316 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



The Greenhouse, Month to Month 



GEORGE F. STEWART 



WE have now come to a season of the year when 

 the greenhonse will give more enjoyment to the 

 owners in the way of cut flowers and plants than 

 during' the Summer months. I am well aware that out- 

 door trees and other plants have a charm all their own, 

 even in Winter, to the artistic and observant mind, yet 

 for brilliant and rich color in this part of the world we 

 have to come to the greenhouse in Winter. When chill 

 November's surly blast blows held and forest bare, it 

 feels good to get out of the chill a few minutes occa- 

 sionally, and see some of the flora of another part of 

 the world, and I believe that was primarily the idea of 

 glass structures. 



I have very little patience with some of our friends, wlm 

 lately are inclined to have a fling at the greenhouse as a 

 thing of no interest. Indoor and outdoor gardening 

 both have their place, and I think he is a very one-sided 

 gardener who has not a good knowledge of both. I am 

 very thankful that all the gardeners I worked under, as a 

 young man, urged me strongly to be well posted in all 

 matters pertaining to an estate, and a few of them, should 

 I mention their names, had a national reputation on both 

 sides of the Atlantic as all 'round gardeners. Some of 

 us know how hard it is to get a well posted young man 

 for greenhouse work nowadays and I hope that the course 

 in our colleges to train young men as gardeners will in 

 the course of time produce results in that line. 



Late November and early December will find the 

 chrysanthemum season about over, except for a few late 

 varieties. We now will have our minds made up as to 

 what varieties we will stick to for another season. Stock 

 plants of these shoidd be cut down to about three inches 

 above the soil. We find, if one has no room in the coolest 

 greenhouse, they can \x stored very well in a cold frame, 

 which can be made frost proof by lining the sides with 

 leaves and using mats and shutters over the glass. In 

 a frame with no heat in it, advantage must be taken of 

 all the light and air possible being admitted into the 

 frame: and dustings of air slaked lime, powdered char- 

 coal, and occasionally a little flowers of sulphur given the 

 plants. Keep them on the dry side until the young 

 growths Ijreak through the soil. l-"umigate the frame at 

 intervals of nine or ten days with tobacco in some of its 

 forms that are common on the market. So far we have 

 found Hall's "Nicotine I'^umigator" (powder) the handiest 

 and best. Cuttings of the varieties which we mentionetl 

 in a previous article, as being put in about August first. 

 Ix'gin flowering about Thanksgiving and continue until 

 after Christmas, 'i'iiey are about a foot high, and as 

 stated in said article, are grown twelve cuttings t" an 

 eight-inch pan. We find these about as useful as any 

 chrysanthemum grown the whole season. 



Camellias are now loaded with flower buds and if large 

 flowers are desired, thin them out to one l)nd, Somi> 

 of the early varieties are flowering with us. We li.ivc a 

 plant which has been in the Lyman family for about one 

 liundred years, a cream-colored one: I do not know the 

 name of it. This plant conmiences flowering early in 

 October, and is the first to flower with us, an excellent 

 variety, but somewhat delicate at the roots, I Ik-Hcvc it 

 would d(j better grafted on a strong grower. The old 

 Cavicllia alba plena, which in my opinion is the finest 



\-arietv of all the Camellias, alst) begins flowering with us 

 the end of ( )ctober. Forty degrees at night during Winter 

 in my e.xperience suits them best. They, however, may be 

 grown as high as fifty degrees if required to flower early. 

 This is the best time to pot camellias, if they need a larger 

 receptacle, but they should never be overpotted ; they 

 never in my e.xperience do as well as when confined to 

 a small pot and fed with stimulants. I hear a great many 

 complaints about camellias being in a sickly condition 

 and invarialily it is due to overpotting and careless water- 

 ing. The reason that I advocate potting camellias at this 

 season when they apparently have completed growth, is 

 that I find the roots begin to be very active long before 

 any sign appears of growth on the plant. As a rule I 

 have found that while flowering the young roots are 

 starting all round the ball, and being easily broken, it is 

 better to have them potted just as soon as growth is 

 completed. Camellias grow well in either peat or loam. 

 They flower better when grown in loam, but peat gives a 

 better lustre to the foliage. Weak rooting varieties do 

 better in peat. The loam or peat must be fibrous, as if it 

 is in a fir.e condition it will soon become sour and useless. 

 The poorest plantsmen I ever worked under w'ere great 

 advocates of putting all potting material through a fine 

 sieve. When putting a plant the compost should be as 

 lough as can be conveniently worked around the ball 

 without leaving air spaces. The more fibre in the potting 

 material the better. Use about a third of good sharp sand 

 ill the compost for camellias, and a good sprinkling of 

 broken up charcoal. Be sure there is no lime in the soil, 

 as I have found that these plants have no use for it. Pot 

 the plants quite firmly, as solid as the ball of the plant, 

 for if this is not done the water will ]jass too freely 

 llirough the new com]30st leaving the old ball dry. Water 

 the plants carefull\- and never allow them to get into a 

 wet, sogg_\- condition. Comellias are subject to all kinds 

 of insect pests, but we find they are easily kept clean by 

 using H3drocyanic gas one half ounce to the thousand 

 cubic feet. There is a black snuit that also collects on 

 the leaves sometimes, and, of course, the only way to 

 clean it oft' is by sponging. 



If good, strong, large ])lants of the Lorraine type of 

 begonias are wanted for next year, select a batch of good, 

 healthy, strong leaves and give them a clean cut across 

 the stem. Get them with stems about two inches long if 

 possible. We have found they root best in a shallow bed 

 of cocoanut fibre with a little ])owdered charcoal mixed 

 through it. (live them iKittom heat around 80 degrees 

 and maintain it steadily if jiossible. .S])ace the leaves so 

 tliat they do not toikb one another and keep them up 

 clear of the bed, only having the (.'ud of the leaf stem 

 inserted in the fibre. If they are iikclv to tip over, take 

 a short piece of cop]ier vvire and ]iusli tluough the leaf 

 into the bed which will steady iheni. If the bed is 

 ibdvougbly watered, it will go quite a long while without 

 re(|uiring ,uiy more. The leaves do not take long to 

 root, but we have found it better not to disturb them 

 until they throw up the yoimg shoots from the bottom 

 of the leaf stem, 'i'he other Socntraiiia tuberous rooted 

 hyl>rids root in the >ame manner as the abo\e. 



Calla lilies will now be well rooted in their pots, (live 

 them plcnt\- of w.-iter and scatter a b;uiilfiil of hnnc iiu.-il 



