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Gardening for Amateurs 



Hints that may Help You 



PLANTING Roses in Sandy Soil. 

 The Rose loves a heavy, rich loam, 

 but in some gardens that is almost 

 impossible to secure. When the planting 

 season comes on obtain a supply of good 

 turf about 4 or 5 inches thick from a piece 

 of meadow land, the foot of a clean hedge, 

 or from a clover field. Dig out the hole 

 for the Rose and place in the bottom of 

 it a piece of the turf, grass side down, about 

 1J feet square ; with the spade chop this up 

 a little and then tramp it firm again. Spread 

 a thin layer of earth on top of the turf, place 

 the Rose in position, and fill' up with more of 

 the turf chopped rather finely, after having 

 the grass pared off. Tramp the whole 

 firmly and the Rose will soon establish itself ; 

 a little cow manure, well rotted, will bind 

 the mass better, but do not bring it into 

 contact with the roots. 



Cyclamen after Flowering. Undoubt- 

 edly the best results are obtained by making 

 a sowing of Cyclamen annually, but this is 

 not possible in many cases, and it may be 

 said at once that with proper treatment 

 during the resting period the old corms will 

 flower freely for many years. When the 

 flowers are over less water should be given, 

 so that the growth may be induced to decay 

 gradually. It is not advisable to withhold 

 water entirely even w r hen the corms are quite 

 dormant, but stand the pots in a shaded 

 frame and water about once in ten days. In 

 July, before new growth is actually discern- 

 ible, shake out the corms, and repot them in 

 a compost of good loam and leaf -soil, taking 

 care to keep them sufficiently high to prevent 

 water lodging in them. Keep them in the 

 frame until September, when they may be 

 removed to a light position in the greenhouse. 

 Yuccas with Broken Branches. It 

 often happens that plants of the Yucca 

 gloriosa or Y. recurvifolia, carrying heavy 

 heads of leaves, have branches broken by 

 etorms, and inquiries are sometimes made as 

 to whether such branches can be put to any 

 useful purpose. As a matter of fact they 

 are quite good cuttings and form roots 

 readily if inserted in pots of sandy soil and 



placed in a closed greenhouse or frame. A 

 number of the lower leaves should be removed 

 and the remainder tied together. Then place 

 the branch in a well drained pot and fill in 

 with compost. Do not overwater for a week 

 or two and roots will soon be formed. If old 

 Yucca stems are laid in light soil in a warm 

 frame they will emit large numbers of shoots 

 which can be taken off and rooted as cuttings 

 in the ordinary way. 



The Garden Syringe. A good syringe 

 is a necessity in every up-to-date garden. 

 Readers should consult the advertisement 

 columns of any horticultural journal, where 

 they will see the various types illustrated. 

 Buy a syringe which can be used to spray 

 the undersides of leaves, i.e. with a bend at 

 the end of the barrel, and, if possible, get 

 one with interchangeable parts, so that it 

 may be used for different purposes about 

 the garden. Always rinse out the syringe 

 by squirting some clean water from it after 

 it has been used. When soapy emulsions or 

 alkaline washes are used in the syringe it is 

 often impossible to hold it sufficiently tight 

 to get the requisite force into the spray for 

 thorough efficiency. Get a metal band and 

 solder it round the barrel at the most con- 

 venient place, or else wind some thick 

 copper wire round it and solder it tightly 

 in position. This gives a good grip, and the 

 cost is trifling. 



Moss on the Lawn. Moss often dis- 

 figures a good lawn, and it is such a bad 

 weed that, if left unchecked, it will gradu- 

 ally choke out all the grass and ruin the 

 lawn. In early spring take a rake with short 

 teeth, and tear as much of the moss out as 

 possible. Scatter sulphate of iron over the 

 lawn at the rate of J oz. per square yard, 

 or dissolve the requisite amount for the 

 size of the lawn in water and spray it over 

 the soil. In April spread a little sulphate of 

 ammonia or nitrate of soda, 1 oz. per square 

 yard, on the ground, and the grass will 

 grow beautifully green, while the moss will 

 disappear. A lawn badly overgrown with 

 moss may require treatment the second 

 spring, but this is very seldom the case. 



