Even on lifting there are two schools of thought; some say that a fork is best on light soils, and a spade on heavy, whereas others advocate using a spade whatever the soil.

A spade, if used carelessly, may cut through tubers which a fork would miss, but there is much less chance of breaking tubers as the whole weight will be supported on the blade. If a fork is used, some part of the tuber may resist lifting, as the finer roots have not been removed, and severe damage may be caused by the uneven pressure.

On balance I think a spade is best. Cuts should be made all round the tuber, about 6 to 8 in. away from the stem, gently lifting the tuber an inch or so each time the blade is inserted to loosen the hold of the fibrous roots. Finally the spade should be driven down and under the tuber, and the tuber firmly lifted from its bed, as you grasp the stump of the stem with the free hand to prevent sideways movement.

Paxillus involutus is one of the most abundant mushrooms. Its cap is viscid in the centre and woolly at the edges and in colour is almost identical to its short stipe. The yellowish flesh has a slightly bitter taste and smell. If it is bruised the whole fruit-body turns a rust colour and later brown.

However, this mistake can be avoided if some care is taken. llylopillts felleus is characterized not only by its bitter taste, but also by its pale pink tubes which, when bruised or old, become a rusty brown and are never yellow-green like the tubes of the ripe fruit-bodies of Boletus edulis. These tubes are at first white and angular, whilst the stipe is covered by a network of veins.

It is recommended therefore that Paxillus involutus should not be collected. Paxillus atrotomentosus is often seen on the stumps and dead roots of coniferous trees. It is not poisonous, but is a poor quality. The taste and smell of its flesh is bitter and acidic.

Perhaps this is the most controversial point of all, as the ability to discern colour varies intensely with the individual, as does personal preference.

One of the most unsatisfactory statements ever made was to the effect “that the colour should be typical of the variety”. It is unsatisfactory inasmuch as it meant that if a variety was of a poor or indeterminate colour, its merits had to he judged on a condition which in itself was not desirable. In all other characteristics judges do not make much allowance for inherent faults in the particular variety, so that it does not appear to be logical to choose a different basis for judging colour.

This is not such an easy question to answer as so many points will affect the issue. If the plants have been grown for garden display, particularly if they were raised from divided tubers, there is no urgency unless it is more convenient to clear the ground. The plants may well be allowed to continue blooming until the frost does finally settle the problem for another year.

The verticillum wilt is soil borne, and may be troublesome in houses in which tomatoes have been grown in a previous season. In both cases the tubers can sometimes be saved by cutting away the diseased parts until clean flesh is reached, but this is not always possible. All debris and the rotted tubers should be destroyed by burning, and the soil in which they have been grown removed and replaced by fresh soil.

The most common, dahlia mosaic, is transmissible by greenfly and occurs amongst certain other of the sub-order Helianthea (to which the dahlia belongs), being thus transmissible from these also; however, this is unlikely to be a serious risk as such plants are somewhat rare. The main symptoms are yellow-green banding along the line of the vein, which in extreme cases causes the resemblance to a mosaic which prompted the name. It is often associated with a bumpiness in the texture of the leaf.

If it does get into the cutting beds, then remove the damaged plants to prevent it spreading throughout the bed and increase the ventilation. Out of doors other bacterial and fungoid diseases may affect the dahlia. Two of them, fortunately extremely rarely seen, cause the comparatively quick collapse of the dahlia, usually at ground level.

Incidentally I do hope that it has been made clear that, when referring to tubers, the actual fleshy root portion is meant, not the crown or stem, and that each dahlia plant will produce a group or clump of tubers. It is unfortunate that the gardener invariably refers to the whole clump (which consists of stem, crown and a group of tubers) as a dahlia tuber-the chance of confusion the whole, as for example, in the chrysanthemum, where the term “stool” is used to signify the whole plant after lifting.

Rotting tubers make themselves evident in several ways. A wrinkled tuber in an otherwise plump clump, should be suspect immediately. Brown or grey “mould” is, of course, a grave danger signal, but by the time this appears usually the danger has reached serious proportions, so it cannot be considered an ideal guide.

Softness is also a danger sign. The outer skin in this case will usually peel off with only slight pressure from the fingers to reveal the corruption beneath.

Cortinarius armillatus is a neat-looking species and easily recognized at first sight. Its relatively sturdy fruit-bodies have a brick-red or reddish, rusty brown cap, with yellow, later cinnamon brown gills and a brown, club-shaped stipc, decorated with vermilion red broken stripes, which are remnants of the cortina. Its flesh lacks any specific taste or smell.

Cortinarius armillatus is associated with the birch trees of mixed forests and grows in an acid soil. Its fruit-bodies sometimes grow in small groups on mossy cushions or between fallen rotting leaves and needles. This species is usually classified as edible, but like the majority of Cortinarius, it is rarely collected. Its characteristic feature is the red striping on its stipe; these preclude any possibility of confusing it with other mushrooms.

Fortunately, it can be easily distinguished from other purple edible gill fungi. Pluteus cervinus is one of the most common red- spore mushrooms which grow on stumps and rotting wood. Its relatively large fruit-bodies have a light to dark greY or greyish-brown cap, surmounting a thin, white stipe which is longitudinally streaked with thin dark fibrils. The gills arc prominent and stand free from the stipe.

Out of doors nicotine can be used to control aphis and thrips, but would appear to be more reliable, used either in spray or dust form, as it is effective at much lower temperatures than nicotine, as well as being rather more lasting in effect. Alternatives are derris, which does not appear to be very effective, and the phosphorus group insecticides. Most of the phosphorus group, although extremely effective against a wide range of pests, are dangerous to use, and protective clothing and masks must be used.

They have not true stomachs, so that they inject a little of their digestive juices into the plant sap, together with the virus, and suck hack the pre-digested sap, greatly to their advantage, but also greatly to the dahlia’s detriment.

Attack by aphides is usually marked by twisted and distorted foliage, so that if these symptoms are seen investigate the under surfaces of the leaves: it is almost certain that a small colony will be present.

Metaldehyde (meta-fuel) bait is an almost complete answer; this can either be purchased as a ready made up compound, or mixed at home by crushing one bar of meta-fuel into a fine powder, mixing with water and about 4 ozs bran to form a crumbly mash.

The common clone now grown in the Lampongs in southern Sumatra is ‘Belantung’ with large leaves and small fhiits; it shows some field resistance to foot rot; it is said to have taken over from `Djambi’ as the latter was very susceptible to foot rot in the Lampongs around 1930.

The flowers have no perianth and 2 -4 minute stamens are borne on each side of the ovary in hermaphrodite flowers and are 1 mm long with small anthers with two sacs. The ovary is globose, one-celled, oneovuled, surmounted by 3-5 rather fleshy stigmas, covered with papillae, white when receptive, later turning brown.

The fruit is a globose drupe, 4-6 mm in diameter, with a pulpy pericarp, borne in spikes 5-15 cm long. Each spike may produce 50-60 single-seeded fruits. The unripe fruit is green with the exocarp turning red when ripe, and drying black. The seed is 3-4 mm in diameter with a minute embryo, little endosperm and copious perisperm. The weight of 100 peppercorns varies from 3 to 8 g and is usually about 4.5 g.

According to Rosengarten (1969), custom records show that cloves were imported into Alexandria by A.D. 176. The Emperor Constantine is said to have presented St Silvester, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 314-35, with numerous vessels of gold and silver, incense, and spices, including 150 pounds of cloves. By the fourth century cloves were well known round the Mediterranean and by the eighth century throughout Europe.

The spice appears to have reached China in the third century B.C. and Alexandria in the second century A.D. Cloves were spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and were very expensive. The spice, whole or ground, has a number of culinary uses. Clove oils are obtained by distillation of the spice, dried peduncles or leaves; small amounts are used in medicine, dentistry and microscopy.

The orders were particularly cruel, as it was the custom in the Moluccas for the indigenous people to plant a clove tree for the birth of each child, which helped to keep a record of the child’s age; if the tree was subsequently destroyed it portended doom for the child. The Dutch aimed to create an artificial scarcity and maintained prices by destroying surplus cloves which came onto the market. They made Batavia (Djakarta) the entrepot for cloves. Rutnphius (1626-1702) gives a very accurate account of the clove tree and method of production in his Herbarium Amboinense.

The seedling produces a pronounced tap root which remains relatively short and is fairly quickly replaced by two or three primary sinkers which develop from it. During the first year, a mass of fibrous roots spread out from the tap root to a depth of about 25 cm and a radius of 36-50 cm.

The inflorescence is a terminal, corymbose, trichotomous panicle, shortly pedunculate and branched from the base, shorter than the leaves, and very variable in the number of flowers, from 3 flowers on a simple three-forked peduncle to as many as 50 or more when conditions have favoured the triple subdivisions of the peduncle. The angled peduncles and shorter pedicels, about 5 mm long, constitute the clove stems of commerce. The bracts and bracteoles are narrow, acute, 2-3 mm long, and quickly falling. The flower is hermaphrodite with a fleshy hypanthium which is surmounted by the sepals.