35 ** 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 25, 1907. 
part of the season, while the ground is still 
relatively cold. Later on the manure would 
serve to retain plenty of moisture about the 
roots. Heat and moisture are, indeed, two 
of the more important requisites of this 
rapidly-growing vegetable. A simpler 
method is to take out a hole where you in¬ 
tend to put in each Marrow plant and to 
fill this up with fermenting manure. On the 
top you can place a small hill of good fi¬ 
brous loam mixed with well-decayed cow 
manure. Plant a Marrow in the top of this 
small bed and cover it with a hand-light or 
bell-glass until it has got hold of the fresh 
soil and the weather becomes more genial. 
1866. Vegetable to Follow Greens. 
What vegetable should follow greens? 
(Learner, Middlesex). 
The chief points to consider are the sea¬ 
son, the length of time you have to grow the 
vegetable in question and rotation of crops. 
With regard to the latter you should always 
remember that it is not a good plan to plant 
Cabbages, Cauliflowers or Brussels _Sprouts 
after Greens. We should recommend you to 
sow or plant either Dwarf Beans^ Lettuce, 
Leeks or Celery. The Leeks, of course, 
would be transplanted ones, already of con¬ 
siderable size, and having been sown at the 
proper time. Trenches could be taken out 
for the Celery, and this, of course, should 
have been grown in advance to be ready to 
occupy the ground as soon as the Greens are 
cut. 
1867. Tomatos not Growing. 
I have a quantity of Tomatos raised from 
seed sown in February, but the plants are 
only growing very slowly, although in a 
heated greenhouse. They are in 3 in. pots of 
good soil and leaf mould in equal parts with 
a fair mixture of sand. Should manure of 
any description be given them to induce 
quicker growth ? They look healthy. Would 
you recommend sulphate of ammonia for 
the plants later on when in flower? If so, 
what quantity should be used to a gallon of 
water? Would this be beneficial to the or¬ 
dinary greenhouse plants? (T. H. B. L. W., 
Durham). 
We are greatly surprised that your To¬ 
matos are still in 3 in. pots although sown 
in February. Our experience has been that 
Tomatos for planting out of doors were sown 
soon enough by the middle of March or 
slightly earlier. We suspect that the green¬ 
house is rather too cold for them during 
February and March. Tomatos like more 
heat to start them than they do later on. 
We have reared Tomatos successfully in a 
cold frame by getting some fermenting 
manure in which to plunge the thumb pots 
during their early stages. You could so 
arrange it that the Tomatos would get the 
advantage of the hot-water pipes during this 
early part of the year. Manure could not 
be of much service in so small pots. If the 
plants are very small we should advise you 
to make up a hotbed of moderate size, to 
repot the Tomatos into slightly larger sizes, 
if you think it necessary, and to plunge 
them in a little soil on the top of the manure. 
They should be repotted to give them a 
fresh start. On second consideration we 
think it is hardly necessary even to go to 
this trouble because it will be time to plant 
them out by the end of this month. If you 
intend to grow them in pots then proceed as 
above advised. Keep them exposed to direct 
sunshine all the time. You may water the 
plants with sulphate of ammonia at the rate 
of oz. to 1^ gallons of water once a week 
after the first bunch of fruit is set. If you 
apply it to them before any fruit is set the 
chances are that they will rush into stronger 
growth and the first few bunches may not set 
any fruit at all. This would be a mistake, 
as the first bunches are valuable, as they 
ripen better and earlier when near the 
ground. This manure might or might not 
be serviceable to greenhouse plants. It all 
depends upon the kind. It would be of ad¬ 
vantage to Pelargoniums by giving them 
weak doses when commencing growth, and 
Cytisus when starting into growth again 
after having been cut down would be bene¬ 
fited by it. Chrysanthemums and Roses 
would take kindly to it, but such things as 
Heaths, Cinerarias and Primulas in the 
young stage might possibly be injured by it, 
especially if you gave them an over-dose. It 
is always safe to use a weak, rather than a 
strong, dose of such a concentrated arti¬ 
ficial manure as sulphate of ammonia. Once 
in seven or ten days would be quite sufficient 
even in the case of those plants which are 
benefited by it, and it should not be used 
except early in the season. 
FRUIT. 
1868. Vines with Rough Leaves. 
Would you kindly tell me the cause of 
roughness on the enclosed Vine leaf ? A 
house with its Vines planted last year are 
all infested as the enclosed. (A Constant 
Reader, Lanark). 
The leaves of your Vines are affected with 
green warts. It is not a very severe malady 
unless the Vines are thoroughly bad. It is 
evidence, however, that you have been keep¬ 
ing the house too close and damp, and the 
sunless spring has been against the Vines. 
Your best plan now would be to keep the 
house well ventilated to prevent the leaves 
from getting worse. Those leaves that are 
now affected will retain the warts, but if 
you commence next year by making sure that 
the leaves get dry for at least an hour or 
two during the middle of the day from the 
commencement, you should not be much 
troubled with the green warts next year. It 
has all been due to the close moist atmo¬ 
sphere and the lack of sunshine. 
1869. Vines Dropping Flowers. 
Please find the enclosed two bunches from 
Black Alicante Vines. Can you suggest any 
reason for their turning in the way they 
have done just as they are coming into 
flower? They are all young Vines which 
have only been planted three seasons, and 
we were expecting to have a good crop this 
season. The Vines have always grown very 
strong and look quite healthy this year, al¬ 
though they have not shown many bunches, 
which we cannot understand on such strong 
wood. They have never carried above two 
or three bunches. They are planted in an 
outside border. The floor of the house is of 
red bricks with a drain in the middle to 
carry off surplus water. The Vines are 18 
in. from the glass. The first thing in the 
morning they are always very wet with con¬ 
densed moisture. They are aired at 75 degs. 
I have been growing Strawberries in the 
same house. If you can suggest any reason 
for this trouble I shall be greatly obliged. 
(J. Sprecklev, Surrey). 
The bunches you sent us were of great 
vigour, leading us to suspect that the soil 
in which they are grown contains too much 
rank manure, or that it has been heaped on 
the border. The result of too much manure 
of this class would be to cause rank growth 
in the young Vines. If manure has not been 
employed in this way, we suspect that you 
have been keeping the house too close and 
moist. It is always highly advantageous to 
open the ventilators early during the time 
the plants are in bloom and coming into 
bloom, as this encourages the proper maturity 
of the anthers and the scattering of the 
pollen. We should have given ventilation 
before the temperature reached 75 degs. Our 
idea would be to prevent the temperature 
from rising too high rather than putting on 
a lot of air in order to reduce the tempera¬ 
ture afterwards. We fail to see the neces¬ 
sity for such a high temperature until after 
the berries have set. 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
187 0. insects Damaging Flowers. 
Kindly tell me the names of enclosed in¬ 
sects and the way to get rid of them. They 
are doing any amount of damage amongst 
my flowers. (W. T., Essex). 
The specimens you sent us are wireworms. 
They are the larvae or grubs of beetles known 
in the perfect state as skipjacks and some 
other popular names. We presume they are 
eating the roots of your flowers *in the 
open garden. We presume, also, that 
your garden has recently been a gras.-, 
field, which is usually' full of the larvae 
of such insects, and as each lives for three 
to five years in the soil before reaching the 
perfect state they may give a deal of trouble. 
Whenever you have any portion of your gar¬ 
den bare you should make a point of digging 
it over two or more times during the course 
of autumn or winter, and destroying the 
wireworms that you can find. At present if 
you have any choice plants you wish to pro¬ 
tect, a good plan is to bury pieces of Carrot 
and Potato at the end of a stick around those 
plants. Examine these traps every morning 
and destroy all the wireworms you can find. 
There is a new insecticide which is said to 
be effective for this kind of work, namely. 
Vaporite. That may be dusted on the ground 
around the plants, taking care not to sprinkle 
the foliage with it. After your garden has 
been cultivated for a number of years the 
wireworm will get scarcer and scarcer as the 
eggs are not so often laid in a garden 
they are in a grass field. 
1871. Plum Leaves Curling. 
My Plum trees trained against a brick 
wall have blossomed well within the last 
few days. A great number of the leaves 
have curled like the enclosed samples. 
Kindly advise me as to treatment. (A. H. 
Wilson, Suffolk). 
Your Plum trees have been attacked by' the 
Plum Aphis, causing them to curl up. The 
insect then hides inside these curled leaves, 
and it is very difficult to get an insecticide 
that will prove effective against them. Next 
year make a point of syringing the trees 
with the undermentioned remedy' before they 
come into bloom and before any leaves are 
expanded. The Aphis comes from eggs laid 
upon the trees and prevention is always a 
better remedy than-cure. You can, however, 
apply the remedy at the present time and 
the leaves which are not yet expanded will 
be saved. The leaves that are curled up 
will be short-lived and never spread out 
flat. A good remedy is paraffin emulsion, 
and should consist of 3 lb. of soap dissolved 
in 2 pints of hot water. To this add 1 pint 
of paraffin. Churn the mixture till it be¬ 
comes a creamy-looking liquid resembling 
paint. This is the emulsion. Allow it to 
stand till it gets cool, and if any oil floats 
on the top add a little more soap and theD 
churn again with the syringe or garden 
engine. Then add 15 pints of water to each 
pint of emulsion, and spray the trees with 
this. It is worth the trouble, but to be com¬ 
pletely successful it is necessary to give at 
least one syringing before the trees come 
into bloom. 
SOILS AND MANURES. 
187 2. Fertiliser and Sweet Peas and 
Roses. 
How often and what quantity of Clay s 
manure should be given to the following in 
the dry state after watering - Sweet Peas, 
five in a 9 in. pot; Roses in 9 in. pots; bush 
Roses and climbing Roses all growing 
strongly? (Dorice, Surrey). 
The Sweet Peas may receive two teaspoon¬ 
fuls to a 9 in. pot and repeat the applica¬ 
tion in about ten days or a fortnight and 
again as the plants require it. This, 0 
course, applies to plants well advanced, no 
