THE OA RDEN1NG WORL D. 
654 
the soil itseli is also greatly improved 
thereby. All the covering that we should 
advocate, therefore, would be during very 
heavy rains in the early part of the year. 
That would be the limit, but we may say 
that we have never yet put it into practice. 
3 284 . Names of Fruit and Their 
Seasons. 
As a regular reader of your paper I shall 
be obliged if you will tell me the names and 
seasons of the enclosed fruit. (Gravely 
Willis, Beds.) 
No. 1 was Plum Brahy’s Greengage, a des¬ 
sert variety ripe at the end of September ; 
(2) Apple Herefordshire Beaufin, cooking, 
December and January; (3) Apple Wyken 
Pippin, dessert, December to April: (4) 
Apple Pearson’s Plate, dessert, November 
and December; (5) Apple Hoary Morning, 
cooking, October to December ; (6) Pear 
Marechal de la Cour, dessert, November; 
(7) Pear General Todleben, dessert, Novem¬ 
ber and December; (8) Pear Belle Julie, des¬ 
sert, October ; (9) Louise Bonne of Jersey, 
dessert, October. 
3285. Apples for Eating. 
I want to plant some Apple trees in my 
garden to keep up a supply for table use all 
the winter. They should be good eating 
Apples, net cooking ones. Please name half 
a dozen for succession. (J. C. H., Sussex.) 
We have selected half a dozen that will 
extend over the greater time during which 
Apples are in season fox eating which have 
been grown in this country. We should re¬ 
commend you to get them worked upon the 
Paradise stock, as the trees can more easily 
be kept in b unds, less pruning will be re¬ 
quired, and they will get into a fruiting 
condition much earlier than if grafted on 
the Grab stock. The varieties in question 
are Beauty of Bath, Worcester l’earmain, 
Duchess’s Favourite, Cox’s Orange Pippin, 
American Mother, and Stunner Pippin. 
3286. Grape Vine Running Wild. 
About three years ago I planted a Vine on 
the front of the house and have carefully 
attended to it, nailing it in the shoots, but 
it has grown very rank and this year has 
gone quite wild. It is quite impossible to 
nail half of the shoots to the wall. Should 
I cut them all back. There; are no large 
bunches of Grapes, and they do not seem to 
come to anything. (F. Powell, Kent.) 
You will have to make an effort to' keep 
your Vine in order not at the end of the sea¬ 
son but chiefly at the beginning, although 
a little attention is necessary all through the 
season. We should advise you also to read 
" The Work of the Week ” during the sea¬ 
son of growth, where you may find some 
hints suitable to your case. In the mean¬ 
time, the best thing you can do is to shorten 
some of the sheets, leaving plenty of foliage 
for the benefit of the Vine. After the leaves 
have fallen veu can then prune the Vine into 
shape. If it is confined to a single rod, then 
all of the side shoots should be cut back to 
one good bud at the base. If, on the other 
hand, you have allowed the Vine to make 
two or more leading stems, then it will be 
necessary to train in these stems at 2 ft. or 
3 ft. apart on the wall, the space between 
being necessary for laying in the young 
fruiting shoots in the summer time. Having 
decided upon what main stems you are going 
to allow, then it will be an easy matter to 
cut away all the smaller shoots to a gcod 
bud as above stated. If you read the direc¬ 
tions about Vines in the early part of the 
season, you will see how -it is possible to 
keep Vines in perfect order by never allow¬ 
ing them to produce more wood than there is 
room to properly expose to light and air 
upon the wall. 
HARDEN enemies. 
3287. Mignonette ioi Pots Eaten. 
This summer 1 reared a fine batch of 
Mignonette in pots, but the plants got all 
eaten up in the course of a few days. The 
caterpillars were dark green, and as soft as 
velvet. Can you tell me how I can put a 
stop to it? (E. G. Marshall, Monmouth.) 
The caterpillars you describe were most 
probably those of the small white cabbage 
butterfly (Pteris Rapae). If you did not de¬ 
stroy these caterpillars they have probably 
by this time changed into the chrysalis 
stage, which is a very peculiar form resem¬ 
bling a piece of dead wood of dirty grey 
colour. These chrysalids are hung up by 
,a thread to walls, fences and similar places 
where they are a little out of the way, but 
fully exposed as a rule. If you can find 
any of these chrysalids hung up, you can 
collect and destroy them to prevent the same 
thing happening next year. Vou will have 
to keep a close watch and have the cater¬ 
pillars destroyed in the earlier stage of their 
development. No doubt,. the caterpillars 
could be destroyed by using a spray of some 
poisonous nature, but it is scarcely worth 
while making up a spray for a batch of 
Mignonette. You could, however, dust the 
plants with hellebore powder while the cater¬ 
pillars are still quite small. 
3288. Gloxionia Leaves Rusty. 
A fine batch of Gloxinias sown in Feb¬ 
ruary were just coming nicely into bloom 
when the leaves began to get rusty. Since 
then they have gradually become worse, and 
now they look in a very bad way. Can you 
tell me what disease is causing it and how 
I can get rid of it,* or if the Gloxinias will 
be of any use next year. (Mystified, 
Middlesex.) 
Your Gloxinia leaves have been attacked 
by a small mite which is very destructive 
owing to the irritation which they set up 
on the under side o 4 the leaves. They are 
really responsible for giving the leaves the 
rusty .appearance of which you complain. 
The only thing you can do new is to allow 
the foliage to gradually ripen off by with¬ 
holding water after the plants seem mature 
enough to be so treated. The rust, ofl course, 
is not a disease, so that the plants should be 
as healthy as possible next year, if you take 
care to prevent the mite from getting a foot¬ 
hold again. If the plants are still full of 
vigour, it would be an advantage to clean 
them and allow them to keep growing for 
a time before.forcibly ripening them off. In 
that case, we should advise you to make up 
a solution of Gishurst Compound at the rate 
of 2 ozs. to 4 ozs. to the gallon of water. 
Get a tub, lay the pots on their sides over a 
board placed on the mouth of the tub. A 
small quantity - of the solution will then be 
sufficient to thoroughly syringe the whole of 
your plants,, wetting every part of the under 
surface of the leaves. The atmosphere of 
the house could then be kept moist for a 
night or two and that will help to complete 
the destruction of the mite. Some find that 
the same results can be produced by the use 
of strong tobacco water, dipping the plants 
into this one by one. Next year you should 
keep a sharp look-out for the presence of the 
enemy, and if any of the leaves show the 
least trace of rust the'y should be thoroughly 
syringed with some of the above solutions. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
3 289. Keeping Down Nettles. 
There is a corner of my garden that is. 
verv much infested with nettles. Could , you 
tell me of anything I could plant to keep 
them dow'n ? (W. Cooper, Soms.) 
We presume the corner you mention is a 
neglected one, but the common nettle is 
not, as a rule, difficult to eradicate in soil 
that can be worked with a fork. We think 
the best preliminary would be to get a fork 
and shake out all the underground stems 
which usually form masses just beneath the 
'Surface' find' tan ea'sily be' cleared away. 
October 10, 1908. 
A Cocoa—and 
Much More. 
A Food, A Beverage, and something tha 
will give the body all the strength am 
vitality it is capable of takirg. 
The widespread and increasii 
popularity of Dr. Tibbie’s Yi-Coc 
amount to a dietetic revolution 
the first importance. Vi-Cocoa 
a Food at the same time that it is 
beverage, not only easily digestib 
but also promoting the digestion 
other Food. 
Good, healthy, 
specimens of Men 
and women can only 
be built up out of 
good building ma¬ 
terial, but this does 
not necessarily mean 
a costly one. 
The working - man’s sixpent 
sensibly expended, will do him 
much good as the rich man’s fi 
pound note more often than not dc ; 
the latter harm. The very best val 
to be obtained for that small cc 
of the realm is to be found in 
packet of Vi-Cocoa, a Food bevera. 
of unequalled excellence. 
You can try it free of expen 
Write to Vi-Cocoa, 12, H;n, 
Street, London, W.C., for a dair- 
sample tin of Dr. Tibbie's Vi-Cocr 
free and post paid. It is a pla 
honest, straightforward offer. It 
done to introduce the merits 
Vi-Cocoa into every home. 
Usually the soil is soft and loose where th 
nettles are growing. The roots and unc 
ground stems would, no doubt, be a g - 
deal interlaced, but you can, neverthela 
make the cleanest job of it by the use c. 
fork. This corner might, with a little alii 
tion, be made a beauty spot'in your gard 
After the soil has been thoroughly br< ken 
in this .wiay by shaking out the nettle r> ; 
you could make a rockery of it and plan: 
with Ferns or flowering plants according 1 
your liking. No doubt, during the first a 
son or two a great many seedling net 
will come up as a result of seeds fall; 
from the old plants, but they can easily* 
destroyed if attacked in quite an ef; 
stage. During the first season you mi,i 
plant something, such as Potatos, (.abb“ 
or Greens with, the object of leaving 1 
ground open so that it can be thorougf 
hoed. Then, the second season the grok 
should be in good condition for makin 
Fern or flower rockery. Should \*cu 
care to go to the trouble of making a reel . 
or if the conditions are otherwise unsj-l 
able, vou might plant the spot with the v.i 
ter Heliotrope (Petasites fragrans), wl 1 
will furnish you with flowers in winter u 
keep the ground covered with leaves in m 1 
mer, so that nothing else will be able 
grow. 
3290. Weed nr Flower 
I am very much troubled every year V 
