January 12, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
3 1 
1421. Vegetables in Winter. 
Two years ago I planted some Cabbages 
in June, to give us a supply in. winter, but 
they were not a success, as many of the 
best of them rotted away. Would you 
recommend me to try anything else that 
would be green, say, up to February 1 
<\Y. B., Birmingham.) 
\fter the ordinary white Cabbages are 
fully hearted, they are really very liable 
to be damaged either by frost or snow, as 
well as impurities which may fall upon 
them by being grown near smoky towns. 
Several green "vegetables, however, may be 
grown even under such conditions, and 
keep fresh till well into spring. These 
would include Brussels Sprouts, Purple 
Sprouting Broccoli, Leeks and dwarf curled 
Kale. Of all the above, Leeks are the 
least likely to get damaged of any, and will 
remain in a usable condition until they 
commence throwing up their flower stems. 
FRUIT. 
1422. Form of Tree for Background. 
There is a border in our garden which 
I think would be much improved by hav¬ 
ing a background of something, and I 
think Apple and Pear trees would suit as 
well as anything. The trees will have to 
be grown on single stems, which is the 
best form—upright or slanting, ard how 
far apart should they be? The border, 
I think, would be improved by having a 
little shade, but the trees should not take 
up much room. (Alexander Jackson, 
Lancs.) 
Apple trees, when grafted on the Para¬ 
dise stock, may be grown with perfect suc¬ 
cess as a single upright cordon. Pears 
may be grown in the same way, but these 
are liable to grow too strongly at the top 
and to bear sparingly. A better plan is to 
strain wires and have them trained in a 
sloping direction at an angle, say, of 
45 degs. This will restrain their vigour at 
the top and distribute the energy over the 
tree. If they are pruned strictly on the 
spur system, i8in. would be sufficient dis¬ 
tance between them to furnish a close shel¬ 
tering hedge. After a number of years the 
spurs developed on the Pear trees would 
require shortening or thinning, to enable 
the light to penetrate freely amongst the 
foliage and encourage the production of 
fruit. 
1423. Old Apple Tree. 
We have an old Blenheim Grange* which 
does not bear half so well as it used to, 
a-.: ’ the fruit comes smaller every year. 
Do you think manure would be of any 
benefit, and what kind would you propose? 
(T. .Midland, Middlesex.) 
Very likely the soil is getting exhausted 
througn many years of cropping, and no 
doubt it is also getting much compacted 
about the roots. It can be renovated, how¬ 
ever, by digging it up with a fork, taking 
care not to injure the roots of the tree 
more than can be helped. This should be 
done at the earliest opportunity when the 
soil is in a tolerably dry and workable con¬ 
dition. At the same time you can give it a 
good dressing of lime with a little soot. 
This can be followed later in spring by a 
top-dressing of good farmyard manure. 
In the meantime you can thoroughly 
examine the tree, cutting out all dead 
branches, and if crowded in any part, have 
the branches thinned. This will allow a 
■better play of light and air on the tree, 
while the digging and manuring above 
mentioned will give a fresh stimulus to 
the roots of the old tree. 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
1424. American Blight. 
Some of my Apple trees have holes in 
the stems, with swellings all round, and I 
have been told it is American Blight. 
What is the best method of getting rid of 
it, and the time ? (H. Woods, Cambridge¬ 
shire.) 
Judging from what you say, the swellings 
are no doubt due to the presence of the 
woolly aphis, or so-called American Blight. 
The present is the best season for eradi¬ 
cating the enemy, because they chiefly 
exist now in the form of eggs laid in the 
crevices of the bark around the wounds on 
the branches. With a sharp knife pare 
away all the rough or dead material, that 
is, bark, around the wounds. You can 
then wash these spots thoroughly with soft 
soap and water, rubbing the solution well 
in with a brush. Paraffin emulsion would 
even be a stronger insecticide, and more 
erfective than soapsuds. The method of 
preparing the emulsion has frequently been 
given in our pages. At the same time it 
is possible that some of the woolly aphis 
have taken -up their winter quarters upon 
the roots a short way under the surface. 
It wouldi be worth your while, therefore, to 
uncover them, and if any woolly matter 
is present, to make up a good quantity of 
strong soapsuds and water the roots of the 
trees with it, giving a good soaking so as 
to reach the aphides. 
SOILS AND MANURES . 
1425. Manures for Small Kitchen Garden. 
I should be glad if you will kindly 
answer me the following queries : —What 
single manure, other than farmyard 
manure, would you recommend as a good 
general fertiliser for all crops grown in a 
small kitchen garden—superphosphate, 
kainit, or other similar manure, I mean? 
(W. Greenfield, Denbighshire.) 
Neither of those two latter manures you 
mention are general fertilisers ; for instance, 
superphosphate would include phosphorus 
and lime, while potash would be the most 
valuable'constituent of kainit. To make it 
a good) general fertiliser, you would have 
to use both of these and nitrogen in some 
form or other. A very good.general manure 
would consist of three-parts superphosphate 
of lime, one part of sulphate of ammonia, 
and two parts of kainit, mixed and applied 
to the soil just before planting or sowing. 
The mixture should be used at the rate of 
3)4 lbs. per rod or pole. You do not men¬ 
tion the size of your garden, but you can 
measure it and apply the manure at the 
above rate. The sulphate of ammonia 
would supply nitrogen, which is always one 
of the most valuable of artificial manures 
in a soil, for the simple reason that it is 
more often deficient than any of the others. 
Should you apply farmyard manure to the 
soil as well, the mixture of artificial 
manures could be used in somewhat smal¬ 
ler quantitiv. 
1426. Turf for Fruit Trees. 
How long should turf be stacked before 
using it -for fruit tree borders, etc.? Our 
soil is rather light and poor, and I have the 
chance of getting some turf from a field 
that is much heavier than our garden soil. 
(T. W., Hampshire.) 
For fruit tree borders turf may be used 
without stacking. The usual method is to 
get materials together in some shed or 
similar place where it can be kept dry- 
while undergoing the operation of chop¬ 
ping and mixing. The turf is simply 
chopped up in pieces about the size of the 
fist, or even twice as large, mixed with old 
mortar rubble and any other fertilising 
material, and then used immediately. If 
there is a great amount of grass on the turf 
there might be some danger of it heating 
when used in large quantity, otherwise 
there is none. 
1427. Renovating a Carnation Border. 
We have a border which has been used 
for Carnations for some years, but the 
plants do not grow so strong and the 
flowers not so large as they were some 
years ago. Can the soil be improved in 
any way to give as fine flowers as t used 
to do? (P. M., Lancs.) 
The first thing you should do is to trench 
the border as soon as you find the soil in 
a workable condition. This is all the more 
necessary if it has not been dug for seA-eral 
years past. During the process of trench¬ 
ing use plenty of oldl hot bed manure, or 
well-rotted stable manure. Lime is also 
very- serviceable, and you should either use 
old mortar rubble, chalk or marl. Wood 
ashes are also valuable. Equally impor¬ 
tant is the introduction of fresh soil, es¬ 
pecially that containing a good deal of 
fibre in its composition. Any quantity- of 
this may be used, but if you are limited 
in the amount obtainable, work it into the 
top spit later on, say at the beginning of 
March, before you plant Carnations. Even 
if you select a fresh border for the Carna¬ 
tions, it would well repay you to treat the 
soil in the above manner before planting. 
MISCELLANEOUS . 
1428. Coal and Gas Tar on Hot Water 
Pipes. 
I erected last summer a small greenhouse 
14ft. by- 10ft., heated by hot water pipes 
and boiler. I ordered a bucketful of tar 
for outside use, but unthinkingly painted 
my- boiler and "pipes with it. I have tried 
all I can think of to get rid of the smell, 
but so far have failed. The heat increases 
the smell. Could you give me some recipe 
that would have the effect of purifying 
the atmosphere. My- plants have done well 
up to now, but I fear failure. (X.Y.Z., 
Cheshire). 
It is a great mistake to use tar on hot- 
water pipes where plants are grown. The 
fumes given off from tar under the 
influence of heat have a very bad effect 
on the plants. We should advise you to 
scrape the hot-water pipes inside the 
greenhouse so as to remove as much of 
the tar as possible. You can then use 
something that will dissolve or loosen the 
tar, thus enabling y-ou to scrub the pipes 
thoroughly clean. Several liquids may- be 
employed for this, including paraffin, tur¬ 
pentine and methy-lated spirits. The first 
named is probably- the most easily obtain¬ 
able, and it certainly- would be more 
practicable to use than methylated spirits 
which would 'evaporate too quickly while 
carrying out the operation. You should 
place a large vessel of some sort just 
underneath the portion of the pipe operated 
upon to catch any- paraffin which mav fall 
beneath. This is only necessary in case 
you may have anything planted in the soil 
beneath the pipes, otherwise there is no 
necessity for catching the waste paraffin. 
Lamp black and oil is a much safer 
ingredient with which to paint hot-water 
pipes,--and after having removed as much 
of the tar as you can, the lamp black 
would still further help to keep down the 
fumes of tar. If properly- scrubbed, how¬ 
ever, with the liquid we mentibn y-ou 
should have no difficulty in the matter. 
