448 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 6, 1907. 
ture, while they like to be kept dry over¬ 
head. That is the reason why they suc¬ 
ceed and flower so well in the dry atmo¬ 
sphere of dwelling-room windows. For 
draping the front stages of greenhouses, 
cool conservatories, and for planting on 
indoor rockeries, this Bellflower would 
also prove invaluable. 
Besides its blue flow'ers the foliage is 
attractive by having a broad creamy- 
white edging to the leaves. When 
grown under these conditions, that is, 
under glass or indoors, the stems elon¬ 
gate and trail to some extent. This 
would make it suitable for a basket plant, 
and it would prove a neat one. The 
leaves would also be finer under protec¬ 
tion than in the open air, where the sun 
in dry seasons would be a little too severe 
on the leaves, thus spoiling their varie¬ 
gation. 
- - 
Spring Bedding 
. . Among .. 
Rockwork. 
A year or so ago I wrote on the subject 
of carpet bedding among rock-work, and 
now 1 am able to make a few remarks 
on the above subject. I have no hesita¬ 
tion in saying that the rockery at Wil- 
minster Park, at the time of writing, is 
a perfect blaze of colour of every hue and 
shade. Although the rockery here is not 
very extensive, every nook and corner is 
occupied with some form of spring bed¬ 
ding plant. All round the fountain are 
beds of Wallflowers of every variety and 
colour, these being well intermingled, 
and they present a very pretty appear¬ 
ance. The higher parts of the rock-gar¬ 
den are arranged in small round beds, 
which are now in full bloom, and contain 
the following among other subjects:— 
Clumps of Aubrietia, red and white 
Daisies, white and yellow Violas, Parrot 
Tulips, Dielytra spectabilis, Myosotis 
(blue and white), Narcissus poeticus or- 
natus, Pansies, Saxifragas, Auriculas, 
and a great many more too numerous to 
mention. 
It seems a great pity to have to replace 
the rockery with summer bedding just as 
everything is in its spring beauty. The 
higher the rock-garden the better it shows, 
especially if there are a few flowering 
shrubs dotted about here and there among 
the rocks. In my opinion there are many 
unsightly corners that might be beauti¬ 
fied by the above methods. We have 
tried it here with remarkable success, and 
the reader who follows the example will 
find that his efforts will give satisfaction. 
I should like to recommend for an edging 
the gold-edged Polyanthus; this looks 
grand, as there is always a profusion of 
blossom. There is a great saving in in¬ 
troducing spring and summer bedding to 
rock-work, and the plants are very cheap. 
J. Nibbs. 
- *+* - 
CHERRIES are very cheap in London this 
summer, owing, it is said, to the cold and 
cheerless Aveather. The people do not feel 
thirsty, and consequently have less desire 
to eat Cherries to satisfy that desire. For 
cooking, however, they are a boon. 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters discussing any gar¬ 
dening subject. 
Letters should not exceed 150 words each 
in length, and must be written on one 
side of the paper only, 
T wo Prizes of 2s. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
Peach, Nectarine, and Cherry Growing. Culinary Asparagus. 
I have found a remedy for the complete 
destruction of insects on these trees, 
after many years of labour and anxiety, 
and it is so simple that it gives pleasure 
now, even after the trying spring of hav¬ 
ing a good crop of fruit and wood laid 
in perfectly healthy, with no signs of a 
fly or any other pest. I should be glad 
to show them to anyone. The remedy 
is a canvas sheet, lined inside with paper, 
tacked over one or two trees as the case 
may be, using one small lamp of 
Richards’s X. L. All. We do our trees 
twice and have no further trouble, but 
great pleasure. 
J. Spreckley. 
Peaches and Nectarines when Grow¬ 
ing. 
Peaches and Nectarines bear fruit on 
the previous year’s growth, or in other 
words, the growth that is made now 
should bear fruit next year, and the point 
to bear in mind is, if the trees are neg¬ 
lected when growing, very little fruit may 
be expected next year. Spring is the 
most important of the two prunings. It 
will be found that a shoot throws several 
growths, when two, or at most three, 
should be left, one at top and bottom and 
a middle one if thought necessary, the 
rest being rubbed off by degrees from the 
top of the tree downward. The bottom 
shoot is the most important, as this takes 
the place of the old one, which is cut 
away in winter, the upper one serving in 
most cases to carry sap into the fruit, 
without which it will not come to perfec¬ 
tion. 
Surbiton. 
G. Waller. 
The Gooseberry Caterpillar. 
Just now a sharp look out must be kept 
for the above marauder. It is a very 
voracious feeder, and a few of these pests 
will soon destroy the greater part of the 
foliage of the Gooseberry or Red Currant 
trees if left unchecked. The very best 
remedy is to hand pick, and to go care¬ 
fully over the trees time after time, so as 
to destroy all the larvae possible. This 
year they are very late in appearing (at 
least such is the case in my garden) so 
it is not quite so easy to detect them ; 
but a sharp eye discovers leaves in a 
mutilated condition, and then the green 
backed (not green-eyed) monster comes in 
for attention. As the fruit is large and 
much of it fit for use, no other remedy 
should be tried than the one named 
above. Remember every one destroyed 
this year may save a whole family from 
being produced next. 
Albert A. Kerridge. 
Chippenham. 
Of late years there has been a lot of 
trouble by the above being spoilt by frost 
when appearing through the ground. 
Some prefer covering the young plants 
with litter of rough hay, but by so doing 
an enormous quantity gets damaged when 
removing the hay. J thought, therefore, 
I would try an experiment. As soon as 
the crowns were visible I cut them as long 
as possible, washed and tied them in 
bundles evenly, and put them in a saucer 
with a small quantity of water sufficient 
to supply moisture and placed them in 
a temperature between 50 and 60 degrees. 
In two or three days they were ready for 
use. This is a far better method than 
covering with litter. 
T. Preston. 
Wilminster. 
Cucumbers for Exhibition. 
To grow nice, straight Cucumbers for 
exhibition, a good plan is to select the 
fruits you intend showing when they are 
about two inches long. Place a basin or 
jar of water beneath the fruits so that the 
points of the Cucumber is about one inch 
from the water in the jar. As the Cu¬ 
cumber grows keep shifting the jar 
further down until the fruit is ready to 
cut. They should be given plenty of 
heat, moisture, and frequent waterings 
with manure water, and the fruits should 
be well thinned so that those that are left 
may have every opportunity of gaining 
size quickly. When exhibiting them a 
box should be made an inch or so longer 
than the Cucumbers, and lined with pink 
paper. The Cucumbers should then be 
placed in this box in pairs as nearly the 
same size as possible. 
Kaffir. 
Culture of Richardia africana or Arum 
Lily. 
This note is chiefly for the benefit of 
amateurs. In the first week of June 
plant in lines 2 feet apart in an open part 
of garden. Clean all dead foliage off 
and water in dry weather. No further 
attention will be required until the 
middle of August, when they must be 
lifted and potted off firmly in a mixture 
of 3 parts loam, 1 cow dung, 1 coarse 
sand. Three to five crowns in nine inch 
pots and placed in lines somewhere where 
they will be exposed to the sun. Water 
freely in dry weather. About the end 
of September remove the pots to a cool 
greenhouse or dwelling-house window, 
and be careful with the watering during 
the winter months. Give more from 
March to May, then withhold it during 
the latter part of May, just before plant¬ 
ing out again in first week of June. 
T. S. Dick. 
Dumbartonshire. 
