August 22, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
551 
therefore in a cold bottom would not ripen 
50 well as if in a more sandy situation or 
on chalk. A chalk subsoil seems to be the 
best for Figs. You would probably improve 
your Fig, therefore, if you were to root- 
prune it some distance from the wall and 
use a good deal of lime rubble or chalk in 
tilling the trench and working in amongst 
the rest of the soil. The top of the tree 
should also be reduced to the height of the 
wall. \ou could allow it to grow higher 
by transplanting it in March to a prepared 
ate against a higher wall. 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
3142. Trapping Ants. 
Some of my flower beds and my lawn are 
infested with ants. Can you tell me of 
some simple trap or other means of getting 
rid of them. (Ignoramus, Cheshire.) 
There are various means of trapping ants, 
such as, sinking jars in their runs with a 
small quantity of some sweet syrup in the 
bottom of the jars. Another way is to get 
finely powdered sugar, well wet a sponge, 
and then dust it with the sugar. The ants 
will find their way upon this in large 
numbers, when the sponges can be lifted 
quickly and dropped in hot water. A corres¬ 
pondent recently stated that he found a 
good dressing of wood ashes on the runs 
of the ants upon his lawn had the effect of 
driving them away. \Ye have used “Alphol” 
with good effect in garden ground. Kilo- 
grub ” would answer the same purpose. 
The method of using it is to sprinkle it 
over the openings of the nest and in the 
runs immediately surrounding it. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
3143. New Weedy Garden. 
I have lately moved to a house in a new 
suburb, and I note that the lower half of 
the garden is over-run with Twitch, Thistles, 
Docks, and Bearbind. To all appearance it 
will be a back-breaking job to get it in 
order to grow flowers or anything. Would 
you kindly say how I should proceed to get 
it into anything like good order for next 
year, and much oblige. (H. R. Roberts, 
Middlesex.) 
The present is the best opportunity you 
ire likely to have to effect a thorough clear¬ 
ance of bad weeds before you plant anything 
in the garden. If you do not care to do 
:he whole of the work vourself, get a 
labourer to first go over the ground and 
fork out all the weeds by the roots which 
le can obtain. These after lving for a while 
in the sun will soon get into a condition fit 
io be burned. Next set a man to trench the 
whole of the garden at least 2 ft. deep, 
including the sites for the walks. While 
ae is doing this he should dig out all the 
mots which he can find. You can then have 
hem destroyed. You can even improve upon 
his by turning over the soil a second time, 
-hough if carefully done first this should 
not be necessary. The double working would 
have a fine effect upon the fertility of the 
-oil next year, however, and is well worth 
-omg before you commence laving out 
oaths, beds or borders. 
3144. Bindweed. 
I have a rockery which is over-run with 
Bindweed. Is there any means of getting 
rid of it, short of Dulling the whole rockery 
pieces ? It is also under some Gooseberry 
oushes, and very difficult to dislodge, 
b noramus, Cheshire.) 
It would certainly be a laborious job to 
Dull the whole rockery to pieces if it is of 
any size. If it is a small rockery it would 
w labour well expended to lift the plants 
ind d-al with it as vou state in March 
next. At the same time we think it is 
Dossible to get rid of the Bindweed by per¬ 
sistently destroying it. F'or instance, after 
rain when the soil is relatively soft you 
could get a long pointed tool, such as a 
piece of iron sharpened at one end, by 
means of which you could get out the roots 
to a considerable depth in the soil. The 
Bindweed, after a growing time, will send 
up another succession of shoots from the 
underground portions of the stems left in 
the ground, but at the second weeding there 
will be much less of it than at the first, and 
you could repeat the operation to advantage. 
By following this out persistently for a 
whole season we think you would extermin¬ 
ate the Bindweed. Me had even more 
trouble with Euphorbia Esula, which came 
by some unknown means and was allowed to 
establish itself. The roots and underground 
stems spread far and wide under the roots 
of Roses, making it difficult to go down 
deeply enough, while every little bit left in 
the ground commenced to grow again 
During the second season, however, we got 
rid of it entirely by pursuing it up in the 
fashion we state. In the case of the Goose¬ 
berries, if they are not too old you could 
lift them, clear away the Bindweed from 
their roots, and lay them in soil about the 
beginning of November, until you can 
trench and clean the ground. The only 
other method is to continually be pulling 
up the stems with as much of the roots as 
you can secure. If you allow the stems to 
grow for some time and produce foliage you 
may be sure that the underground running 
stems are busy at work extending their area. 
The remedy is therefore to have it pulled 
up as soon as it makes its appearance above 
ground. 
NAMES OF PLANTS. 
(F.J.O.) Physostegia virginiana alba. 
(W.L., Renfrew) 1, Bog Myrtle (Myrica 
Gale). 
(Charles Hammond) 1, Pearly Everlasting 
(Anaphalis margaritacea); 2, Oswego Tea 
Plant {Monarda didvma); 3, Aconitum varie- 
gatum bicolor; 4, Plume Poppy (Bocconia 
cordata); 5, Lysimachia clethroides. 
(J.B.R., Cork) 1, Coreopsis lanceolata ; 2, 
Lilium chalcedonicum; 3, Lilium pardali- 
num. 
(W.L.) 1, Campanula latifolia; 2, Campa¬ 
nula latiloba; 3, Monarda fistulosa; 4, 
Melissa officinalis; 5, Hieracium aurantia- 
cum. 
(D.G.) 1, Spiraea Douglasii; 2, Spiraea 
japonica Bumalda ; 3, Yeronica Traversii; 
4, Lonicera japonica; 5, Cornus alba Spae- 
thii; 6, Aucuba japonica longifolia. 
(T. Wallis) 1, Aubrietia deltoidea varie- 
gata; 2, Arabis albida variegata; 3, Scro- 
phularia aquatica variegata ; 4, Mentha ro- 
tundifolia variegata ; 5, Veronica longifolia ; 
6, Chelone barbata. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Veitch and Sons, Ltd., Royal Ex¬ 
otic . Nursery, Chelsea, London.—Catalogue 
of Bulbs; also Fruit Trees 
Little and Ballantyne, Carlisle.—Bulbs, 
&c. 
Dickson, Brown and Tait, Corporation 
Street. Manchester.—Bulbs. 
Draps, 30, Cbaussee de Forest (pres la 
Porte de Hal), Brussels, Belgium.—General 
Catalogue of the Grand Horticultural Es¬ 
tablishments, for New Plants, Orchids, Fine 
P'oliage Plants, &c. 
Sutton and Sons, Reading, England.— 
Sutton’s Bulbs. 
Hugh, Low and Co., Bush Hill Park, 
Fnfie'd.—Six New S^e^ing M.Mmaisons ; 
also Special Offer of Cyclamen Seed. 
Criticism of . . . 
- Violas. - 
In reference to the letter of the Rev. 
Colin A. 1 - . Campbell, on p. 534, it may 
be said at the outset that the four best 
yellow, blue and white Violas would be 
a very knotty question indeed, except one 
were to answer purely from h’> own point 
of view. In Violas, as in $weet Peas, the 
best very often means a matter of i.aste. 
It rarely happens that all the good points 
to be looked for in a Viola can be com¬ 
pressed into one variety, or even in half 
a dozen. There is the question of soil, 
exposure to sunshine or otherwise, the 
time of planting and the treatment they 
receive, all of which go to modify the re¬ 
sults. 
Certain varieties give eminent satisfac¬ 
tion in some gardens, whereas in others 
they are very far from coming up to their 
capabilities. For instance, as was re¬ 
marked in a recent article on a trial of 
Violas Mrs. Chichester was a grand Viola 
in the early season when the flowers were 
both large and the broad belting richly 
coloured. In an exposed situation this 
colouring fades as soofi as the weather 
gets really warm. At the same time it 
has been blooming splendidly in a north 
aspect garden from April, and the blooms 
are both large and richly coloured now. 
Indeed, as the summer wore on and the 
plants acquired vigour they seem to get 
darker-than they were in the early stages 
of blooming. Two writers speaking of 
the same variety, unknown to each other, 
would naturally have a very different 
story to tell about this Viola if one had 
it planted in an open situation and the 
other had it in a cool northern aspect, but 
well lighted. 
Wm. Haig is a good Viola where it suc¬ 
ceeds, but even those who grow it one 
year may discard it the next. The Mearns 
is q very old variety in the style of Coun¬ 
tess of Kintore. equally free flowering but 
dwarfer. It is, of course, a mixture of 
purple and white. Presumably one gets 
tired of varieties, however good they may 
be, thus displacing them to make room for 
something newer. Hector M'Donald, al¬ 
though equally good for bedding as for 
exhibition purposes, is only regarded by 
some as of second-rate value. Pembroke is 
a good yellow A'iola, but not, perhaps, 
continuous enough for bedding purposes. 
There is nothing to find fault with in in¬ 
dividual flowers. Rolph is a grev-blue self, 
a good bedder, but there is no colour, 
perhaps, in which there is more difference 
of opinion than in connection with blue 
Violas. Kingcup is certainly a splendid 
bedding variety of a rich yellow colour. 
Swan is a pure white variety, excellent for 
bedding", but does not seem to be very 
widely cultivated as yet. Seagull is another 
excellent variety of which the same re¬ 
mark might be made. 
Countess of- Hopetoun has been well 
known as a good creamv white for bed¬ 
ding purposes for the last twenty years 
or so, but in our experience it is better 
for a change of soil occasionally. In 
other words, if it is grown continuously 
for a number of years it is better to get 
a fresh stock from some other garden. 
Although continuous, the flowers 
moderate in Gr e ?nd creamv white. We 
do not know the other varieties you men- 
