32 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[January 13, 1912. 



Potatos. 



* • • 



Kents- 



Queen's ... 

 Up-to-Date 

 Lincolns — 

 l'p-to-Date 

 British Queen ... 



King Edward ... 



Epicure 



Northern Star ... 



Evergoods 



per cwt. 

 s.d. s.d. 



4 0-46 

 4 0-46 



4 0- 

 3 9- 

 3 9- 

 3 0- 

 3 0- 

 3 0- 



4 6 

 4 6 

 4 3 

 3 6 

 3 9 

 3 9 



Lincolns — 



Maincrops 

 Blacklands 



Bedfords — 



Up-to-Date 

 Puritan ... 



Dunbars — 



Up-to-Date 

 Maincrop 



• * 



per cwt. 

 s.d. s.d. 



4 0-43 



2 9-33 



3 9 4 



4 0-43 



49-5 



5 3-56 



Rfmarks.— Trade shows no improvement and consign- 

 ments are still very large. Stocks in London are increas- 

 ing. Prices promise to decline still lower. Mward J. 

 Newborn, Covent Garden and St. t>ancras t January 10, WIZ. 



©bttuary- 



We regret to announce 



. Rowan. 



death of Mr. Rowan, who was for 

 auditor for the Royal Gardeners 1 



the 



many years an 

 Orphan Fund. 



William Baillie.— Mr. William Baillie, of 

 the Millfield Nurseries, Haddington, died on the 

 4th inst. at Haddington, aged 72 years. Mr. 

 Baillie was a prominent public man, being a 

 member of the Haddington Town Council ; a bailie 

 of the burgh; and dean of guild, also a member 

 of the parish council and school board. 



J. Doig. 



_We regret to record the death of 



Mr.' "boig, late of Warren House Gardens, 

 Stanmore, and for several years gardener to E. 

 J. Johnstone, Ksq., Rougham Hall, Bury St. 

 Edmunds, which occurred on January 6, at the 

 Royal Tunbridge Wells Hospital, after a few 

 davs illness. The cause of death was blood poison- 

 ing, attributed to a scratch on the arm by a thorn. 



Archibald Grahame.- The death of Mr. 

 Archibald Grahame, formerly Superintendent of 

 Hampton Court Gardens, occurred on the 6th 

 inst., at his home at Hampton-on-Thames. Mr. 

 Grahame had charge of the famous Hampton 

 Court Gardens for a period of some 20 years, 

 and on his retirement in 1897 was succeeded by 

 Mr. J. A. Gardiner, now Superintendent of 

 Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. 



A. R- Brown.— The death of Mr. A. R. 

 Brown, Superintendent and Garden Instructor 

 of the Chertsey School of Handicrafts, occurred 

 a few days ago. Deceased took great interest in 

 the instruction of youths in the principles of 

 horticulture, and during his long period of office, 

 many hundreds of lads came under his tuition. 

 Not only had each lad a plot to cultivate, but all 

 had to work in association on the large area of 

 land attached to the school. Mr. Brown had 

 good training as a gardener, and this helped him 

 in the position he filled so well. He was a keen 

 supporter of the Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund 

 and the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Basic Slag and Club Root: Baste Slag. Basic 



slag is useful to prevent land from getting in- 

 fected with " Club Root," but it does not con- 

 tain sufficient lime to check that disease when 

 the ground has become infested. In the latter 

 case, quick-lime should be applied at the rate 

 of about 2 lbs. per square yard when the green 

 crop is removed, and a dressing of half that 

 amount should be repeated immediately before 

 sowing or planting again. The land should be 

 rested for as long a time as possible between 

 two crops of *he Brassica tribe. 



Boiler : E. W. It will be advisable to lower 

 the boiler as you suggest, or even to a greater 

 depth if this is practicable. 



Cedrus Atlantic a glauca : Perplexed. It will 

 be quite safe to transplant the specimen of 

 Cedrus (14 feet high) if care be taken in carrying 

 out the operation. Autumn and April are the 

 best seasons to do the work. Lift the specimen 

 with a good ball of earth attached to the roots, 

 and be careful not to iiuure these latter. All 



bruised roots should be cut off with a sharp 

 knife not chopped off with a spade, as is too 

 of t.i/ practised. Spread the fibrous roots cut 

 in all directions, and work the fine soil be- 

 tween them. If the tree has to be conveyed 

 any great distance the rootlets should be pro- 

 tected from drying winds by means of mats 

 or tiffany bound round the ball of soil. 

 Select mild, moist weather for transplanting, 

 and give a good watering immediately alter 

 the operation is completed. 

 Chrysanthemums : E. T. W. We assume that 

 vou require what are termed decorative 

 varieties of Chrysanthemum. We enumerate 

 18 double-flowering varieties and 12 single 

 varieties, which should provide blooms over a 

 season of from three to four months. Doubles : 

 La Pactole, Mme. Marie Masse, Horace 

 Martin, Soleil d'Octobre, Market Red, Caprice 

 du Printemps, Kathleen Thompson, Source 

 d'Or, Mrs. Roots, Foxhunter, Moneymaker, 

 December Gold, Alice Byron, Pnnceift Vic- 

 toria, Yellow Victoria, White Cheer, Mdlle. 

 Louise Charvet, and Maud Jeffenes. bungles : 

 Ladysmith, Miss Mary Pope, Kitty Bourne, 

 Hilda Lawrence, Mary Richardson, Al- 

 trincham Yellow, Edith Pagram Bronze 

 Pagram, White Pagram, Mr. H. Williams, 

 Sylvia Slade, and Merstham Jewel. 



Gardener's Notice: British Nurseryman. (1) 

 In our opinion an employer is not justified in 

 putting an employee on " short time " and ac- 

 cordingly deducting from the agreed weekly 

 wages unless and until the old agreement for 

 service is finished and a new one began on the 

 fresh terms. For instance, if a servant is sub- 

 ject to a week's notice and is informed by 

 the employer that the new conditions will come 

 into effect in a week's time, then the fact that 

 the servant continued in the situation would 

 imply that he had entered into a new contract 

 of service on the fresh terms, and the deduc- 

 tions would therefore be quite legal and reason- 

 able. (2) The week's notice to terminate the 

 contract of service can be given at any time by 

 either party, and there is no necessity to wait 

 until the end of the week or other pay-day. (3) 

 The best book for your purpose is The Art and 

 Craft of Garden Making, by Thomas H. 

 Mawson, which can be obtained from our pub- 

 lishing department, price, including postage, 



35s. 8d. 



Stand the flowers 

 cut off the ends of 



Heliotrope: H. S. Wilton. 

 in a cool, dark place, and 

 the stems each morning. 



Herring Boxes : E. F. G. The boxes used for 

 plants are about 16 inches long, 12 inches wide, 

 and 8 inches deep. They are made of boards 

 ^ inch thick, and the boards forming the 

 bottom are fixed sufficiently far apart to 

 admit of surplus water passing through when 

 applied at the roots of the plants. The boxes 

 may be obtained from any fishmonger at 

 from Is. 9d. to 2s. per dozen. We have 

 seen early Tomatos cultivated successfully 

 in herring boxes placed on shelves sus- 

 pended from the rafters on either side in 

 Cucumber houses 15 feet wide ; the shelves 

 were supported by 2-inch square upright posts 

 fixed at short intervals with a narrow strip of 

 1 inch board, the same width of the shelves, 

 nailed on the top of each so as to relieve the 

 roof of the weight of the shelves and boxes. 

 Potsherds to the depth of 1 inch should be 

 placed in the bottom of each box, following 

 this with a layer of half-rotten manure as 

 much to keep the drainage clear as for provid- 

 ing food for the plants. The boxes should be 

 only half filled with the compost, and the plants 

 should be planted at 3 inches from the ends of 

 the individual boxes, two plants being set in 

 each box. Afterwards top-dress with the same 

 kind of compost as the plants extend in 

 growth and roots are produced from the 

 stems. Stop the plants when they have shown 

 three or four good clusters of flowers, and 

 after the fruit has set give liberal supplies of 

 weak liquid manure at the roots in addition to 

 occasional surface-dressings of an approved 

 fertiliser. With regard to the other matter you 

 refer to, we need only say that your seedsman 

 would be able to procure for you the two new 

 vegetables mentioned in our issue for Decem- 

 ber 30, p. 470. Model Carrot is well known to 

 most gardeners, and you appear to know 

 where to obtain it. 



Iris susiana : W. B- An article on the culti- 

 vation of this Iris is given on p. J^ ot this 



issue. 

 Upageria alba: J. C. Flowers of Lapageria 

 alba often assume a blush tint, especially 

 when the plants are afforded cool treatment. 



Names of Plants: J. M. The fruit is that of 

 the Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), the leaf 

 probably Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativaj. 

 The specimens could not possibly be from the 

 same tree.— IK. S. Cattleya Trianse — n™**™* 



Reader. The variegated form of Hibiscus rosa- 

 sinensis known in garden as Hibiscus Cooper i.— 

 T. T. 1, Epidendrum floribundum ; 2, On- 

 cidium barbatum ; 3, Pleurothallis macroble- 

 pharis; 4, Oncidium flexuosum. — Scot 1, 

 Chimonanthus fragrans ; 2, next week ; 3, Be- 

 gonia subpeltata rubra ; 4, B. s. .argentea j 5, 

 B. incarnata ; 6, B. multiflora rosea. All these 

 Begonias are garden forms. 



Orchids Diseased : Weekly Reader. The Orchids * 

 are attacked by the Cattleya Fly (Isosoma 

 orchidearum). The yellow maggots escape and 

 pupate in moss, &c, leaving behind small, 

 round exit holes. If the Orchid is a valuable 

 one, the swellings formed by the larvae may be 

 lanced by a sharp -pointed knife to kill the 

 grubs. 



Orchids Unhealthy : K. E. M. The injury to 

 the Cattleyas has been caused by too^ much 

 moisture with a falling temperature in the 

 evening. The leaf of Vanda has been scorched. 

 In the other plants the trouble is due to exces- 

 sive moisture at the roots. 



Plants for a Cold Greenhouse : E. T. W. 



The following plants should live in a cold 

 greenhouse without any fire heat and with- 

 stand a little frost. All are perennials, and 

 most of them are dwarf evergreens :— Choisya 

 ternata, Phormium Tenax, Fatsia japonica 

 (Aralia Sieboldii), Deutsia gracilis, Dracaena 

 australis, Agapanthus umbellatus, Rhododen- 

 dron indicum (Azalea indica) in variety, Bam- 

 busa nigra and B. aurea, Acacia armata, Cam- 

 panula pyramidalis, Himalayan Rhododen- 

 drons, Daphne odora (indica) and the variety 

 alba, shrubby Veronicas, Lapageria alba 

 . (climber) and L. rubra (climber), Orange, 

 Lemon, Citron, Myrtles, and Tecoma radicans 

 (climber). In addition to those mentioned 

 above Yuccas would thrive in a cold green- 

 house, as would also Crinums and Funkias and 

 British Ferns, but the Ferns would die down 

 in winter. Many of the dwarf polyantha 

 Roses would flower during a good portion of 

 the year and keep quite dwarf. The follow- 

 ing books may be useful : The Amateur s 

 Greenhouse, by T. W. Sanders, price 5s. 4d. ; 

 Gardening in Town and Suburbs, by H. H. 

 Thomas, price 2s. 9d. ; and The Book of the 

 Greenhouse, by J. C Tallack, 2s. 9d. ; all ob- 

 tainable from our publishing department; the 

 prices quoted include postage. 



Sweet Peas for Exhibition : G. T. The main 

 points to observe are good tillage and thin 

 planting. In most gardens all annuals are 

 grown too thickly together. Think of the 

 Sweet Pea plant as capable of forming a bush 

 if well cultivated and properly staked. Your 

 gravelly subsoil should not require extra 

 drainage. The manures you mention, omitting 

 the horseflesh, will be helpful, or cow manure 

 well decayed would be better than the bones. 

 Respecting the depth necessary for the roots, 

 you will find a note on the subject in this 

 -column of last issue. Further details on the 

 subject of Sweet Peas for exhibition you win 

 find in the volume by Mr. Horace J. Wright 

 and Thomas Stevenson, entitled " Sweet 

 Peas" (Present-day Gardening series), pr ice 

 Is. 9d., post free, from our publishing depart- 

 ment. 



Tennis Court and Croquet Ground: Ign°' 



ramus. Particulars as to the dimensions of a 

 tennis court and a croquet ground were gi n 

 in the issue for August 27, 1910, p. 172. 



Communications Received. — F. T. T — A. &•*•?%" 

 gium_G. G._.W. R. R._J B. A— T. H._E. S.-W.-T- v 



. B. M., Scotland_R. A. M._Iris_A. E. T. B-- 

 Enquirer- W. B. & Sons_H. G. A.—W. H. W., Derby- 

 F. J. C._W. E. B._S. H. S._W. H. B. F., Bognor- 

 Out-of-work Gardener -C. G._A. C B._J. H.-W. *■• 

 Penrith -J. E. C._J. A. T.__G. M. T._W. J. £•-&£ 

 — W. R. D._G. F. B., Sidfiup -Mrs. I. S. E.--InJ el 



national Horticultural Exhibition—! 1 . S C. F. **•- 



W, H. J...S. A._C. P._A. G. B—W.P. 



