June 29, 1907. 
442 THE GARDENING WORLD. 
1965. Moss Roses. 
1 have irever grown Roses of any kind and, 
indeed, have insufficient accommodation for 
such subjects, but am very anxious to have 
a tree or two of my own of the old and 
favourite Moss Rose. Will you tell me a 
few of the best and easiest varieties to grow 
and oblige with a few cultural directions ? 
(A. B. C., Norwich.) 
We presume that you have not got very 
much garden ground rather than that you 
have not any. A very small space would be 
sufficient to grow a Moss Rose, provided the 
soil and exposure were suitable. The situa¬ 
tion should be exposed to the sun during the 
greater portion of the day, or for at least 
half of the day, to succeed with any kind 
of Rose. You can always get depth of soil 
by trenching the ground 2 ft. or 3 ft. deep, 
and if the natural soil is unsuitable you 
should get good, turfy loam inclined to be 
heavy rather than otherwise, if the soil of 
the district is light or chalky. Of course, 
you know what facilities you have for get¬ 
ting soil, either from a florist or from 
grounds that are being built upon, or, it 
may be, the scouring s of ditches by the way- 
side. You can get a variety of Moss Roses, 
but the common Moss cannot be beaten 
amongst the pink varieties for freedom of 
growth and flowering. If you desire some 
variety, you can get Crested Moss, which 
is dark in colour, and White Bath. These 
we reckon amongst the easiest to grow. They 
should be planted either, in the first half of 
November, or some time in February after 
the worst of the winter is over. Immedi¬ 
ately after planting in February you could 
prune the plants, as they are not likely to 
start into growth prematurely after lifting. 
The stronger stems could be cut back to 
12 in. in length, and the very weak ones 
to 3 in. or 6 in. in length. The second 
year you need not' prune them so hard. 
There is, however, another method of grow¬ 
ing Moss Roses, and that is to thin out the 
weak stems and to peg down the strong ones 
nearly the whole of their length. All that 
you need remove is the weak, badly ripened 
tips. You can then get flowers from the 
shoots that spring up all along the stems 
that have been pegged down. 
1966. Exhibition Roses. 
A short list of varieties of Tea and Noi¬ 
sette Roses suitable for exhibition would 
be esteemed. I am thinking of attempting 
to grow some for this purpose and to start 
planting next autumn. Do you think it 
best to buy plants of the local nurseryman, 
or deal with a firm that makes a speciality 
of such things? (T. S. C., Hunts.) 
We have selected a dozen Tea and Noi¬ 
sette Roses suitable for exhibition, but only 
one of these is a Noisette, namely, Marechal 
Niel. First-class Tea Roses for exhibition 
are The Bride, Bridesmaid, Catherine Mer- 
met, Maman Cochet, White Maman Cochet, 
Mrs. Edward Mawley, Souvenir de Pierre 
Notting, Mme. Jules Gravereaux, Mme. 
Cusin, Marie Van Houtte and Boadicea. 
The latter is purely an exhibitor’s Rose, be¬ 
cause, although very beautiful when in good 
condition, it is not suitable for garden de¬ 
coration because it does not flower freely 
enough. We cannot distinguish between the 
local nurserymen and those that make a spe¬ 
ciality, except that the latter make it their 
business to grow Roses and to succeed with 
them, whereas a nurseryman who only gives 
a small amount of attention to them may 
not grow them so well, may not rear young 
stuff to such perfection, or may not have the 
names so correctly as a specialist. These 
distinctions, however, cannot be applied to 
either class absolutely. No one has a mono¬ 
poly in the cultivation of Roses and you 
can only ascertain by experience or by mak¬ 
ing enquiries or examination locally. If 
you have been well served on former occa¬ 
sions, you should be so again. While most 
experts worthy of the name would have their 
Roses in the best of condition and true to 
name, still they may be liable to mishap or 
mistake at times. On the other hand, some 
of the local nurserymen may be as trust¬ 
worthy in their dealings as the best of them. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
1967. Solanum jasminoides. 
I had a fine plant of this on the south wall 
last year which flowered splendidly, but if 
got killed during the winter. No one about 
here had seen it bloom before. Although it 
bloomed in 1905 it had only a few trusses, 
but last year it was a sight to see. The 
hot summer, I suppose, caused it to bloom 
so freely. I have got another plant which 
is only small, but has four shoots. Is it 
possible to keep it alive during winter if the 
next one is severe ? What would you advise 
me to do to preserve it without lifting ? 
(J. P. Scott, Lines.) 
You should endeavour to have it in a well- 
drained situation. We presume it is al¬ 
ready planted, but you should make sure 
that no water lodges in the soil during win¬ 
ter. It will stand a deal more frost in a 
dry soil than in one that is waterlogged. 
You can also protect the plant by placing 
against it some sprays of Broom or other 
evergreen so as to ward off frost from the 
main stem, including the ground line. Even 
if the tips of the shoots should get killed 
back, it would be a point gained if you could 
save the main stem, as it would shoot out 
again in spring. You should also take pre¬ 
caution to have a young plant or two in 
pots to be preserved in a greenhouse or frame 
in winter. The smaller shoots you mention 
could be layered around the plants or pots 
could be plunged in the bed and the shoots 
layered in the pots. These should be rooted 
by the end of September, and may be separ¬ 
ated from the parent plant and taken to a 
place of safety. 
1968. Sowing- Acorns and Chestnuts. 
I have had some Acorns and English 
Chestnuts (last year’s) given to me, and I 
should like to plant them in order 
to raise small pot plants. What is the best 
time to sow them and would they require 
any special treatment? (Dennis, Swansea.) 
You cannot too soon sow them now, if, 
indeed, they are alive at all. If they were 
collected last autumn and kept dry ever 
since it is more than probable that they are 
all dead. Most trees of the class to which 
you refer require to be sown as soon as 
gathered in the autumn, or else the acorns 
and nuts should be placed in moist sand 
and kept moist until the time of sow¬ 
ing. When once these large seeds dry up 
they rarely succeed. You may try some for 
experiment by putting them in soil at once, 
but we fear they are past remedy. 
FRUIT. 
1969. Temperature for Melon House. 
I feel I must write you a line to thank 
you for the article you sent me in answer to 
my note on Melons. Soon after writing 
you I put the fire in at night and have kept 
the house very warm. The plants, which 
had stopped growing have begun again now 
and are looking much better. I am keeping 
the temperature about 70 degs. with good 
moist atmosphere. (C. S. Davey, Middle¬ 
sex.) 
We should like to supplement our pre¬ 
vious reply by stating thalt you should not 
endeavour to maintain a very high tempera¬ 
ture when the weather is cold. Indeed, the 
lowest suitable temperature on very cold, 
windy or wet times would be better than too 
high a temperature. For instance, if the 
day were cloudy and dark it would be easy 
to raise the temperature with fire heat, but 
we would caution you not to get it very 
high under such conditions because, althoug 
you get the stems to elongate, they would d 
thin and without substance by compariso 
with stems produced under the influence c 
bright sunshine. A temperature of 60 deg; 
to 65 degs. at night would be quite sufE 
cient, allowing the temperature to rise b 
day another 5 degs. or so with fire heat, bu 
not higher unless you have sunshine. Yo 
see it is just a matter for discretion. 
1970. Rooting Strawberry Runners. 
Is it necessary to get pots for the purpos. 
of getting Strawberry runners rooted a 
early as possible, or is there any other wa- 
that .would answer as well I When is th, 
best time to make new beds to get the plane 
well advanced this year? Any other par 
ticulars would be gratefully received. (E 
M. Johnson, Surrey.) 
It depends largely what the plants an 
required for as to whether pots should b< 
used. If you intended forcing them yoi 
could not adopt a better plan than get the 
runners into pots at once. Another methoc 
of layering that facilitates lifting woulc 
be to lay down lumps of turf and layer tht 
runners in that. If the pieces of turf ar> 
partly covered it would be an easier matte: 
to keep the runners watered if dry weathe: 
should presently set in. Pots would also b* 
a matter of convenience to make a fresl 
plantation if the weather happens to be dn 
at the time. You could make the new plan 
tation in August or September, the earlie: 
the better, provided your plants are wel 
rooted. If you plant them during Augus 
and September you can expect a crop fron 
the plants next year, but not if you do no¬ 
make the fresh plantation till spring. Yov 
should trench and heavily manure the grounc 
on which you intend to plant the Straw 
berries, say about a fortnight previous to tht 
planting. 
1971. Raspberries on Chalky Soil. 
I would like to grow Raspberries, bu 
the soil of our garden consists of chall 
under a shallow soil. Do you think it pos 
sible to grow this fruit under such condi 
tions. A few suggestions about this -woulc 
be thankfully received. The soil gets ver\ 
dry in summer. Please give the name oi 
the best variety. (E. M. Johnson, Surrey.) 
It is possible to grow Raspberries undei 
the conditions you name, but you woulc 
require to deepen your soil and to take sucl 
other precautions as would retain the soil 
moisture during the heat of summer. As a 
rule that occurs just about the time the Rasp 
berries are swelling and ripening theii 
fruits, consequently if the supply of mois¬ 
ture is inadequate the berries will be few 
and small. You should trench your soil, at 
the same time giving it a heavy manuring 
with well-made farmyard manure, if cow 
manure so much the better. You cannot ex¬ 
pect to get a crop the first year, so that the 
canes should be cut down within 12 in. of 
the soil. The canes after that should be in 
good condition, and you can mulch the top 
of the crowns either with manure or decav¬ 
ing leaves. This will assist the plants 
greatly. The variety Superlative is one of 
the best that you could employ for the pur¬ 
pose named. 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
197 2. Cherries and Caterpillars. 
Tn one part of my orchard are three fine, 
full-grown Cherry trees which last year 
yielded a plentiful crop of fruit, and which 
would, I thought, bear well this year, as 
only a short while since they looked most 
promising. Quite suddenly, however, they 
have been attacked by caterpillars, which 
are playing havoc not only with the embryo 
fruits, but are eating up the leaves. Can 
you tell me of a quick and effectual method 
of ridding the trees of the pest? (J. J., 
Herts.) 
