of the fruits will naturally keep drop¬ 
ping from time to time, and these may be 
removed if you think it worth the trouble. 
Look over the trees and remove small fruits 
as well as deformed ones and those showing 
injury by having discoloured patches on 
them. Liquid manure may be given the 
trees, and these will help to make the fruit 
swell. Spread the liquid over the ground 
at some distance from the tree. 
3077. Renovating Strawberry Bed. 
I had a splendid crop of Strawberries this 
year, the variety being Royal Sovereign. 
This is the second year of them, but they did 
not bear half so well last year. Flow many 
years will they continue to give a crop, and 
how soon must I make a fresh bed? Thank¬ 
ing }'ou in advance. (A. J. W., Dorset.) 
