726 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 9, 1907. 
with the woolly aphis, better known, perhaps, 
as American blight, and caused by an insect 
Schizoneura lanigera. If you have a pocket 
lens you will have no difficulty in seeing 
these insects, and you will note that the 
branches are becoming thickened or knotty in 
places. This is entirely due to the American 
blight, as the insects first push their beaks 
into the tender young bark, causing it some¬ 
times to split open and in all cases to be¬ 
come unduly swollen. The longer you al¬ 
low this to igo on the larger the knots grow, 
and the aphides are able to hide and carry 
on their work still further owing to the deep 
crevices or cracks in the bark. At this late 
period of the year 'the best plan would be to 
wait till the leaves fall; then to cut away 
with your knife any rough outgrowths 
(caused by the insects) that tnay be on the 
trunk and main branches of the tree. You 
should then thoroughly syringe all the in¬ 
fested parts with paraffin emulsion, the 
making of which we have frequently de¬ 
scribed. lit consists, of course, of paraffin 
water and soap thoroughly churned with the 
syringe, so as to make a milky looking 
liquid. This should be diluted with about 
nine times its bulk of water and the trees 
thoroughly syringed with it. This can be 
best accomplished in winter, and all the more 
damaged portions of the tree could receive a 
special dressing by rubbing it with a half- 
worn painter’s brush. If the tops are all as 
bad as the specimen you sent it is more than 
likely that some of the insects have crawled 
down the trunk and are now lodging amongst 
the roots. In that case you should remove 
the soil to expose the roots, then give them a 
good drenching of strong soapsuds. If this 
work .is well done in winter you should not 
be much troubled next year, though we can¬ 
not guarantee that you will be quite clear of 
the enemy. When the trees are in leaf you 
should get a jar of methylated spirit and a 
small brush. Go over the trees with this and 
brush every portion where you see insects 
lodging. Be careful at that time not to let 
the methylated .spirit get on the buds or 
leaves. Ordinary cart grease is the best to 
use on the trunks of Apple trees to prevent 
insects from getting up. It is the remedy 
usually applied for the winter moth and one 
or two other of its relatives which climb up 
the trees at various periods from the middle 
of October till well on into spring. See the 
illustrations of winter moth in another 
column and read the description and the 
remedies. 
2356. Ground Swarming- with Cater¬ 
pillars. 
Being an interested reader of The Garden¬ 
ing World, I shall be greatly obliged if you 
will advise me on the following questions. 
I have under my care (since last October) a 
piece of ground which I am cultivating -to 
fill up my time, but this is swarmed with 
caterpillars, which have eaten my plants to 
pieces. I would like to know how to get 
clear of them. I might say that the ground 
before I got it was like stone, and I had to 
use a pick to turn it up. I went about two 
spades deep. (H. Kenworthy, Manchester.) 
We presume that the ground is clear by 
this time, or at least partly so. You will do 
much to eradicate caterpillars by trenching 
the ground 2ft. deep. If the soil is good to 
that depth the surface spit should be turned 
into the bottom of the trench and the .lower 
soil put on the top. This will serve to bury 
the pupae of caterpillars, the eggs of slugs, 
and slugs themselves. Just under the top 
spit, when filling up the trenches, you should 
place a good dressing of gas lime, using it 
at the rate of 42 lbs. per rod or pole of .land. 
It would be, perhaps, even more effective if 
you put a dressing over the spit that is 
turned into the trench, and then the re¬ 
mainder of the dressing under the last or top 
spit. Keeping the ground clean in this 
fashion, and also clear of weeds in summer, 
is a great means for keeping down cater¬ 
pillars. Even when weeds are allowed to 
grow on the surface during winter when 
crops have been removed, it is a means for 
furnishing food for various plant enemies, 
and we should advise you to observe clean 
cultivation at all times of the year. lit may 
take you a year or two to get these enemies 
thoroughly subdued, but it is worth your 
while persevering. Cabbages, Cauliflowers, 
Brussels Sprouts, and other subjects of that 
sort should have a fair amount of room, so 
that air can get in between them and you can 
get on the ground to hoe it in the summer 
time. This hceing, besides keeping down the 
weeds, will benefit the plants by aerating the 
soil. This will be quite evident if you give 
it a good trial. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
2357. Winter Treatment of Dahlias. 
I would like advice as to the treatment of 
Dahlias for the winter, and oblige. (H. 
Kenworthy, Manchester.) 
Dahlias may 'be kept ,in a variety of ways 
during winter, the main point being to keep 
them in a dry, cool place where they will 
neither be rotted by damp nor dried up by 
the heat of hot-water pipes or a flue. A good 
plan would be to get them partly dried and 
then pack <them upside down in -boxes of 
moderate depth. Turning the tops upside 
down in this fashion prevents moisture from 
lodging in the hollow stems. You must also 
keep them in a place where they will not be 
subjected to frost. Many places may be 
found on an eatablishiment for storing them. 
If there is a place under the benches in the 
glasshouse where the roots will not be sub¬ 
jected to drip and frost is kept out, they 
would keep well there. If you have a dry 
lumber room or unused room Dahlias might 
be stored there to advantage, because, hav in g a 
dry atmosphere, thereof overhead would prac¬ 
tically make the room frost proof. A dry cel¬ 
lar would also answer the purpose .if you make 
a point of seeing that the roots remain dry 
during the winter. Still another plan is to 
have a stock of young plants in small pots. 
The tubers should remain in. the soil, and 
the pots could be laid on their sides in a 
greenhouse or 'some similar situation from 
which frost is just kept out. 
2358. Gravel Washed Into Pond. 
There is a small pond in our garden at 
■the lower end which gets partly filled up 
with stones and gravel every winter when 
heavy rains cause the water to become 
swollen. I should like .to prevent this, if 
possible, as I do net want the gravel, and it 
takes some time to clear it out every spring. 
Can I do anything to prevent the material 
from being washed into the pond ? Your ad¬ 
vice would be much esteemed. (T. Wain- 
wright, Yorks.) 
No doubt this is a matter which could be 
regulated in several ways according to the 
most convenient conditions. For instance, 
you could select a fairly level part of the 
stream at some distance above your garden 
and place a row of big -stones across the 
stream or else the trunk of a tree or a board. 
This would serve to check the washing down 
of the gravel to some extent. If you can find 
a pool in the stream the best place for a 
barrier would just be below the pool. An¬ 
other plan would be to make a pool, that ’s, 
a big hole in the stream where stones and 
gravel would lodge. This, of course, would 
require to be cleared out every now and 
again according to the size of the hole and 
the current of water. An easier plan still 
would be to divert .the stream round about 
your garden rather than /through it. A suffi¬ 
cient quantity of water could be allowed to 
pass through the garden at every period of 
the year by means of a pipe or an inlet of 
some sort that would just allow a limited 
quantity of water. All material coming 
down in the wafer could be prevented from 
passing through this by .having rows of wires 
or a sort of grating across the opening by 
which the water enters. This would not only 
keep out stones and leaves, but it would pre¬ 
vent anything except a small quantity of very 
fine gravel from passing into the garden. 
2359. The Doric Boiler. 
I should be obliged if you can tell me 
through youir paper if you know any firm 
who stock the Doric boiler. It is an Ameri¬ 
can invention, patented in 1896. The firm 
in Manchester who supplied this one has 
given up dealing with it. I want a new sec¬ 
tion, but cannot get to know of any firm who 
keep it. (H. W., Horsforth.) 
We have examined a .large number of the 
catalogues sent ou,t by the principal boiler¬ 
makers and makers of heating apparatus in 
this country, but we fail to find the name of 
the Doric boiler mentioned. The reason why 
the Manchester firm gave it up was, no doubt, 
that it did not possess anything superior to 
the boilers produced in this country. It is 
inconvenient for you, however, not to be able 
to get a new section for the boiler you pos¬ 
sess. 
NAMES OF PLANTS. 
(T. K. M’Lellan) The sketch evidently re¬ 
presents a small head or panicle of the com¬ 
mon Oat, and certainly not a Heath. 
(Reader of The Gardening World) Venus 
Looking Glass (iSpecularia Speculum). 
(W. D. M. ) 1, Sedum spectabile; 2, Sedum 
Siebol-di; 3, Oenothera speciosa; 4, Veronica 
Andersonii variegata ; 5, Jasminum officinale. 
- (R. Sims) 1, Beriberis Thumbergii; 2, Nor¬ 
way Maple ( Acer platanoides); 3, Rhus 
Cotinus ; 4, Berberis Aquifolium. 
(A. L., Notts) 1, Tagetes signata; 2, 
Coreopsis tinctoria; 3, Eschscholtzia califor- 
nica; 4, Lavafera trimestris; 5, Dianthus 
chinenisis Heddewigii; 6, Oenothera biennis; 
7, Chrysanthemum coronairium flore pleno. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Amos Perry, Hardy Plant Farm, Enfield, 
Middlesex.—Perry’s Abridged Catalogue of 
Trees and Shrubs. 
F. C. Heinemann, Erfurt, Germany.— 
Special Trade Offer—Novelties, igo8. 
W. Wells & Co., Ltd., Merstham, 
Surrey.—Descriptive Catalogue of Chrysan¬ 
themums for 1907 and 1908. 
William Huffey, Mayfield Nursery, 
Dorking Road, Tunbridge Wells. — The 
’Mum Grower’s Note Book. 
Henry Drew, Longworth, Faringdon, 
Berks.—'Catalogue of The Thames Valley 
Roses. 
Geo. Cooling and Sons, The Nurseries, 
Bath.—Roses, Fruit Trees, Ornamental 
Shrubs, etc. 
Howden and Company, Inverness Nur¬ 
series, Inverness, N.B.—Nursery List (1907- 
1908). 
-- 
Enfield Chrysanthemum Society. 
In enclosing us a schedule of prizes 
of the 9th annual exhibition of the Enfield 
Highway and District Chrysanthemum 
Society, which is being held on the Sth 
and qth insts., at the Chesterfield Road 
Council Schools, Enfield Lock, the hon. 
secretary, Mr. J. R. Sells, calls attention 
to the fact that the entries number 300. 
the value of the prizes offered in cash 
and kind amounting to ^100. There are 
four silver challenge cups for competition. 
The Society is a growing one, and the 
exhibition is considered to be one of the 
best locally organised exhibitions in Mid¬ 
dlesex. 
