37 6 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June i, 1907. 
damaged by being torn away. In a short 
paper one cannot deal fully with the sub¬ 
ject, but if I set vou enquiring and think¬ 
ing I shall have done something to help 
vou. 
Baynxon-Taylor. 
—— 
Insect Pests 
And How 
To Deal With Them. 
Amongst difficulties to contend with in 
the garden is the subject of insect pests, 
and this especially to the amateur. Seeing 
the Gardening World pages are helpful 
to these, a few hints may be acceptable 
from an old hand. 
During spring and early summer insect 
pests are the most troublesome. Often 
things appear clean to-day and otherwise 
to-morrow. After much observation I 
have come to regard this as not so, but 
only a development, and had the cultiva¬ 
tor but examined the things closely the in¬ 
sects may often be seen days before, only 
in a small degree. 
In Cucumber and Melon frames many 
errors arise from keeping the air too close. 
This want of air engenders fly. Far better 
to keep a little air on at all times. It is 
in a close atmosphere where the most 
trouble arises. When they are examined 
on the under side of the leaves they will be 
found to be -covered with insects. W hen 
in this state it is -next to impossible to 
eradicate them. Fly on Cinerarias .and 
Calceolarias most frequently arises from 
their being kept too close and warm. 
Nothing is more annoying than to see 
plants spoilt by insects,, and everyone 
should endeavour to avoid this. In n° 
w-av can this be accomplished better than 
adopting preventive measures, in the way 
of airing and by giving early attention to 
applying opposing force to keep them 
under. Speaking in a general way, I 
find nothing equals clipping or spraying 
on the appearance of the first insect. 
At the present time there are man) 
good cheap washes. For years I have used 
Abol Insecticide, and have used it on the 
most tender things without any ill effects. 
Our custom is to dip or spray Pelargo¬ 
niums and things of this nature earl). For 
Roses and Peaches it is excellent. We 
applv it through a garden engine, or spray 
with an Abol syringe. Another recom¬ 
mendation is the ease with which it may 
be used. Bv using hot water no error can 
be made, applying it at co clegs. Another 
advantage is its cheapness. (( ^ „ 
- - 
The Critical 20th. 
. The Germans call the three days that 
precede May 20th the “ Drei Eismanner 
and the country people consider that it 
these dread saints’ days are once safely 
tided over the horticulturist .is safe. 
There are two very distinct varieties of 
Pvrus floribunda. namely, the ordinary one 
with flowers of a light Apple blossom hue 
and P.f. atrosanguinea, the flowers of 
which are crimson in the bud or half-open 
state, and very effective, 
Olivias: 
How I Grow 
these Noble Flowers. 
Why do not more people grow Clivias ? 
They are noble looking flowers and ex¬ 
ceedingly easy of cultivation. Though 
perhaps to be at their very best they re¬ 
quire warm greenhouse cultivation and 
a temperature of 45 to 55 degrees, still 
they may be most satisfactorily grown in 
a much humbler way, being most useful 
and interesting when grown ail the year- 
round in a room. One of the finest plants 
I ever saw spent its life in the window of a 
cottage where it had been reared from a 
small offset. 
There are numerous beautiful named 
kinds, but these are rather expensive. My 
own plants are mostly of the old type, 
with rather pale apricot flowers and 
narrowish leaves, but they are always 
much admired, and I have had them com¬ 
ing on in a succession since the middle of 
January, and there is still one in bud. 
It may be of interest to others to know 
how I treat them. For the greater part 
of the year they are kept in the drawing 
room, which is a very sunny room, and 
therefore during the mornings always has 
the curtains drawn, so they are not ex¬ 
posed to any very hot sun. The leaves 
are sponged fairly often to keep them 
clean and free from dust, and they are 
only watered when they really need it, 
that is to say when the surface of the soil 
seems quite dry. About November the) 
get more water, and a little liquid manure 
occasionally, and from the middle of De¬ 
cember they are taken in one at a time to 
my small heated conservatory to hasten 
them into flower. 
After the flowers are over they will go 
back to the conservatory for a short time 
to complete their growths, and then will 
be taken back into the drawing room for 
the decorative quality of their leaves. 
In the third week in May of last year 1 
divided a large clump of five heads which 
were crowded into a gin. pot. The root: 
were carefully washed free from the ole 
mould and disentangled, then the mair 
growths were cut apart at the top, and th< 
long thick roots of each division were 
coiled into an eight inch pot, which hac 
been plentifully supplied with drainage 
The compost of loam, leaf-mould anc 
sand was thoroughly worked in amon| 
them. 
The plants were then placed in a tin) 
house in which I was growing Cucumbers 
and which, though dependent on sun heat 
is at that time of the year very warm, anc 
the heat and moisture evidently suiiec 
them, for they started off to make fresl 
growths and leaves at once, and hav< 
flowered well this year, though perhap 
not coming quite up to the longer estab 
lished plants. 
My seedlings are also doing well. Sowi 
last February in loam and sand in 
fairly strong heat, they are now, a yea 
later, sturdy youngsters with three and fou 
leaves. I shall grow them on in the warn 
house till they flower, which will be, I ar 
told, in about their third year, and I hop 
for grand results as they are from a ver 
g-oocl strain. 
N. Cooksox. 
The Virtues of 
- Gf?alk. - 
Chalk is a form of limestone belonging 
to the group of rocks called calcareous, 
and is distinguished as of organic origin. 
It consists almost exclusively of carbonate 
of lime, the deposit ages ago of marine 
and fresh water organisms, characterised 
as having skeletons or shells of these or¬ 
ganisms. Chalk is a white rock, readily 
acted upon by frost, rain, or carbonic 
acid, the latter a small but important con¬ 
stituent of the atmosphere. 
To the gardener, the fact of it being 
organically formed makes it at once evi¬ 
dent as being rich in plant food. Chalk 
soils, in situ, are usually very thin, the 
surface crust of soil varying from three to 
nine inches, under which lies a depth of 
chalky pebbles resting upon the solid rock. 
To bring this into profitable garden cul¬ 
tivation requires some energy. The top 
soil should be retained in position; the 
pebbly soil being broken up and mixed 
with decayed leaf soil, road scrapings, 
-wood ashes, etc., and in the bottom bury¬ 
ing all garden refuse. By systematically 
working in this manner for two or three 
seasons a kindlv soil is soon obtained. 
Once it is welf started a chalky soil is 
cheaply cultivated, requiring the annual 
addition of some bulky manure, whic 
enables it to retain moisture and restore 
the supply of nitrogen. To this end ever 
available leaf should be collected 1 
autumn and carefully preserved for futui 
use, these being generally of most servic 
after lying a year. 
By its chemical influence upon soi 
chalk is the safest corrective of soui 
ness; being composed of carbonate t 
lime, it combines with the free acid 
of the soil, and converts dangeror 
compounds into soluble plant fooc 
Further ground regularly and carefu.l 
treated with chalk or limestone require 
no drastic measures, as is often practise 
for the eradication of Onion and Carre 
grub, club in Turnip, and anbury in Cal 
bage. 
No system of manuring is profitable _ur 
less chalk or lime be present in sufAcien 
quantity to combine and fix the manm 
until the plants require it. 
Chalk soils are warm in winter and coc 
in summer. The intense heat of the pa 
=ummer proved disastrous to forest tree 
upon the clav formations of Lincolnshm 
causing Beech, Elms, Birch, etc., to lo 
their foliage during late summer; whi 
upon the chalk wolds the same species v 
tained their leaves green and healthy unt 
the normal season of fall. That it 
warm in winter is proved by the ease 1 
which half-hardy plants grown in it ai 
wintered. One disadvantage of cha-k 
that it strongly impregnates all water wit 
its own substance. Hence we find a. 
