404 
bable bursting point, this being done 
either with the finger and thumb nail or 
a pair of small scissors, and tie round 
with a piece of green thread, or slip a 
small elastic band over the bud as illus¬ 
trated in sketch 5. 
Carnations are liable to be attacked 
by many insect pests such as greenfly, red 
spider, thrips, cuckoo spit, maggots, wire- 
worm, and earwigs. Greenfly may be 
removed toy syringing the plants with 
warm water and soft soap or some suit¬ 
able insecticide. Red spider and thrips, 
the appearance of which is generally the 
result of neglect in watering the plants, 
must be removed either by syringing with 
soft soap and warm water or by sponging 
the foliage. Cuckoo spit can generally 
be eradicated by a good syringing, whilst 
maggots, which are very destructive, 'eat¬ 
ing their way to the heart of the shoots, 
must be picked out with the point of a 
needle. Wireworms are very trouble¬ 
some, causing considerable havoc amongst 
the plants. Plenty of soot should be 
sprinkled about, and if soot and lime is 
dug into the ground when making the bed 
it will assist in keeping this pest at a safe 
distance. Traps made of pieces of 
Carrot and Potato buried a few inches 
below the surface of the ground are use¬ 
ful, and should be daily lifted and the in¬ 
sects found feeding thereon be destroyed 
by dropping into a vessel of hot water. 
Wireworms are particularly fond of rape 
meal, and small heaps of this should be 
buried about two inches in the ground 
near the plants. The insects will discard 
the Carnations, giving preference to. the 
meal, which they consume so greedily that 
it will cause them to swell and burst. 
Earwigs are equally as destructive as 
wireworms, and unless means for their 
eradication are taken many blooms will be 
completely spoiled. Traps in the form 
of hollow Bean stalks, small flower pots 
filled with ha^ and other contrivances 
suitable for the insects to harbour in, 
should be laid about and frequently ex¬ 
amined, the earwigs found therein being 
destroyed. Very special blooms may be 
protected by wrapping a ring of cotton 
wool round the stem about an inch below 
the base of the calyx, the same being se¬ 
cured by fine-wire. A little paraffin 
should be dropped on the wool from a 
brush, and the bloom will be fully pro¬ 
tected against the ravages of this pest. 
Ortus. 
-- 
Rose Dr. William Gordon. 
The above was a new Hybrid Perpetual 
Rose bearing silvery-pink flowers of re¬ 
markable size and deliciously fragrant. 
The broad petals are rolled back at the 
edges. Award of Merit to Messrs. W. 
Paul and Son at the Temple Show. 
Actinidia chinensis. 
The above is a new climber from China, 
which is very distinct from most of those 
with which we are familiar. The heart- 
shaped leaves, the stems, and leaf stalks 
are densely covered when young with red 
hairs, which give the plant a reddish ap¬ 
pearance in the early part of the season. 
It was accorded an Award of Merit at the 
Temple Show when shown by Messrs. J. 
Veitch and Sons, Ltd. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 15, 1907. 
Address: The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should be as brief as ■possible and written on 
one side of the paper only ; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
ter and height of the fence or wall-, fo. 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. T, 
north side of the garden and any ovt 
shadowing buildings should be denoted, 
should also be stated whether the garden 
■flat or on a declivity, and all large tre 
should be marked. Particulars of the n 
ture of the soil -will also help us to gv 
satisfactory replies. When such plans a 
received they will be carefully filed, with t. 
name and address of the sender, and will , 
consulted by the Editor whenever an enquii 
is sent. 
irrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. * ROOM PLANTS. 
1909. Malmaison Carnation Leaves 
Spotted. 
As a reader of your valuable paper I am 
enclosing leaves of Malmaiscti Carnations 
for your inspection. Would you kindly let 
me know the cause of the whitish spots on 
the leaves and the cure, if any? Some of 
the plants seem to continue losing their 
leaves right up as the new leaves grow. 
Others show white spots through the leaves 
when they are appearing. The house is 
well ventilated at all times and nothing in 
it but the Malmaisons of which we make a 
speciality here, flowering them all the year 
round. (iMalmaison, Inverness). 
The leaves you sent us were affected with 
baoteriosis, caused by a fungus named Bac¬ 
terium Dianthi, which lives inside the tis¬ 
sues of the leaves. It is a disease to which 
Carnations are liable, but more especially 
Malmaisons, which have soft, sappy shoots 
and leaves. The disease is contracted in 
winter when the light is bad and the air 
damp. As it lives inside the leaves there 
is no cure for it. The only plan is to pick 
off all diseased leaves and burn them to pre¬ 
vent the spores spreading, and to treat the 
plants very carefully in the matter of air 
and keeping them close to the glass. They 
should also be kept on the dry side at the 
roots during winter, and, if necessary, the 
hot water pipes should' be warmed occa¬ 
sionally during damp weather in order to 
dry the atmosphere of the house. Heat is 
not particularly necessary, except for the 
purpose mentioned, unless the plants happen 
to be in bloom, when a temperature of 50 
degs. should suffice. Over-feeding in win¬ 
ter should be carefully avoided, except in 
the case of plants being forced for early 
bloom. We should also advise you to pro¬ 
pagate from healthy stock only if possible. 
In the case of plants that are bloomed in 
winter, it would be advisable to keejo a re¬ 
serve of plants of the same varieties not 
so treated for the sake of getting healthy 
stock. You could also observe whether 
forced plants are more liable to the malady 
than others. Usually iit is rust which is 
most severe upon this class of Carnations, 
but at some places the bacteriosis gets such 
a footing that the cultivation of Malmaisons 
becomes very difficult, or, it may be, almost 
impossible to keep them in a healthy state. 
Prevention is better than any attempt at 
cure, and that should be your aim as far 
as you can. 
1910. Aspidistra Leaves Not Lengthei 
ing. 
I have an Aspidistra with about twel\ 
leaves, the leading ones of which have goo 
long stemsj but the later leaves do not gro 
clear of the soil and unfold when only ha’ 
clear of the surface. One new leaf reache 
about 3 in. to 4 in. in height and the 
withered without opening. Can you e> 
plain and give a remedy ? They were bougl 
about twelve months ago and are in a sunn 
room. (Dialstone, Middlesex). 
We suspect that you potted your plant 
too deeply or that you potted them too firmi) 
The thick rhizomes bearing the crowns fror 
which the leaves arise should only be abou 
an inch below the surface. On the othe 
hand, we would make a suggestion that you 
plants had got into a weak state before the 
were potted. The roots may have been i: 
a waterlogged soil owing to the deficien 
drainage. This need not be if the compos 
consists of' turfy loam, .leaf mould am 
plenty of sand, together with good drainag' 
under the compost. Under these condition 
we have known Aspidistras to thrive fo 
many years, even although a little wate 
frequently stood in the saucers in whicl 
the pots were stood. The drainage in thi 
bottom would, of course, explain win- tin 
roots were still able to perform their dutie: 
properly. A third hint that we should men 
tion is that the plants should be kept close t( 
the l glass most of the time throughout tin 
year. It is interesting to have plants on the 
table in the middle of the room, but the} 
are too often kept in semi-darkness or in 
too feeble light for the leaves to acquire 
their proper stiffness and leathery character. 
You can think over these suggestions and 
determine whether any of them apply to 
your case. 
1911. Dividing; Aspidistras. 
Would it be safe to divide Aspidistras at 
present? (Sambrook, Essex). 
The present is an excellent time to divide 
and repot Aspidistras because you have the 
whole season to establish them before win¬ 
ter. Use a compost of two parts loam, one 
part leaf mould and a good quantity of 
sand. Make sure also that the drainage is 
good, as repotting may not be necessary 
again for some years. It is, therefore, ne¬ 
cessary to provide effective drainage so that 
superfluous water can always drain away. 
