August 8, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
521 
please advise me what to do to keep flies 
from my Grapes ? Last year we were 
swarmed with large blue-bottle flies, nothing 
seeming to destroy them. Trusting you will 
be able to advise me. (Gardener, Isle of 
Wight.) 
The most effectual remedy against flies of 
all kinds and wasps is to enclose the bunches 
of berries in bags of fine white muslin. 
This is a perfect remedy, but the Grapes 
should be ripe and coloured up before you 
enclose them. We presume that your diffi¬ 
culty or trouble is chiefly after the Grapes 
are ripe. You could probably reduce the 
number of flies by fumigating at intervals 
with X.L. All. If it is only done lightly 
and at frequent intervals, we think it would 
place a check upon the number of flies of any 
kind in your houses, and not harm the 
Grapes. 
3096. Caterpillars on Fruit Trees. 
I have some fruit trees on a wall. In the 
early spring they had some small caterpil¬ 
lars on them, one of which I enclose. I tried 
syringing them, but they still spread and 
grew, until they have eaten absolutely every 
leaf off the trees. I have picked a lot off and 
burned them. Of course the trees are done 
for this year. Will you advise me how to 
-act so as to avoid this another year? When 
they have finished with the fruit trees they 
are after some Ferns, and it looks as though 
they would eat these all up. (Caterpillar, 
Leicestershire.) 
The caterpillars you sent us were those 
of the Vapourer Moth (Orgyia antiqua). 
Heaps of eggs are laid on cocoons during 
the summer, and some of these rest all the 
winter until spring. The caterpillars hatch 
out about the third week of April and con¬ 
tinue more or less all the summer, as the 
eggs do not hatch all at one time, but are 
extended over some months. In the mean¬ 
time, you should carefully look over the trees 
that have had their leaves eaten, and you 
will be almost certain to find cocoons fixed 
up in various parts of the tree or amongst 
leaves at the foot of it, or on any other 
bushes close by. These cocoons or cases are 
covered with hairs or woolly looking ma¬ 
terial, and the female moths lay their eggs 
upon such cocoons to the number of several 
hundreds. Gather all the cocoons which you 
can find now and burn them. Then, about 
the third week of April, commence to look 
for the caterpillars which may have hatched 
out from eggs that have been overlooked in 
the autumn. If you find any present, the 
best plan is to syringe the trees with Paris 
green at the rate of two to four ounces to 
forty gallons of water in the form of a 
fine spray. On a smaller scale, you could 
use one-eighth to one-quarter of an ounce 
of the Paris green to four gallons of water. 
Do not drench the young foliage, but use a 
proper sprayer and just wet the foliage with 
a fine misty spray. In eating the leaves, 
the young caterpillar will get poisoned and 
killed. You should get Paris green in the 
form of a moist paste, as it does not fly 
about to be inhaled by the user. It is highly 
poisonous, and should be kept out of the 
way of children and careless people. If you 
poison the caterpillars in this way while 
they are still quite young, you will save the 
foliage of your trees from being destroyed. 
Do not make the Paris green any stronger 
than what we have recommended. 
3097. Eelworm, or Not? 
A little while ago, some of our people 
picked up a curious looking thing, not 
thicker than a thread and creeping slowly 
cuer the lawn. I suppose it is some kind 
of worm. Could you tell me if it is the 
eelworm that destroys Carnations, and if 
so, how am I to get rid of it? (C. B. J., 
Sussex.) 
In all probability the curious creature that 
you picked up on the lawn was the hair-eel 
as it is known to some people, the proper 
name being Gordius aquaticus. It is not the 
eel-worm that destroys Carnations, as that is 
so small as to be invisible to the naked eye, 
except under very favourable conditions. As 
far as we know, this hair-eel is harmless to 
living vegetation, and lives chiefly in water. 
When found creeping over the grass, it was 
probably during a rainy period. In dry 
weather you are not likely to see anything 
of it. 
SOILS AND MANURES . 
3098. Storing Turf. 
I could get a good quantity of turf just 
now at a very reasonable price, but there is 
more than I can use during the next eighteen 
months. What is the best method of storing 
it, and will it keep good for that length of 
time ? I require it chiefly for potting pur¬ 
poses. Should manure be mixed with it 
when storing it? (R. Heming, Herts.) 
Turf may be stacked in an open position, 
piling it up till it is four to six feet high. 
You could use a layer of cow manure be¬ 
tween each layer of turf. It may be kept 
more than eighteen months and still be good 
if it contains plenty of fibre in it, that is, 
grass roots. Pick out the more fibrous of the 
turves and pile them on the side of the heap 
that will be used last, as it will be useful 
for potting for a longer period than the less 
fibrous material. Good turf may be kept a 
long time, however, and can be enriched by 
use of decayed cow manure at the time of 
potting if such manure is necessary. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
3099. How to Get Rid of a Nettle. 
My garden is very much infested with a 
kind of nettle having small dark green 
leaves. It comes up in the flower beds 
and amongst the vegetables, and when weed¬ 
ing my hands get very much stung. Can you 
tell me of anything that will get rid of 
them, or keep them in check? (J. Clark, 
Northumberland.) 
The nettle you mention is no doubt the 
small annual stinging nettle (Uritica urens). 
The ground must be full of seeds, and you 
must get rid of the nettles by persevering 
in keeping down the young plants. They 
should not be allowed to attain any size, be¬ 
cause they commence seeding even while 
quite small, although you do not suspect it. 
When these seeds get buried in the soil they 
may lie a long time, but keep alive and ger¬ 
minate when the conditions are favourable. 
Your best plan, therefore, is to keep hoeing 
the ground to encourage a fresh growth of 
seedlings, and at the same time destroy those 
that have germinated. While weeding flower 
beds and vegetables you can use gloves from 
which half of the finger has been taken, and 
this would allow you to proceed with the 
weeding, while at the same time, protecting 
your hands. 
NAMES OF PLANTS . 
(John Ryan, Ireland) 1, Calycanthus glau- 
cus; 2, Sedum Rhodiola ; 3, Lychnis divica- 
flore pleno; 4, Yucca aloifolia variegata. 
(S. S., Norfolk) i, Campanula latifolia 
alba; 2 and 3 are Roses, which we cannot 
undertake to name. Florists’ flowers should 
be compared with a good named collection. 
(A. S., Bracknell) Nepeta teucrifolia. 
(R. M.) 1, Sidalcea Candida; 2, Oenothera 
speciosa; 3, Epilobium angustifolium al¬ 
bum ; 4, Lysimachia vulgaris; 5, Lysimachia 
punctata; 6, Erigeron speciosus. 
(D. Rust) 1, Campanula isophylla; 2, 
Campanula portenschlagiana; 3, Veronica 
Teuchium dubia 4, Eryngium maritimum; 
Alyssum maritimum; 5, Sedum anglicum. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
William Bull and Sons, Chelsea, London. 
—Bull’s Catalogue of Bulbs. 
Bees, Ltd., Wapping, Liverpool.—Bees’ 
Bulbs for all Purposes. 
-++>- 
Small Roof Gardens. 
Sheds and outhouses, if at all visible 
from the garden, are always more or less 
unsightly, even though we may drape 
the walls of them with creepers, yet the 
roofs remain a glaring eyesore. But this 
can be remedied and if taken in hand 
at once excellent results may be speedily 
obtained. No matter whether the roof 
to be covered is of tile, stone, slate, or 
corrugated zinc, whether flat or sloping, 
it can be changed into a spot of beauty 
where flowers will bloom profusely on 
account of the sunny aspect such a posi¬ 
tion usually commands. 
Procure some large turves and lay these 
grass downwards so that the roots will 
die on the roof. Do not pack too closely, 
but leave narrow spaces between for good 
soil, which should be well mix^d, using 
half loam, quarter decayed manure and 
same of leaf mould with a little sand. 
Put this in the spaces and scatter some 
on top of the turves, then cover with wire 
netting of the largest mesh. Do not fas¬ 
ten down every edge as it will need to be 
raised occasionally for the purposes of 
planting, sowing or adding soil. The 
tall Nasturtium sown at the top so that 
it may trail down over the roof will 
quickly make a covering. As it succeeds 
best in poor soil my plan is to prick holes 
in the turf itself, one for each seed, and 
fill up with soil, reserving the better ma¬ 
terial between the turves for sowing or 
planting more delicate things. As the 
Nasturtiums grow peg them down here 
and there to maintain them in desirable 
positions, and cut away the large leaves 
which are apt to grow rampant. Also 
sow seeds of dwarf kinds of different 
colours and along the foot a row of Vir¬ 
ginian Stock will succeed very well. In 
the spaces plant Asters, Marigolds, Lo¬ 
belia, or any sun-loving plant that does 
not grow too tall. Sow seed of Mignon¬ 
ette, Sweet Alyssum, and the Evening- 
Scented Stock, Mathiola bicornis, a verv 
fragrant thing which should be in every 
garden. 
Watering must be well attended to as 
the soil in such an exposed position 
quickly dries. This necessary item may 
present some difficulty to those amateurs 
who are not the fortunate possessors of a 
hose, but if another member of the family 
will assist by fetching the water and 
handing it up so that the “ gardener” will 
not have to climb up and down each time, 
the work is done quite easily. . Weak 
liquid manure may be given once a week, 
and all decayed blooms and any seed 
pods which may have formed should be 
regularly picked off. 
A point to guard against in striving for 
an artistic effect is not to leave the edges 
bare. To avoid this plant Arabis and 
Aubrietia, the graceful trails of which 
will hang low over the edge and mingle 
prettilv with any creepers on the walls. 
When the annuals are finished clear 
them off and plant bulbs of suitable 
kinds for spring flowering. 
E. VYNER. 
