396 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  11,  1899. 
Ail  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should,  until 
further  notice,  be  directed  to  “  The  Editor,”  8,  Rose  Hill  Road, 
Wandswortb,  S.W.,  and  WOT  to  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers, 
Fleet  Street.  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,  and  departmental  writers 
are  not  expected  to  answer  any  letters  they  may  receive  on 
Gardening  and  Bee  subjects  through  the  post.  If  information 
be  desired  on  any  particular  Subject  from  any  particular 
authority  who  may  be  named,  endeavour  will  be  made  to  obtain 
it  by  the  Editor.  Letters  of  inquiry  must  be  accompanied  by 
the  names  and  addresses  of  the  writers,  but  these  will  neither  be 
published  nor  disclosed  when  initials  or  nom  de  flumes  are  given 
for  the  purpose  of  replies. 
Correspondents  should  not  mix  up  on  the  same  sheet  questions  relating 
to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  it  is  convenient  when 
each  question  is  written  on  a  separate  sheet.  All  articles  intended 
for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only  ;  and 
the  name  and  address  of  each  writer  must  be  known  by  the 
Editor,  though  not  necessarily  for  insertion.  We  cannot,  as  a 
rule,  reply  to  questions  through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  under¬ 
take  to  return  communications  which,  for  any  reason,  cannot 
be  inserted. 
Lavender  on  Grass  (^Avis). — The  Lavender  would  succeed  on  grass 
like  any  other  low-growing  shrub,  only  give  them  some  good  soil  to  grow 
in.  The  cuttings  should  not  be  inserted  until  September  or  October.  Use 
young  wood,  place  in  free  sandy  soil  under  hand-lights,  and  plant  out 
during  the  following  spring.  It  is  desirable  to  keep  the  ground  round  tho 
stem  free  from  grass,  at  least  until  the  plants  become  well  established. 
Muscat  Vine  Breaking  Unevenly  (if.  fu). — It  is  difficult  to  assign 
a  reason  for  the  buds  breaking  unevenly,  but  it  generally  arises  from 
overcropping  and  consequent  indifferent  perfecting  of  the  basal  or 
pruning  buds.  We  have  found  the  best  recuperative  to  be  in  encouraging 
more  growth  and  not  pruning  so  closely,  growing  the  Vine  on  the  semi¬ 
extension  system.  The  Lady  Downe’s  Vine  should  have  the  flowers  care¬ 
fully  fertilised,  taking  pollen  from  the  Hamburghs  or  other  free-setting 
varieties.  It  would  probably  colour  better  by  dressing  the  border  with 
basic  slag  phosphate,  or  use  a  mixture  of  double  sulphate  of  potash  and 
magnesia,  one  part  to  three  parts  of  hone  superphosphate,  using  4  ozs.  of 
the  mixture  per  square  yard,  and  pointing  in  very  lightly’. 
Destroying  Black  Fly  in  Peach  House  (Jardiniere). — The  most 
effective,  but  not  always  the  safest,  method  of  curing  the  Peach  fly. 
Aphis  persicse,  in  a  Peach  house  is  fumigation  with  tobacco  paper,  or 
vaporisation  with  nicotine  essence.  The  danger  from  the  use  of  either  is 
giving  an  overdose,  when  the  foliage  suffers  serious  injury,  or  may  even 
fall.  With  judicious  application  and  repeating  on  two  or  three  con¬ 
secutive  evenings  the  pests  are  annihilated  for  the  time  being.  We  find 
it  a  better  plan  to  go  over  the  trees,  and  with  the  fingers  dipped  in 
tobacco  water  wet  the  aflfected  parts  thoroughly  by  gentle  rubbing,  and 
then  fumigate  the  house,  taking  care  to  have  the  foliage  dry  and  not  give 
an  overdose.  Another  good  cure  is  to  boil  4  ozs.  of  quassia  chips  in  a 
gallon  of  soft  water  ten  minutes,  and  dissolve  in  it,  as  it  cools,  4  ozs.  of 
softsoap.  It  should  be  stirred,  and  the  trees  syringed  with  it  twiee  or 
thrice.  The  day  following  they  should  be  syringed  with  pure  water. 
Preesias  Outdoors  (Idem). — We  have  no  personal  experience  of  these  as 
outdoor  plants,  and  hardly  think  they  would  succeed  in  a  warm  situation, 
as  they  flower  during  the  winter,  and  are  therefore  likely  to  be  cut  off  by 
frosts.  We  find  they  require  a  structure  from  which  frost  is  excluded 
for  their  successful  flowering.  Preesias  are  largely  and  very  successfully 
grown  in  Guernsey.  See  note  on  Preesias  out  of  doors  on  page  383. 
Chrysanthemum  Leaves  Blackened  (F.  W.).— The  leaves  are  not,  so 
far  as  we  can  discover,  affected  by  rust  fungus.  The  plants,  however,  are 
attacked  by  a  worse  enemy — namely,  the  so-called  stem  eelworm, 
Tylenchus  devastatrix,  which  causes  the  leaves  to  become  brown,  black, 
clammy,  and  dead  ;  even  the  plants  sometimes  succumb,  turning  black 
and  dying  off  at  the  collar  or  root.  We  have  used  with  advantage 
soluble  phenyle,  1  fluid  ounce  to  gallons  of  rain  water,  and  dusted  the 
plants  with  tobacco  powder.  The  pests  took  their  departure,  as  the 
tobacco  unquestionably  dissolved  out  on  the  injured  and  moist  leaves, 
and  sunk  into  the  tissue.  Another  method  is  to  use  methylated  spirit,  spray¬ 
ing  on  and  covering  every  part  of  the  plant  with  the  finest  possible  film. 
Pick  off  the  worst  infested  leaves  and  burn  them,  then  dust  with  either 
tobacco  powder  or  black  sulphur  (sulphur  vivum),  and  use  air-slaked 
lime  with  a  little  kainit  in  the  soil,  or  water  with  lime  water  made  in  the 
usual  way,  and  alternate  with  kainit  1  oz.  to  a  gallon  of  water,  and  follow 
with  nitrate  of  soda  quarter  ounce  to  a  gallon  of  water. 
Silver  Bicolor  Pelargonium  (C.  T). — The  truss  of  the  double  flowers 
is  good,  and  the  leaves  clear.  The  variety  is  worthy  of  preservation  and 
increase  for  home  decoration,  but  we  should  not  like  to  say  that  either  it 
or  any  new  variety  possesses  material  value  without  seeing  plants.  If 
you  raised  it  from  seed  you  are  justified  in  giving  it  any  name  you 
desire  that  is  not  already  given  to  a  prior  variety  of  the  same  type. 
Cutting  Back  One-year-old  Seedling  Seakale  Plants  (Somerset). — 
The  plants  wo  presume  are  running  to  “  seed  ”  or  showing  flower  heads. 
These  should  be  cut  away  to  the  embryo  buds,  or  the  flowering  stems  bo 
removed  just  below  tho  leaves.  The  buds  will  ihen  develop  leaves,  and 
by  thinning  to  two  or  three  on  a  plant,  removing  the  weakest,  good 
crowns  will  be  secured.  Of  course,  on  weak  plants  only  one,  on  moderately 
vigorous  two,  and  on  very  strong  plants  three  crowns  or  buds  should  bo 
allowed  to  develop.  The  earlier  the  thinning  is  attended  to  the  stronger 
the  crowns  will  be.  By  cutting  below  the  embrj  o  buds  some  time  must 
elapse  for  the  root  stem  to  form  buds,  and  this  throws  the  ripening  back, 
hence  the  plants  are  not  so  good  for  early  forcing,  though  they  answer 
well  for  later  use.  The  buds  in  this  case  also  must  be  thinned. 
Apple  Tree  Buds  (A.  Z.). — The  microscope  fails  to  show  any  insects 
in  the  buds,  and  we  repeat,  the  birds  take  them  as  food,  not  for  the  insects 
or  animal,  but  for  the  vegetable  substance.  Beyond  the  advice  given 
last  week,  page  375,  we  cannot  suggest  anything  to  deter  the  depreda¬ 
tions.  We  had  an  orchard  and  fruit  plantation  almost  surrounded  by 
woods  and  plantations,  and  for  three  years  the  bullfinches  had  all  the* 
fruit  in  the  bud,  but  when  we  used  the  gun,  in  spite  of  gamekeepers  and 
lovers  of  Nature,  plenty  of  fruit  followed.  Birds  are  very  delightful, 
and  those  who  prefer  them  to  fruit  will  protect  them,  but  if  fruit  is  of  the 
first  importance  birds  must  often  be  either  baffled  or  shot.  Even  if  in 
your  case  the  birds  were  destro3’ing  the  buds  for  the  sake-  of  supposed 
insects  in  them,  that  would  not  make  the  case  any  better  from  a  fruifc 
point  of  view  ;  but  there  were  no  insects  in  the  buds. 
A  Sluggish  Madresfleld  Court  Vine  (R.  L.). — The  growths  are,  as 
you. say,  “stunted,”  but  very  prolific,  having  a  fairly  promising  bunch  at 
tbe  third,  and  another  cluster  for  fruit  at  the  fifth  joint.  Both  the  wood, 
leaves,  and  bunches  are  quite  clean  and  healthy,  hut  appear  deficient  in 
vigour.  The  comparison  with  Black  Hamburgh  is  hardly  doing  justice 
to  the  Madresfleld  Court,  as  the  first  is  one  of  the  freecst  growing  varieties, 
and  the  latter  not  by  any  means  so  free  in  starting  into  growth,  though 
we  have  seen  it  quite  vigorous  under  the  same  conditions.  The  root  i» 
not  what  it  ought  to  be,  for  though  the  larger  parts  are  healthy,  the 
fibrils  are  dead,  and  hence  the  Vine  is  not  supplied  with  sufficient  sap  to 
sustain  the  growth.  Possibly  the  border  has  been  kept  too  wet,  or  the 
roots  may  have  come  in  contact  with  something  unsuitable.  The 
temperature  should  be  60°  to  65°  at  night  when  the  Vines  are  in  leaf 
(not  “just  above  50°”),  and  70°  to  75°  in  the  daytime  (not  “  60°”),  rising 
to  80°  or  90°  with  sun  (not  “70°  to  80°  ”j.  Those  are  the  proper 
temperatures  for  free  progress,  though  at  night  the  temperature  may  fall 
5°,  and  the  same  on  dull  days  from  the  figures  given.  In  addition  to 
raising  the  temperature  we  should  apply  a  dressing  of  bone  superphospate, 
dry  and  crumbling,  three  parts  ;  nitrate  of  potash,  crushed  fine,  two 
parts,  and  gypsum,  ground,  one  part ;  mixed,  using  4oz.  per  square  yard, 
and  pointing  in  lightly  w  ithout  disturbing  the  roots,  or  if  these  are  near  the 
surface,  cover  with  a  little  decayed  manure  or  turfy  loam.  Active  fibres 
may  then  be  produced  by  the  sound  parts.  The  dressing  can  be  repeated 
after  the  Grapes  are  thinned  and  about  a  quarter  swelled. 
Diseased  Cucumber  Plants  (/.  W.  T.). — The  sturdy  stemmed  plant 
has  fallen  a  prey  to  the  smother  fungus,  Selerotinia  sclerotiorum,  syn, 
S.  libertiana.  syn.  Peziza  postuma,  which  lives  or  grows  on  the  cuticular 
cells  and  immediately  underlying  tissues.  A  yellowish  discolouration 
first  appears,  and  afterwards  a  felt  like  coat,  quite  white,  and  in  this  the 
sclerotia  are  produced  in  the  form  of  small  black  bodies,  and  these  carry 
over  the  disease  from  year  to  year,  but  the  mycelium  also  may  remain 
dormant,  and  grow  again,  similar  to  Mushroom  spaw’n.  To  save  plants 
after  the  attack  has  become  pronouned  is  very  difficult,  but  you  may  dress 
the  plants  well  with  freshly  burned  best  chalk  lime,  ground,  not  slaked,  to 
a  powder,  rubbing  it  on  the  stem  above  the  soil  where  the  yellowish  and 
white  marks  appear);  also  sprinkle  freely  about  the  stem  at  the  collar 
but  not  more  than  to  make  white,  as  the  lime  may  burn  the  stem  and 
roots.  If  the  fungus  has  not  “  eaten  ”  round  the  stem  the  plants  will 
recover  to  some  extent,  hut  usually  tho  lime  does  not  reach  the  deep  seated 
mycelial  hyphse,  and  it  progresses  in  the  living  tissue,  ultimstely 
smothering  and  girdling  the  whole  stem.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  worst  of  all 
diseases  that  affect  the  Cucumber  and  some  other  plants.  In  your  case 
it  has  come  from  the  soil — a  very  sandy  vegetable  or  peaty  mould  of  a 
loose  nature,  and  full  of  the  roots  of  various  natural  vegetation,  chiefly 
grasses.  The  fungus  was  found  on  one,  and  in  another  an  eelworm, 
Tylenchus  devastatrix.  No  eel  worms  were  found,  however,  on  the 
Cucumber  plant  roots  or  root-stem.  We  advise  as  a  preventive  the  use 
of  lime  freely  with  the  soil,  and  let  it  be  best  chalk  lime,  not  magnesian, 
2^  parts  to  100  parts  of  the  freshly  cut  turfy  soil,  and  along  with  it  use 
1  part  of  kainit  to  100  parts  of  the  soil,  which  will  give  103J  parts — pecks, 
bushels,  barrowloads,  or  cartloads — and  let  the  mixture  be  even  in  the 
stacking  of  the  turfy  soil.  It  should  lie  in  the  heap  three  months  before 
use,  then  chop  down  from  top  to  bottom  perpendicularly  and  mix  or  tuin  over 
at  least  once,  so  as  to  get  the  top  and  bottom  evenly  incorporated.  This 
is  the  best  preventive  of  root  affections  with  which  we  are  acquainted, 
and  one  of  the  very  best  for  the  health  of  the  plants.  If  the  turt  must  be 
used  relatively  fresh,  place  it  a  foot  deep  and  sprinkle  on  half  a  pound  of 
freshlj’  burned  and  slaked  chalk  lime,  and  4  ozs.  of  kainit  per  square 
yard.  Chop  up,  turn  over  well,  let  lie  a  few  days,  turn  again,  and  then  use 
In  the  course  of  a  few  days. 
