536 
lilt UA.i^DL,ISii\U WUKLD 
August 15, 1908. 
moist you should plant them then after hav¬ 
ing trenched the border and manured it. 
3104. Sweet Peas Failing. 
I would be glad if the editor of The Gar¬ 
dening World would tell me what is the 
cause of my Sweet Peas turning white in 
the leaf like the enclosed specimen almost 
before they have flowered. (M. B., Dumfries¬ 
shire.) 
The Sweet Peas you sent us had been at¬ 
tacked at the root by a fungus named Thie- 
lavia basicola destroying the root just a 
little below the surface. This, of course, 
stopped the flow of sap and the plant 
perished. It is the opinion of experts that 
watering with cold water has the effect of 
checking the Sweet Peas and enabling the 
fungus to make growth attacking the plants. 
You do not tell us whether you have been 
applying cold spring water, but the same 
thing may have been brought about by heavy 
rains in your cold and heavy soil. The best 
antidote to this sort of thing is, of course, 
trenching the ground and manuring it in 
the autumn so that it gradually gets more 
and more porous by working as well as 
exposure to frost in winter. After the fun¬ 
gus enters the root it is, of course, impos¬ 
sible to save the plant. 
3105. Primula japonica from Seed. 
Can you 1 el 1 me if Primula japonica can 
be raised from seed ?' I have a fine lot of 
plants which have bloomed splendidly, but 
are now nearly over and producing seed 
pods. 'I sowed some in spring, but none 
came up. (J. M. H., Kent.) 
If you have a moisf, lather shaded situa¬ 
tion in your garden you should gather the 
seed as soon as it is ripe and sow it at once. 
If there is no such convenient spot in the 
garden, you could till a box with loam, leaf 
mould and sand, make the compost firm, 
sow the seeds, cover them lightly, water the 
box and stand it in a shady position in a 
cold frame or out of <}oors if you have no 
cold frame. Watering may be necessary till 
the advent of cool, moist weather in autumn, 
after which none will be required till spring. 
Seedlings will come up in abundance at that 
time. 
3106. Points of a Hollyhock. 
Can you tell me the points to be looked 
for in a Hollyhock for exhibition purposes? 
(H. Staddon, Essex.) 
There are two ways of showing Holly¬ 
hocks, namely, in the form of single blooms 
in boxes painted green or covered with green 
moss, and in the form of spikes. If shown 
in the form of cut spikes the latter should 
be stout and the stem closely covered with 
blooms. The blade of the leaf may be re¬ 
moved to show up the flowers to advantage. 
Sometimes there is a space between every 
two flowers, but if you can get them nearly 
touching one another that would be the best 
form. Double flowers are meant for exhi¬ 
bition purposes unless the schedule has a 
class for single ones. The flowers should 
be in their prime, quite full and high in the 
centre. The petals may, of course, be waved, 
but smoolh at the edges and closely arranged 
without leaving holes between them, known 
amongst florists as pockets. The outer or 
true petals should be well displayed all 
round, forming a guard to the centre of 
the flower. These petals should also be 
flat, overlapping and forming a circular out¬ 
line. If the flowers are seifs, such as rose, 
pink, or white, they should be clear and 
decided, not shaded with any other colour. 
If blotched or shaded the combination of 
colours should be regular and blend har¬ 
moniously, so as to form attractive flowers. 
ROSES. 
310 7. Best Border for Roses, 
I am proposing to plant a quantity of 
Roses (H.P.’s and H.T.’s) in beds and also 
along the borders. The latter are east and 
west, and I should be obliged if you would 
tell me which of the two aspects is the better 
for the purpose. (Eva Horton Goodman, 
Middlesex.) 
We should not hesitate to plant Roses on 
an east or west aspect border, provided the 
light is good and the border is not overhung 
by trees or houses. A west aspect border, 
that is,, one facing the west, would pro¬ 
bably get sunshine for a longer period of 
time than an east aspect border, but you 
should always bear in mind what we said 
about trees and shading by anything. You 
sirould also bear in mind to keep away 
from shrubs or bushes that would unduly 
shade the Roses and rob the roots of mois¬ 
ture and food. 
3108. Dorothy Perkins Blooming Late. 
Does the Rose tree Dorothy Perkins flower 
twice a year or can it be retarded by any 
particular method of pruning? The other 
day I saw a splendid tree, or, perhaps, two, 
growing on a trellis loaded with bloom. 
As I write mine are quite over and faded. 
(J. M. K., Kent.) 
Dorothy Perkins blooms only once a year, 
but whether it flowers early or late depends 
largely upon the aspect of the situation in 
which it is growing. For instance, if you 
had it on a south aspect border it would 
bloom earlier than on an east or north as¬ 
pect border! Very probably the plants you 
saw were growing on a north aspect border 
or situation, and therefore screened from the 
sun either by trees or buildings. You cannot 
prune it in such a way as to retard flower¬ 
ing. Indeed, it only requires the cutting 
out of the wood that has bloomed^ leaving 
the young wood at full length for next year’s 
display. 
3109. Rose Leaves Falling. 
Would you kindly tell me what is the 
matter with my Rose trees and what remedy 
to use? They were quite right a few weeks 
ago and now many trees are leafless and 
nearly all are suffering in the same way. 
My garden is sheltered. I have used sul¬ 
phur. -(E. E. B., Kent.) 
Your Roses are suffering from the Rose 
leaf black blotch caused by a fungus named 
Actinonema Rosae. Burn the worst of the 
leaves and all the fallen ones. Then spray 
the bushes with a dilute solution of Bor¬ 
deaux mixture to keep the fungus in check. 
As it lives inside the tissues no fungicide 
will kill it, and, of course, sulphur is quite 
useless. By spraying with Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture you kill the fungus that is outside the 
leaf. Next season commence to spray as 
soon as you see the first evidence of black 
blotch or earlier, and continue at intervals 
of ten days or a fortnight. As a rule, it is 
not a very destructive fungus and by per¬ 
severing you will get rid of it. 
3110. Pruning Rose Aglaia. 
I should be glad if you would tell me 
how to prune the Rambler Rose Aglaia. 
Last year it bloomed abundantly, but this 
year it is not nearly so good. Does it bloom 
on last year’s shoots, or on the stems of 
this year’s growth? Would the same treat¬ 
ment do for this Rose as in the case of 
Dorothy Perkins? (T. Western, Middle¬ 
sex.) 
Both these Roses require similar treatment. 
They should not be pruned in the proper 
sense of the term, but merely thinned out by 
removing the older stems that have finished 
flowering. The young shoots being pro¬ 
duced now should receive every encoujage- 
ment. Stake them or tie them up to the 
present stakes;, and if the old stems are pro¬ 
ducing much young growth and crowding 
the young ones, have these shoots on the old 
stems shortened back or they may be en¬ 
tirely cut away to the base. This will en¬ 
able the young sfioots or suckers to make 
vigorous growth and at the same time allow 
light and air to play freely about them If 
the wood is properly ripened this year it 
can hardly fail to bloom well next year. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
3111. Name and Propagation of Shrub. 
Can you tell me the name of the enclosed 
shrub, and how 1 can propagate it. Some 
time ago it-bloomed, producing branching 
spikes of fluffy pink flowers. (P. R. Woods” 
Derbyshire.) 
The spray you sent was Tamarax gallica, 
usually known as the Tamarisk, a shrub 
which is most at home on the sea shore, al¬ 
though it may be grown in light soils in 
inland gardens. It is easily propagated by 
cuttings of the young wood taken in slips 
about S in. to 12 in. in length in October 
and put in trenches. You might put a good 
dressing of sand and leaf mould on the soil 
before you commence digging. The cut¬ 
tings should be inserted about 5 in. in the 
ground, covered up by digging over the 
soil and trodden quite firmly. Lay a line 
or a rod about 12 in. from the first line ard 
take out a straight trench along the side of 
the rod or line. This will make the second 
row of cuttings. A shady border should be 
selected for preference, as the cuttings are 
not so likely to get dried up till they form 
roots. 
3112. Yellow-Flowered Shrub for Name. 
Will you kindly tell me through The 
Gardening World the name of the tree of 
which the enclosed are the leaves and 
flowers? I have been told it is an ordinary 
Laburnum tree, but I have Laburnum trees 
in the garden, and the flowering period of 
those has been over for some time, but as 
you see this is in full flower. The tree or 
bush is about 9 ft. high. (iR. Sims, Surrey.) 
The specimen you sent us was the Bladder- 
senna (Colutea arborescens.) It is not very 
like a Laburnum, as you remark, either in 
the time of flowering, the foliage, or the 
flowers, the colour and shape of the flowers 
being all that you could compare to a Labur¬ 
num. You are quite right about the Labur¬ 
num flowering some time ago; indeed, it 
blooms in May and June. The large, in¬ 
flated seed pods are also very different from 
a Laburnum. 
VEGETABLES. 
3113. Black Spot on Tomatos. 
Please say what is the matter with my 
Tomatos and how I can cure the same. On 
the top of some of the fruits is a large black 
spot on a flattened surface, as if it had been 
struck with something hard. (R. Watts, 
Berks.) 
Your Tomatos are suffering from what is 
known as black spot caused by a fungus 
named Macrosporium Tomato. Cut off all 
the fruits that are diseased and burn them 
to prevent the spreading of the spores. The 
same fungus sometimes attacks the stem and 
leaves. As a rule, the fungus enters by 
the decaying style, owing to dampness in 
the atmosphere of the house. To guard 
against it you should be careful not to 
wound or bruise the skin, as the fungus en¬ 
ters byr punctures and cracks. As a rule, 
not many of the fruits are attacked, but you 
could place a check on the fungus by spray¬ 
ing in the early stages of the plants while 
the fruit is quite small or not more than 
half-grown. Use a solution of sulphide of 
potassium at the rate of £ oz. to a gallon 
of water at frequent intervals. If you keep 
the atmosphere dry it will also be a great 
preventive to attacks by-this fungus. 
3114. Seeds of Marrows. 
Being a constant reader of The Gardening 
World, would you kindly oblige me by say- 
