BURSTING BUDS. 
BL 
LTHOUGH in the summer months 
the activity of vegetative life is 
marvellous enough, yet its manifestations 
are far less striking than in the first week or 
two of the spring, when the leafage under 
the genial influences of the sun and shower, 
is rapidly decking the erstwhile skeleton 
trees with fresh and verdant growth. We 
take little note of the further development 
and ripening when once the leaf has shaken 
itself and expanded more or less into its 
normal.shape, it: is: merely a matter of 
addition, but at the outset there is a sudden- 
ness about the developement which strikes 
the eye forcibly. One day the tree is bare 
and its buds black, the next a flush of 
delicate gteenery is perceptible and on 
closer investigation every point is seen to 
have broken bounds, and the tiny tiplets of 
the coming foliage are just in evidence. 
This stage reached, expansion goes on by 
leaps and bounds, the glistening buds shake 
out their leaves almost as we look at them, 
and within the compass of a single week the 
tree is clothed with verdure, which, as yet 
unsullied by dust, unworn by breezy friction 
and unbitten by predatory vermin, has a 
freshness and charm which the more redun- 
dant foliage of summer days can never 
beast of. Nature, too, demonstrates in 
every bud a most marvellous capacity for 
packing ; take one of these buds just opened 
and examine it. The whole bunch of leaves 
is complete as it emerges, and although they 
have been built up by the busy cells within 
the hard resistant shell which is now 
discarded, there is not a crease in the wrong 
place, nor a single vein of all the myriads 
distorted. Mark, too, as the seperate seg- 
ments expand how the stalks lengthen, and 
each radiating leaflet assumes precisely the 
right distance to prevent subsequent over- 
lapping, and consequent invasion of its 
neighbour's rights to the sunshine. Each 
cluster of leaves obeys the same law as 
regards its own little community, aud, 
although there is am eventual struggle 
amongst the many communities, the whole 
tree assumes the best form possible to 
accommodate the majority. Every bud, too, 
has its individuality, even on the same tree, 
but taking different varieties, species, and 
genera, the study of the bursting buds is 
soon seen to be of inexhaustible interest. 
Take the various fruit trees, apples, pears, 
plums and so on, with their diverse leaf and 
flower buds, all determined by the subtle 
influence of past and forgotten sunbeams. 
The potent power of these has been hoarded 
up in those little hard knots at the tips of 
twigs all through the winter, and now break — 
out here into barren leafage, and there into 
bunches of snowy or rosy blooms, each with a 
luscious embryo fruit in its bosom, and a 
store of honey as a sweet reward for the 
labour of love which the bee is ever ready 
to undertake and perfect. 
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman is a great 
cultivator of Begonias, 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
SEPTEMBER I, 1902. 
Answers to Correspondence. 
eee 
Darrop1t, Melbourne (Vic.)—1. Are cen- 
tipedes of use in Gardens? Are they in- 
jurious to human beings ? 
1. Centipedes live on insects and are 
therefore likely to be useful in the garden. 
2. The larger sorts can inflict wounds as 
severe as those made by our small scorpion, 
but are not so dangerous as the black spider 
with red spots—latrodectes scelio. 3 
1. There are a lot of brownish grubs here, 
potato grubs we call them, but they eat vic- 
lets, cabbages, sweet peas, and plenty of other 
plants. Can you tell mehowtogetridof them? 
2. Unless the mature moths are bred 
from the caterpillars one cannot be sure of 
the species, as there are several kinds of 
which the grubs have the same form and ° 
habits nearly. The latter hide by day under 
the ground, and feed actively by night.” The 
only safe remedy in small plots is hand- 
picking by day and night and repeated at- 
tention. -In large ,plots arsenical solutions 
of weak strength are recommended in 
America, but decoctions of tobacco or 
quassia chips may do as well, and are mostly 
harmless to the plants, which the first- 
named remedy is not. ‘They are best ap- 
plied for low plants by a hand spray syringe. 
Mere sprinking is usually ineffectual. The 
chief cause of the prevalence of these grubs 
-is the absence of small birds, also magpies, 
which are very fond of them. 
A. E. Smupeson, Unley Park, S.A.—‘“T have 
understood that Mina Lobata does not seed 
in South Australia. Last year I gave some 
imported seed to an acquaintance, and he 
now brings me in seedpods containing fine 
plump seeds from plants sown by him. Is 
not this unusual? JI enclose a few pods and 
seeds.” 
This is somewhat a rare occurence, 
though seed have been obtained from plant 
grown locally. The local seeds do not 
always germinate, but cases have been . 
known when seeds are in good condition. 
“The Australian Gardener” will have the 
sample forwarded planted and the result 
watched with interest. 
LawrENCE wishes to know how to distin- 
guish between the seeds of double and single 
stocks. 
. There is no sure guide about these seeds, 
and it is almost impossible to distinguish 
them, Young plants, however, can be dis- 
tinguished. The double variety havea shorter 
and a more compact leaf than the single. 
Lirtinc Darropits.—It is only those 
varieties of Narcissi or Daffodils which pro- 
duce offsets freely that may be lifted annually, 
and even with these it is not absolutely nec- 
essary. .What is meant by the annual lift- 
ing and drying encouraging increase is that 
by this means it is possible so to separate 
and plant the offsets that the stock is in- 
creased more quickly. To dry bulbs of 
Narcissi in general after lifting them is not 
good practice, especially if they are kept 
some weeks out of the ground. They 
should be lifted, divided, and replanted at 
once. The fact that your small offsets dried 
up shows that drying and keeping small bulbs 
out of the ground is not advisable, nor is the 
separating and planting of very small offsets 
according to the variety to be recommended, 
GARDENING OPERATIONS 
FOR SEPTEMBER. 
BE 
N enthusiastic amateur gardener of happy 
position of being able to spend the 
ripened years and experience, who is in the 
evening of his life pottering about, albeit 
very actively, amongst the darlings of his 
age, the beautiful companionship of flowers, 
has sent us a flattering communication to 
say that this column of the paper alone is 
well worth theamount of the subscription. We 
quite believe him, and insert this acknowledg- 
ment by way of encouragement to our prac- 
tical gardener who supplies the data for the 
articles. Amongst many other such letters 
we have been requested by several gar- 
deners to name six or twelve varieties of 
particular plants mentioned. We have 
done this to some extent, indeed, 
as far as we can with safety. It is 
hardly wise policy to state absolutely 
that one variety is better than another, be- 
cause the question of choice depends upon 
varying circumstances, such as position, 
soil, altitude, shelter, and so on. Flowers 
are like human beings, too, in many respects, 
constitution, for instance, may be robust or 
weakly and affected by environment. ‘Then, 
again, a great deal depends upon taste. 
Some gardeners look upon some varieties 
of flowers as abortions, while others make 
favourites of them. Our choice is not likely 
to please everybody, for whom the paper is 
published, therefore we set down those 
varieties that we believe give the most 
general satisfaction without saying that they 
are positively the best. 
Whatever may be said about choice and 
taste in flowers, everybody is agreed upon 
the matter of weeds. Not excepting even 
those people who allow them to overrun the 
spaces around their houses, which could 
otherwise be made beauty spots with very 
little care. Weeds are a nuisance, there is 
no doubt, but they all help to make the con- 
trast of a well-kept garden more beautiful. 
The satisfaction of getting them out 
makes one forget the labour of it. 
Anyhow, now is the time that 
weeds grow apace and are apt to double 
the work of a garden if not kept well stirred 
out. A correspondent is bewailing the ter- 
rible affliction of having ‘‘soursops,” or 
“ soursobs” (oxalis), overrunning his garden. 
He has tried every kind of remedy suggested, 
but without permanent effect. We should 
say that if he had put all the time and 
energy used in applying specifics into turn- 
ing the roots and bulbs up to the sun he 
would have found much greater satisfaction, 
in fact so far as we know the only 
real remedy in getting rid of the pest is to 
—turn them up. The advice regarding this 
particular pest is equally good for all others. 
The fingers of a pair of active hands with a 
garden trowel will clear a bed free of weeds 
quicker and better than anything else we 
know of. 
Having got the young plants now well 
forward in the edgings, groups, and various 
designs in the open beds, a successional 
