546 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  19,  1902.- 
ten  days  on  well-drained  borders.  Syringe  twice  a  day  to  keep 
down  red  spider,  ventilate  early,  keep  the  temperature  througli 
the  day  at  70deg  to  7odeg  and  SOdeg  to  85deg  with  sun  heat, 
and  close  the  house  sufficiently  early  to  increase  the  heat  to  90deg. 
This,  with  abundance  of  moisture  in  the  house,  will  ensure  large 
fruit,  and  if  ventilation  is  given  before  nightfall  and  increased 
early  in  the  morning  all  will  be  well;  but  if  a  close  and  moist 
atmosphere  be  maintained  with  a  high  temperature  the  fruit, 
though  large,  will  lack  flavour.  Keep  the  fruit  with  the  apex 
to  the  light;  laths  placed  aci'oss  the  wires  of  the  trellis  will 
admit  of  this  being  done;  and  clear  away  the  leaves  from  the 
fruit,  but  do  not  remove  them  if  it  can  be  helped.  When 
approaching  ripening  cease  .syringing,  admit  air  freely,  and 
GOdeg  to  65deg  at  night  will  be  a  sufficiently  high  temiierature, 
or  artificially  in  the  daytime,  unless  it  is  wished  to  accelerate  the 
ripening,  when  it  should  range  from  70deg  to  7odeg,  with  a  rise 
of  lOdeg  from  sun  heat. 
FRUIT  STONING. — Maintain  a  steady  temperature  of  GOdeg 
to  65deg  at  night  and  odeg  to  lOdeg  rise  by  day,  with  the  usual 
advance  of  5deg  to  lOdeg,  or  even  lodeg  at  closing  from  sun  heat. 
Avoid  a  close  atmosphere,  and  maintain  a  uniform  temperature 
and  as  equable  a  condition  of  }uoisture  as  practicable.  Sudden 
fluctuations  of  temperature  and  cold  draughts  are  pernicious, 
and  equally  disastrous  is  insufficient  water  at  the  roots.  Allow  a 
moderate  extension  of  growth  during  this  time,  and  do  not 
permit  a  great  percentage  of  fruit  to  stone  that  must  be  removed 
afterwards,  but  remove  it  in  good  time.  A  superfluity  of  fruit 
at  stoning  prejudices  the  crop,  and,  even  if  stoning  takes  place, 
the  fruit  rarely  finishes  well,  but  falls  off  small  and  flavourless, 
and  a  partial  failure  another  year  may  be  anticipated.  Stop  your 
shoots  or  remove  them  altogether,  so  as  to  maintain  an  equal 
diffusion  of  growth  throughout  each  individual  tree. — St.  Albans. 
The  Kitchen  Garden.. 
AUTUMN  CABBAGE. — Young  and  tender  Cabbages  are 
appi'eciated  in  autumn  as  a  change  from  other  vegetables.  If 
strong  young  plants  are  placed  in  rows  2ft  apart  on  fairly  rich 
ground  they  will  have  ample  time  to  develop  by  the  time  named. 
By  planting  a  good  breadth  at  this  time  old  and  exhausted  planta¬ 
tions  may  be  cleared  off  more  frequently.  Encourage  the  growth 
of  Red  Cabbage,  affording  them  ample  supplies  of  liquid 
manure.  A  good  mulching  of  rich  solid  manure  will  secure  to 
them  both  food  and  moisture.  Cabbage  is  very  gross  feeding, 
and  must  not  be  stinted  in  its  food  supply  if  large  hearts  are 
wanted. 
OUTDOOR  TOMATOES. — Rapid  growth  and  the  production 
of  bloom  trusses  has  been  delayed  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  a 
low  temperature  and  cold  winds.  Secure  the  main  stems  to  the 
supports,  and  carefully  keep  them  free  of  side  shoots.  The  soil 
may  have  become  dry  about  the  roots,  in  which  case  give  a 
thorough  soaking  of  water ;  but  do  not  give  liquid  manure  until 
fruit  has  set.  Plants  in  3in  to  Gin  iiots  which  have  been 
hardening  in  a  sheltered  position  may  be  planted  out  against  a 
wall  or  fence  in  any  convenient  aspect,  as  well  as  against  stakes 
in  the  open.  For  outdoor  culture  the  red  varieties  cannot  be 
surpassed. 
CELERY. — The  main  crop  of  well  prepared  Celery  plants 
ought  now  to  be  transferred  from  the  beds  or  frames  where  they 
were  pricked  out  some  weeks  ago.  If  this  were  done  on  a  base 
of  decayed  manure,  on  which  Sin  or  4in  of  soil  was  spread,  and 
made  moderately  firm,  each  plant  can  be.  cut  out  with  a  good 
quantity  of  roots  attached  as  well  as  soil.  The  removal  should 
be  effected  when  the  soil  is  nioist,  for  then  the  plants  are  stiffer, 
and  transplant  better.  Trim  off  small  suckers  which  appear  at 
the  base.^  Shallow  trenches  only  need  to  be  prepared  about  loin 
wide.  Work  into  them  some  decayed  manure  about  Gin  in  depth, 
and  incorporate  well  with  the  soil,  and  afterwards  place  on  a  few 
mches  of  material,  good  loamy  soil,  free  from  stones  and  rubbish, 
into  wliich  the  plants  may  be  inserted.  The  trenches  ought  not 
to  be  le.ss  than  5ft  apart,  to  give  abundant  room  for  earthing. 
The  ground  from  which  late  Broccoli  or  old  Cabbage  has  been 
removed  is  the  inost  suitable,  being  firm  and  undug.  Trenches 
may  be  formed,  if  more  convenient,  between  rows  of  Peas  and 
Beans.  This  is  sometimes  convenient,  because  of  the  shade  it 
affords  during  very  hot  weather.  The  plants  may  be  inserted 
about  Din  apart  in  the  rows,  Avhich  will  give  ample  room  for 
development.  In  order  to  utilise  space,  double  rows  may  be 
planted,  when  wider  trenches  must  be  formed.  Single  rows  are, 
however,  the  most  conveniently  attended  to,  and  for  late  plants 
®hould_  be  adopted.  If  sturdy  young  seedlings  are  available, 
there  is  still  time  to  secure  strong  young  iffants  for  the  late 
supply  by  pricking  them  out  now  on  a  good  bed  of  soil.  A  little 
shade  may  be  necessary,  with  frequent  sprinklings  of  water, 
affording  more  moisture  as  the  plants  advance  in  size. 
LEEKS.— Well  grown  examples  'of  Lyon,  Musselburgh,  or 
other  Leeks  are  much  appreciated  when  well  blanched.  Seed¬ 
lings  may  now  be  lifted  and  planted  on  good  rich  ground,  giving 
them  a  foot  of  space  at  least  in  the  rows,  and  2ft  between. 
An  excellent  method  of  growing  them  is  to  prepare  trenches  as  if 
for  Celery,  inserting  the  plants  in  them  a  foot  apart.  As  they'- 
grow,  remove  the  bottom  leaves,  and  draw  earth  to  the  stems, 
also  occasionally  shortening  the  longest  leaves.  When  in  active 
growth,  liquid  manure  will  prove  beneficial.  Frequently  hoe 
among  the  plants,  this  promoting  growth  and  encouraging  a 
vigorous  condition.  Light  sprinklings  of  soot  may  be  dusted 
round  the  plants  previous  to  giving  the  frequent  earthings. — 
East  Kent. 
* All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “  The  Editor,”  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E.C.  It  is  requested  that  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  matters 
discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable 
trouble  and  expense. 
OAK  GALLS  (J.  P.). — The  well-known  Oak  gall  (of  which  we 
give  a  figure)  is  the  work  of  one  of  the  gall  flies  (Cynipidse), 
named  Cynips  Kollari,  a  four-winged  flju  Parasitic  mites  some¬ 
times  enter  into  the  gallls  and  devour  the  Cynips  before  it  is 
mature.  Other  insects  besides  the  fly  and  mites  inhabit  these 
galls,  and  to  obtain  them  the  titmice  and  other  birds  drive  holes 
into  the  substance  of  the  gall.  The  galls  are  really  accumulated 
Oak  Galls. 
masses  of  tissue,  the  result  of  a  special  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
tree  to  cover  up  an  injury — a  puncture  by  the  gall  flies — or  the 
irritation  set  up  by  the  presence  of  the  larvae  would  account  for 
the  galls. 
ARAUCARIA  EXCELSA,  TOO  LARGE  (F.  J.).— The  only 
thing  is  to  dispose  of  the  trees  to  those  with  lofty  conservatories 
or  winter  gardens.  The  demand,  however  for  such  plants  is 
very  limited.  They  will  not  do  outside,  not  even  in  sheltered 
situations,  and  protection,  so  far  as  we  know,  has  not  been 
tried,  and  is  neither  likely  to  succeed  in  very  severe  winters  nor 
to  be  adopted  from  the  large  size  of  the  trees  and  expense  and 
trouble  of  the  shelter,  not  to  mention  the  eyesore  of  protected 
plants.  The  Norfolk  Island  Pine  is,  when  well  grown,  a  beauti¬ 
ful  symmetrical  greenhouse  or  conservatory  species,  attaining  to 
a  height  of  150ft  and  a  circumference  of  20ft  or  more,  no  one 
finding  room  for  such  a  gigantic  beauty,  though  in  a  small  state 
largely  grown,  and  finding  place  in  many  sitting  room  windows, 
as  well  as  in  greenhouses  and  conseiwatories, 
YELLOW  SUBSTANCE  ON  WATER  BUTTS  (L,  Dawes).— 
In  answer  to  your  ciuery  Mr.  Abbey  writes,  saying There  was 
no  sulphur  or  resting  spores,  simply  some  Alga?  growing  in  con¬ 
tact  with  pollen  grains,  tho.se  of  the  Scots  Fir,  Pinus  sylvestris, 
which  were  later  in  being  dispersed  this  year  than  usual,  and 
this  happening  soon  after  the  volcanic  disaster  in  Martinique  led 
your  friends  to  exercise  their  supernatural  proclivities.  Perhaps 
there  are  showers  of  sulphur,  only  they  seldom  or  never  occur 
where  parasitic  fungi  resting-spores  are  germinating.  At  any 
rMe,  the  good  never  comes,  as  I  believe  a  shower  of  sulpliur 
would  do  as  a  fungicide,  but  the  ‘yellow  substance,’  i.e.,  the 
pollen,  comes  every,  or  most  years,"  and  is  potent  for  nothing 
that  I  know  of  but  for  fertilising  the  pistillate  parts  of  Scots 
Fir  cones.  The  fear  is  that  the  pollen  does  not  find  its  billet  on 
Scots  Firs,  simply  because  they  are  not  where  the  dust  is  cast, 
a  matter  to  be  much  regretted.  There  are  thousands  of  acres  of 
commons  and  moors  that  would  grow  splendid  deals,  and  quite 
equal,  under  judicious  management  of  the  trees,  to  any  imported. 
Hampshire,  from  whence  the  query  comes,  is  very  rich  in  Scots 
Firs.” 
