July  23,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
91 
•*  *  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
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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. 
crrnxG  down  jacaranda  mimos^^ifolia  (W.  m.g.). 
— We  should  take  cuttings  of  the  plant  now — the  tops  of  the 
shoots — and  try  and  strike  them.  They  should  be  a  little  firm, 
and  inserted  in  sand  over  sandy  peat  made  firm,  in  pots  over  which 
bellglasses  can  be  placed,  or  in  a  close  case  in  a  warm  house  or 
pit.  We  should  not  cut  the  plant  closely  down  now,  but  only 
shorten  the  growths,  keep  the  soil  rather  dry  through  the  winter, 
and  prune  lower  in  early  spring.  Healthy  plants  are  very 
beautiful  in  a  small  state — charming  for  table  decoration  and 
vases. 
BOOKS  (A.  W.  H.). — Dr.  Hogg’s  “  Fruit  Manual  ”  is  out  of 
print,  and  can  only  be  obtained  second-hand.  “  The  Garden 
Manual”  is  published  from  the  office  of  this  journal.  A  new' 
edition  of  Thompson’s  “  Gardeners'  Assistant  ”  has  been  issued 
in  eight  volumes  by  Messrs.  Blackie  and  Sons,  and  the  price  is 
6s.  per  volume.  You  should  apply  to  the  firm,  who  are  well- 
known  both  in  London  and  Glasgow'.  Messrs.  J.  Veitch  and 
Sons,  Limited,  the  Royal  Exotic  Nurseries,  King’s  Road, 
Chelsea,  London,  publish  Veitch’s  “  Manual  of  Coniferee,”  and 
to  them  you  should  apply. 
EUCALYPTUS  (M.  S.). — The  Eucalyptus  would  be  best  cut 
down,  but  it  is  late  for  the  operation.  It  would  have  been  best 
to  have  cut  it  down  in  spring,  and  have  kept  the  roots  rather 
dry  until  it  had  pushed  afresh,  when  water  could  have  been  given 
more  freely.  It  will  be  best  to  defer  the  operation  now'  until 
next  year.  It  does  not  require  a  large  quantity  of  water,  only 
giving  it  when  the  soil  becomes  dry,  but  before  the  leaves  flag, 
and  then  a  thorough  supply,  repeating  when  occasion  requires. 
It  would  be  preferable  to  raise  young  plants  from  seeds  sown  next 
March  in  a  hotbed,  which  if  well  grown  make  good  plants  the 
same  season. 
.  PROPORTIONS  OF  POTASSIUM  PERMANGANATE  AND 
WATER  TO  USE  FOR  SPRAYING  CARNATIONS  (J.  S.).— If 
you  use  the  crystals,  loz  to  3gals  of  water,  this  gives  a  deep 
rose  coloured  solution  of  the  potassium  permanganate.  If  you 
employ  a  saturated  solution  of  the  potassium  permanganate,  or 
Condy’s  red  fluid,  a  tablespoonful  to  a  quart  of  water.  Either  or 
both  may  be  used  for  sponging,  spraying,  or  syringing.  The  only 
drawback  to  its  use  is  that  of  staining  woodwork,  it:c.,  otherwise 
a  good  fungicide,  and  first  emploj'ed  successfully  against  the 
Hollyhock  disease;  the  green  fluid  (manganate),  a  tablespoonful 
to  a  quart  of  .water,  being  used  by  means  of  a  sponge  for  arrest¬ 
ing  that  malady. 
STRAWBERRIES  PRODUCING  SMALL  FRUIT  (H.  E.  M.). 
— The  plants  of  Royal  Sovereign  and  Sir  Joseph  Paxton  around 
which  you  sprinkled  kainit  in  April,  and  that  have  produced 
small  fruit,  not  larger  than  a  Barcelona  nut,  w'ould  certainly  be 
prejudiced  by  the  kainit,  as  it  was  applied  too  late,  and  needs 
supplementing  with  nitrogenous  matter,  such  as  nitrate  of  soda. 
Apart  from  this,  plants  four  years  old  cannot  be  expected  to 
produce  large  fruit,  therefore  the  best  plan  would  be  to  procure 
the  earliest  and  sturdiest  runners  from  the  fruitful  plants,  even 
if  producing  small  fruit,  and  make  an  entirely  new  plantation  so 
far  as  they  are  concerned,  and  probably  also  the  three-year-old 
plants.  The  one  and  two-year-old  plants  w'e  should  certainly 
retain,  as  they  will  recover  from  the  effects  of  the  kainit,  and  no 
doubt  afford  good  produce  next  year. 
BRUGMANSIAS  LOSING  THEIR  LOWER  LEAVES  (Cam¬ 
bridge). — This  is  to  some  extent  natural;  but  these  plants  are 
very  much  subject  to  red  spider,  and  it  is  possible  that  your  plants 
are  suffering  from  that  cause.  They  should  be  well  syringed 
twice  daily  should  such  be  the  case.  It  is  more  likely  that  the 
plants  at  some  time  have  been  too  drv  than  that  they  have  been 
too  moist.  Standing  in  a  rather  shady  position  would  be  bene¬ 
ficial  rather  than  otherwise.  Give  them  a  top-dressing  of  loam 
and  manure  in  equal  parts,  and  when  roots  appear  on  the  surface 
give  occasional  waterings  with  weak  liquid  manure.  Syringe 
daily  and  they  may  flower  tolerably  well  during  the  autumn. 
Postpone  shaking  them  out  till  the  end  of  the  year,  when  they 
should  be  repotted  in  equal  parts  of  turfy  loam  and  peat  and  Aveli- 
decayed  manure  ;  but  red  spider  is  the  chief  difficulty  with  these 
plants,  and  must  be  guarded  against. 
BRICKS  (G.  A.). — The  price  of  bricks  for  building  purposes 
averages  2os.  to  27s.  per  thousand. 
BOOKS  (“Learner”). — “Landscape  Gardening,”  by  Waugh, 
price  2s.  8d.,  ma.y  assist  you.  Morgan  and  Co.,  8,  St.  Mary-at- 
Hill,  London,  will  obtain  it  for  you. 
GRAPES  SPOTTED  (Grapes  Onwards).— The  berries,  evi¬ 
dently  those  of  Lady  Downe’s  Vine,  are  affected  by  what  i.s 
knoAvn  as  scalding,  which  generally  occurs  when  the  berries  are 
about  half  grown  and  after  stoning,  before  taking  the  final 
swelling  for  ripening.  Sometimes  it  is  but  a  few  berries  here  and 
there  which  are  affected,  but  frequently  the  entire  side  or  Avhole 
of  the  bunch  is  damaged.  This  is  caused  through  late  or  ’inper- 
fect  ventilation  on  some  bright,  sunny  morning  whilst  the  in¬ 
ternal  atmosphere,  and  even  the  berries,  are  saturated  with 
moisture.  The  preventive  is  a  gentle  varmth  in  the  hot-water 
pipes  and  a  little  ventilation  constantly,  increased  from  the  early 
part  of  the  day  and  free  under  favourable  external  conditions  for 
about  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  in  advance  of  colouring  and  con¬ 
tinued  until  this  is  ivell  pronounced  ;,  then  danger  from  -vcalding 
is  usually  past.  The  berries  are  also,  or  some  of  them,  affected 
with  “spot,”  which  first  appears  as  a  whitish  mark  on  the  side, 
usually  upper,  of  the  berry,  as  if  it  had  been  bruised  in  some 
way.  The  pulp  dries  up  beneath  the  skin,  and  a  sort  of  con¬ 
traction  occurs,  the  berry  soon  assuming  a  one-usided  irregular 
form.  This  is  due  to  a  parasitic  fungus,  Glteosporium  ampelo- 
phagnen  (syn.  Iseticolor),  for  ivhich  the  best  preventive  is  dressing 
the  rods  or  Vines  after  pruning  with  a  10  per  cent,  solution  of 
sulphate  of  iron  always  before  the  leai’es  expand,  burning  all 
affected  berries  so  far  as  possible.  Some  of  the  berries  are 
shanked,  this  being  no  doubt  due  to  a  bad  oondition  of  the  soil 
composing  the  border,  for  Avhich  the  best  course  to  pursue  is 
careful  lifting  of  the  Vines  and  replanting  in  good,  sound,  open 
material  over  good  drainage,  thus  having  superfluous  water 
carried  off  by  drains  having  proper  fall  and  outlet. 
N.4MES  OF  PLANTS. — Correspondents  lohose  queries  are  un¬ 
answered  in  the  vresent  issue  are  rispectfully  requested  to  consult  the 
folloicing  number.  (J.  F.).— 1,  Cistus  lusitanicus ;  2,  Abies  Webbiana 
pindrow.  (Creeper). — We  had  overlooked  the  plant;  it  is  Vitis 
inconstans— synonym  Ampelopsis  tricuspidata.  (N.B.).- — 1,  Lychnis 
eoronaria  alba  ;  2,'Sedum  album  ;  3,  Santolina  incana  ;  4,  Centaurea 
ruthenica  ;  5,  Anemone  nareissiflora,  floAvering  late. 
The  Omniscient  and  Courteous  Editor, 
In  the  course  of  a  week  we  manage  to  devour  a  good 
many  papers,  daily  and  weekly,  of  all  shades  of  opinion, 
and  touching  on  many  subjects.  One  column  is  of  immense 
interest  to  us,  and  that  is  **  AnsAvers  to  Correspondents. 
It  is  perfectly  amazing  to  us  the  amount  of  information 
given  and  received  in  that  column.  W  e  \a  ill  keep,  foi  the 
present,  to  the  agricultural  organs  as  they  most  vitally 
concern  us.  ,  ,  ,  ,  t,  ^  i 
In  the  first  instance  we  should  much  like  to  knoAV  some¬ 
thing  of  the  age  and  status  of  the  anxious  inquirers  after 
knoAvledge.  Sometimes,  nay,  often,  we  are  tempted  to 
wonder  whether  they  are  all  bona  fide  inquiries,  and  yet 
we  think  they  must  be,  as  the  ingenuity  of  one  man  could 
never  devise  such  a  series  of  brain-racking  problems.  They 
are  a  confiding  set  these  good  folks  ;  they  apparently  think 
the  editor  can  solve  any  doubt  and  difficulty,  and  they  show 
him  no  mercy.  ,  ,  .  ,  ,  , ,  , 
It  is  said  of  Anthony  Trollope  that  he  considered  that 
novelists  should  subscribe  to  keep  a  lawyex’,  whose  sole 
business  it  should  be  to  see  that  no  writer  belonging  to 
the  co-operation  should  in  his  books  advocate  or  propound 
bad  laAv  ;  in  fact,  we  might  go  one  better  and  suggest  a 
doctor  on  the  same  lines,  who  would  see  that  hero  or 
heroine  died  of  no  impossible  disorder.  But  the  editoi  of 
an  agricultural  newspaper  must  either  be  himself  an 
Admirable  Crichton,  or  he  must  employ  a  sound  laAA^yer, 
a  first-rate  vet.,  an  analytical  chemist,  and  a  general  farm 
adviser  for  the  benefit  of  his  readers,  who  expect  to  get 
safe  opinions  free,  at  least  for  the  outlay  of  a  penny  for  the 
paper.  (We  hope  their  subscriptions  are  paid  up.) 
