496 
that. It will merely give the plants a little 
temporary assistance, after which it would 
be better to have a truss or two that is too 
old than no open flowers at all. All green¬ 
house and hothouse plants which have been 
used for bedding this year have been mak¬ 
ing very little progress, so that you are not 
alone in this respect. The low temperature 
and the lack of sunshine are responsible for 
the lack of progress. You can use liquid 
manure once a week till close upon the time 
of the show, and use it weak rather than 
strong. In cutting flowers and placing 
them in water they come out better because 
they are sheltered from the wind and the 
temperature may be a few degrees higher 
in the house. If you keep the flowers near 
the glass the colour ought to be as dark or 
nearly so as out of doors. It is largely a 
question of light, though 'different flowers 
vary in this respect. You can forward some 
of the flowers in water if they happen to be 
late, two or three days before the shew. 
ROSES. 
20 2 2. Rose Petals Eaten. 
Several of my Rose trees are flowering 
well, but something appears to be eating the 
petals after they are open. I cannot find 
anything. Is it likely to be caterpillars or 
earwigs, which cut holes in the blooms of 
Dahlias? Any hints you can give me would 
be much appreciated. (D. Gibson, Suffolk.) 
In the absence of the culprit it is some¬ 
times difficult to say what has been doing 
the damage, but it may not be an insect at 
all. The wind on many occasions this year 
has been very boisterous, and Roses, above 
all things, suffer immensely when it is 
windy. The branches, being furnished with 
thorns, are blown about by the wind and not 
only tear and pierce the blooms, but also 
the leaves. You would find this for your¬ 
self on a windy day if you were to make ob¬ 
servations and take hold of some of the long 
branches in your hand while the wind is 
beating them about, and you will see what 
effect the thorns have when such is the case. 
As a precaution you can stake the long ram¬ 
pant shoots that are likely to be blown 
against the blooms and tie them up firmly. 
This might be done while the blooms are 
still being produced, after which the stakes 
could be removed if unsightly. 
TREES AND SHRUBS . 
2023. Transplanting Rhododendrons. 
I have some Rhododendrons about 2 or 
3 ft. high which are in the way in altering 
a border at the lower end of the garden. 
Is it possible to transplant them with safety 
at this season of the year. They are good 
plants, though only of small size. (Alex. 
Wilson, Lines.) 
Rhododendrons, if planted in anything 
like a suitable soil, may practically be 
lifted at any time of the year. Such a soil 
should consist chiefly of peat or leaf mould. 
If a trench is taken out around the plant, 
say, about 2 ft. from the stem, you can lift 
each bush with a ball of soil. If there is 
any danger of the soil falling away you 
could put a mat round it to hold it together. 
Get ready the holes in the new site before 
you commence lifting them so that all may 
be in readiness. You can then lift the 
plants, putting them in position and sur¬ 
rounding the ball of soil with fresh material 
consisting of peat or mostly so. Make this 
firm and give it a good watering. You can 
afterwards fill in the hole, leaving a little 
basin round the plant for water if the 
weather should prove dry. The foliage 
should also be syringed occasionally in dry 
weather. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
VEGETABLES. 
2024. Round Potatos for Exhibition. 
I shall feel obliged if you will kindly 
tell me if the following named Potatos are 
guaranteed round for exhibition :—Windsor 
Castle, Epicure, Carters’ Snowdrop, British 
Queen, Scottish Triumph, The Factor and 
Up-to-date. Which would you advise for 
the best six for showing? (Grateful.) 
The first two you mention are second early 
round white Potatos. Snowdrop and British 
Queen are second early white kidneys. 
Scottish Triumph and The Factor are main- 
crop, round white Potatos. Up-to-date is a 
maincrop white kidney. Most of these, if 
not all of them, find their way to the exhi¬ 
bition table, though there are varieties 
which are more often employed than some 
of them. Popular round Potatos for exhi¬ 
bition are The Factor, Windsor Castle, 
Abundance and Superlative. The Factor is, 
of course, an oval round Potato, but such 
are highly popular at most exhibitions. If 
you require coloured varieties you may use 
Adirondack, pink with red eyes and Edge- 
cote Purple. A dark violet Potato that is 
popular with exhibitors is The Dean, which 
you could employ instead of Edgecote Pur¬ 
ple if you so desire. 
2025. Runner Beans Not Growing-. 
Can you tell me why my Runner Beans 
have stopped growing and become yellowish ? 
The soil is stiff, almost like clay, but it is 
loose and open, having been trenched and 
manured last winter. They did so well 
last year that I put them in the same ground 
again. Do you think that has anything to 
do with it? (Perplexed, Hants.) 
Runner Beans often succeed well on 
ground which they have occupied it may be 
several years previously, if the ground has 
been well treated and manured each winter. 
We should not, therefore, consider that this 
is the cause of the Beans ceasing to grow. 
It is more than likely that this is due to the 
low temperature which we have experienced 
during June and July. Moisture is advan¬ 
tageous, but when this is accompanied by a 
low temperature, the chances are that the 
Beans will suffer. The temperature has 
been rising somewhat recently and the Beans 
may commence glowing again. 
2026. Cucumbers Rotting. 
I have -a fine plant of Telegraph Cucum¬ 
ber, which filled the frame some time ago 
and seems healthy, but the young Cucumbers 
do not come to anything. They rot away 
when two or three inches long. Can you 
explain the cause of this and whether they 
require any special feeding ? I give them 
plenty of liquid manure. (Perplexed, 
Hants.) 
No doubt you have been keeping the frame 
rather close during the cold, sunless weather 
that has prevailed for some time past, and 
the young fruits have been subjected to 
damping. We would suggest that you have 
continued the usual syringing morning and 
afternoon in order to keep down red spider 
and other insect pests as well as to keep 
them growing. There has been a great lack 
of sunshine, however, and the wind has at 
times been bitterly cold. The temperature, 
therefore, has been too low to meet the re¬ 
quirements of Cucumbers in an unheated 
frame. Your best plan would be to give 
more ventilation by tilting up the sash at 
the top and only syringing once a day, say, 
in the morning, so that when the frame is 
closed at night the foliage will be relatively 
dry. This should be practised on dull days, 
but whenever the sun gets bright you may 
then safely continue the syringing. It 
would assist the young fruits if you would 
lay them on a piece of board so as to keep 
them off the moist soil. 
July 20, 1907. 
20 2 7. Blanching: Leeks. 
I have some good Leeks which I intend 
to transplant for the sake of blanching, not 
for exhibition, but for cooking. What plan 
would you recommend to get specimens a 
fair length during the growing season? 
(Allium, Glam.) 
A simple and easy plan would be to take 
out trenches about 18 ins. or 2 ft. apart, ac¬ 
cording to the amount of ground which you 
can spare. These trenches need only be 9 
to 12 ins. deep. Plant a single row of 
Leeks along the centre, about 9 ins. from 
plant to plant. Water them well, and when 
growing freely you can turn a little soil 
into the trench so as to cover up the neck 
to the base of the leaves. This will cause 
the neck to lengthen, and you can apply 
some more soil, covering the base of the 
leaves a little with it. If the season is a 
good one for growth you can get large Leeks 
before they cease growing in October, and 
they will stand in the ground until required 
for use. Another method is to get a dibbei 
and make deep holes in the soil at 12 ins 
between the lines and 6 ins. from plant tc 
plant in the line. The Leeks could then lx 
trimmed by shortening the very long root: 
and by shortening the leaves so that th< 
plants will stand upright without support 
Drop a Leek -into each hole and place a littl- 
soil over the roots. The holes, howetei 
should not be filled in against the plants 
but allowed to work in gradually. As th< 
plants grow the hoe when cleaning th< 
ground usually fills up the holes withou 
any further attention. By this means yoi 
can get a tolerable supply of Leeks fo - 
ordinary kitchen use, though the necks wil 
not be so long as by the first mentioned pro 
cess. 
2028. Scarlet Runners Going: Wrong. 
My crop of Scarlet Runner Beans an 
going wrong. They are planted on that par 
of the garden as shown by the marked plan 
The soil is rather heavy clay, but was wel 
trenched and manured in autumn. Ther- 
are Heather and open Pine woods surround 
ing all sides, so that the garden is sheltered 
but the position is high. (O. P. M., Sui 
rey.) 
Your experience is much the same a 
various other people this year, includin 
the above complaint made by “ Perplexed.' 
We reckon it is entirely due to the low tern 
perature. Both Dwarf Beans and Scarle 
Runners are natives of warmer countries 
and when the temperature is low for an; 
length of time they become unsatisfactor 
subjects in the garden. The high position 0 
elevation of the garden would also hav 
some bearing on the question. Judgin, 
from the plan enclosed the Beans should ge 
plenty of sunshine when there is any. Th 
only thing you can do to assist them 0 
encourage them growing would be to stak 
them, and if strong winds prevail some ever 
green branches stuck in the ground so as t 
furnish shelter might prove of some assist 
ance. The heavy soil is also against ther 
in a cold, wet season like the present. 
2029. Tomatos Not Ripening. 
Last year many of my Tomatos in tto 
greenhouse never ripened all over, but hat 
green patches on them. I should be grate 
ful if you would tell me if it is likely t< 
occur again this year or if anything can bi 
done to prevent it occurring again. (H 
Woods, Notts.) 
It is likely to occur again if the same cou 
ditions prevail. Possibly it is not alway 
due to the same fault. In all probability i 
it most often caused by some fault of culti 
vation. One of these is a lack of all-roun< 
fertilisers. Very often stimulating manure 
are given, but if some of the necessary ele 
ments of plant food are deficient in quantity 
then the Tomatos suffer. It is like bein; 
saturated with too much of one kind of foot 
