202 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 27, 1909. 
Some Pretty 
Alpines - 
For Rockery and Garden. 
How handsome and useful are alpines 
for the rockery and for edgings, or they can 
be planted to form any name or design, 
such as carpet beds, floral clocks, birds, 
etc. Many of the alpines can be trained 
in almost any way, whether straight or 
curved lines are needed in the design, the 
pretty alpines are adaptable to either. 
Hanging-baskets can be improved' by the 
addition of a few alpines to droop grace¬ 
fully over the sides, as this tends to show' 
nature at its best. 
Some very good varieties for the rock 
garden are Abronia, a lovely bright rose 
flower with white centre, growing well in 
poor soil with a sunny position, and very 
pretty for hanging-bskets. Aethionema, 
very hardy and excellent for sunny situa¬ 
tions ; in summer they are covered with 
bright coloured flowers. All the Alyssums 
are indispensable for filling beds, rock 
gardens, baskets, vases, etc. Androsace 
fpecularia (Venus Looking Glass), 
Sphenogyne — all of these, and many other 
beautiful varieties, can be raised from seed, 
which can be purchased for a modest 
sum. Any wild piece of spare land about 
a cottage can very soon be transformed 
into a rock garden of great beauty and 
attraction, and it will make the place look 
as if some one owned it and cared for it, 
and the value and charm of home will be 
doubled. Joseph Floyd. 
-+++- 
United Horticultural Benefit and Provident 
Society. 
The annual meeting of the above was 
held at the Horticultural Hall, Westmin¬ 
ster, on March 8th. According to the 
report of the Secretary steady progress 
was made during the past year, there 
being a sum of .£2,700 invested, which was 
£500 more than in the previous year. The 
net gain to the membership was forty- 
four for the past year. The various 
funds showed the society to be in 
a prosperous condition, and the expenses 
of the management fund had been re¬ 
duced. The report was adopted and the 
various officers and committee were re¬ 
elected. 
sarmentosa, with dense rosettes of downy 
foliage and many umbels of exquisite 
rose-coloured flowers in May, is a lovely 
species, valuable for the rockery. Arabis 
superba, with its large Verbena-like heads 
of snowy white flowers, standing very pro¬ 
minent above the foliage, is an all round 
useful alpine. Arenarias make splendid 
dwarf plants, quickly covering bare stones 
and rocks. Armerias wilT~grow almost 
anywhere, and many of the flowers are 
useful for cutting. Aster alpinus, a 
grand little alpine, is, in July, covered 
with bright purple flowers. Aubrietia 
(Rock Cress) is of great value for carpet 
bedding, or on sloping banks, and blends 
its colours well with other white or golden 
flowered alpines planted near it. 
Auriculas are well-known for their 
beauty in spring. Campanula rotundi- 
folia, a pretty blue alpine, is sometimes 
named the true Scottish Blue Bell. 
Cerastium has beautiful silvery foliage, 
and is a mass of snowy white in early sum¬ 
mer. Cheiranthus (alpine Wallflowers) 
are excellent border and rock plants and 
very showy. 
Crucianella, a charming creeper, pre¬ 
fers a dry, sunny position, its bright rosy- 
pink flowers making it very pretty. Dra- 
bas are dainty little alpines, the flowers 
rising out of the pretty rosettes of their 
foliage, make them second to none for 
the rock garden. Dryas, an evergreen 
creeper, has charming large Anemone¬ 
like white flowers. Erigeron, a dwarf 
plant, is also very useful for the rock 
garden or the front of borders. Erinus, 
bright alpines, will even grow in the fis¬ 
sures of rock and stone. No rock garden 
or border is complete without Gentians, 
their shades of blue surpass in brilliancy 
and beauty those found in almost any 
other variety of plants. Geum, dwarf 
species, Gypsophila dwarfs, Heuchera, 
Hieracium, Ice Plants, Ionopsidium 
acaule, Leontopodium alpinum (Edel¬ 
weiss), Linaria alpina, Lychnis dwarfs, 
Nemophila, Nierembergia gracilis, Oxalis 
(Wood Sorrel), Oxlip, Papaver alpinum, 
Phacelia, Platystemon, Polyanthus, 
Primrose, Primulas, Sanvitalia, Sapon- 
ana, Saxifraga, Silene (Catch Fly), 
a. w. 
Prize Competitions. 
CENERAL CONDITIONS: —Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any wayj any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to eaoh competition should be oare- 
fnlly read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES, 
A PRIZE OFTEN 8HILLING8 will be given 
for the best paragraph or short artiole on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making the award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
following date of issue. Entries received later 
than Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
the following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OP 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
A prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ H.,” for the article on “Her¬ 
baceous Borders,” page 186. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to “ D,Chapman.” for the article 
on “ Sawdust as a Rooting Medium”; and 
another to “J. M. T.,’* for the article on 
Boronia megastigma/lpage 194 . 
How to Eradicate 
Insect Pests. 
No real lover of plants can have failed 
to notice how persistent are the attacks ot 
insects. But this is especially so during 
spring, a time, too, when our home fav¬ 
ourites are well into new growth, but still 
more than usually susceptible to the 
malign influence of insect foes. So much 
of their future beauty depends upon pres¬ 
ent treatment that should we allow insect; 
to get a secure footing, it does not matter 
how well a plant may be grown it is sure 
to be disappointing. That golden maxim 
of “ prevention being better than cure is 
especially applicable here. I may tell 
you we haye no more prolific life than 
can be found among insects. It is almos' 
incredible how rapidly they increase. 
Greenfly or aphis, thrips (a long, thin, 
dirty-brown coloured insect), scale (a 
round insect of the same colour), mealy 
bug (a larger insect covered with a white 
down), and red spider (a tiny grey col¬ 
oured, but very injurious enemy), aie 
among the most prevalent. Greenfly is 
the easiest of all to kill, and if the meas¬ 
ures for its eradication, so far as washing 
is concerned, are followed from the first, 
very few insects can gain a footing. 
Here is a good remedy and one always 
at hand. Thoroughly svringe the plant; 
with a solution made by dissolving a tea¬ 
spoonful of Hudson’s soap in a cup of 
hot water, to which add a gallon of soft 
water, and use at a temperature of 65 degs. 
to 75 degs. Fahr. Do not let the solut.on 
run down the leaves and stems of the 
plants to the roots, but hold the plants 
on one side during the operation. Of 
course, you will use the syringe with a 
little thought as regards force. A series 
of short and sharp jerky strokes with the 
piston are best, as these send out a fine 
spray and also prevent waste of solution. 
Thrips and red spider generally attack 
the lower cuticle of leaves, so that we 
must reach them by laying the plant on 
its side. 
Scale and mealy-bug are the most diffi¬ 
cult to kill. Add a teaspoonful of para¬ 
ffin oil to the Hudson soap before filling 
up the cup with hot water, then use as for 
greenfly, but be sure to keep the solution 
on the move at the time the syringe is 
being recharged. 
It is not a bad plan to make the solu¬ 
tion stronger—say, a pint instead of a 
gallon—and then apply direct to these 
last two insects with a soft brush, after¬ 
wards reducing the strength and using 
the syringe as before advised. Caterpil¬ 
lars and grubs must, of course, be picked 
off by hand. 
Fumigation, except it be in a’green¬ 
house, and away fiom the house, I cannot 
recommend. It is a dangerous practice; 
in the amateur’s hands and leaves a most 
unpleasant smell. Many subjects, such 
as Heliotrope, Maidenhair Ferns, and 
Spiraeas have a great objection to it, while; 
it is easy to keep insects at bay by using, 
some simple solution in a week state 
especially if care be taken to begin di 
rectly the pest appears. 
Miss D. Sparkes. 
