102 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



February 3, 1912. 



ANSWERS TO 



COR R ESPONDENTS. 



Jjd'itorial Communications S'hould l>e addr^esecl to the 

 . Editor of the aAP.DENKRs' Magazine, 148 and 149, 

 Aldersgate Street, E.C. 



Seeretairies of horticultural societies are invited to 

 s^nd early notifleation of forthcoming- exhibitions 

 and meeting-s. and «re r-tqnesttd to advice us con- 

 cerning chang-ee of dates. 



Specimens of plants, flowers, and fruits for naming 

 or opinion should be &ent to the Editor of the 

 Gabdenebs' Magazine, " Endsleigh," Prior Park, 

 Kew, Surrey, and a& early in tlie week as po&sible. 

 A J parc'f U must be t-u&ieiently propaiil. 



The Editor will be glad to receive photogirnplis of 

 gardens, plants, flowers, trees, fruits, etc., for 

 reproduction in the Gardeners' Magazine. He w:ll 

 also be greatly obliged by correspondents isending 

 early intimation of inte^resting local events relating 

 to horticulture. In sending newspapers containing 

 matter to which they wish to draw att^intion cor- 

 respondents are requested to distinctly mark the 

 paragraph. 



DIMORPHOTHKCA HYBRIDS^.— K. P. E., 

 Malvern: llie dimorpliotheca liyldids offer a 

 conHiderable rang^ of colour, and all are 

 beautiful. We saw a small batch flowering 

 last year, and were struck by their grace and 

 general attractiveness. There was a rumour 

 to the effect that the hybrids had been de- 

 rived from Dimorphotheca aurantiaca, fer- 

 tilised by the pollen of the common Pot 

 Marigold*^; but probably the latter was con- 

 fused with the Cape Marigold (Dimorpho- 

 theca pluvialis), a white flowering species, 

 which has no doubt combined with the hand- 

 some D. aurantiaca to produce the new race. 

 The hybrids are half-hardy annuals, and 

 when they are raised in gentle heat, each 

 plant should be potted separately as soon as 

 it can be easily handled, otherwise there 

 will be losses when the time comes to trans- 

 fer the plants from boxes to the border or the 

 rock garden. 



JAPANESE LILIES.— K. W., AVaterford : 

 The present U a capital time to obtain Japan- 

 ese lily bulbs, as large importationt> are ar- 

 riving, and it is always very desirable to pot 

 up the bulbe or put them in boxes as soon 

 a^i possible after importation. Except in very 

 favourable circumstances of soil and climate. 

 It is not a good plan to plant newly-imported 

 bulbts straight away where they are to bloom. 

 A better plan where a numlier of bulbs are to 

 be placed in a bed is to put the bulbs in 

 boxes in suitable soil, and keep them dark 

 and free from frost until growth begins; by 

 this time the weather and soil will be favour- 

 able for planting, and the bulbs, already 

 nicely rooted,. may be put out without harm. 

 Use leaf-soil freely in the compoet. 



DAMPING OF FERN PROTHALLL— 

 "W. T." writes: Under "Answers to Cor- 

 respondents " (page 82), the damping of fern 

 prothalli is explained, and the remedy given. 

 'Having had a considerable experience in 

 raising ferns from spores^ a few notes may 

 'be of interest to your correspondent. Damp- 

 ing is far more likely to occur when the 

 spores are sown too thickly, which, from 

 their exceedingly minute character, is very 

 liable to happen in the case of a beginner, 

 land, for the matter of that, to old hands 

 as well. Some ferns, too, are far more liable 

 than others to damp off* in this way. One 

 of the worst is the ]jopuIar Australian brac- 

 ken (Pteris tremula), and ■<\i< soon as it is 

 attacked the disease spreads with great 

 rapidity. Directly a pot of prothalli shows 

 signs of damping I find the only course to 

 save the remainder is to prick them off into 

 fresh soil. This soil must be sterilised before 

 u.^e, otherwise insects and vegetable pests 

 ■will often do a good deal of damage. Pots 

 live inches in diameter are a very suitable 

 size for pricking oft' these small prothalli. 

 or, ii preferred, pan^-y may be used. In any 

 case, ample drainage must be provided, and 

 the pats then filled to within an inch of the 

 rim with the prepared and sterilised com- 

 ^•post. Next, some of this soil is passed 

 through a sieve with an eighth of an inch 

 mesh, and the rcniainiug space to the rim of 

 ihv pot made up witli thi- fine hoW. While 

 tiu' coar^^tM- cfMniKi-t slioukl hi- jircsHcd down 

 m(!:U'ratoiy Hruu lhat on tlu^ top must l)c 



Jevelled, but h'ft as li^iit 



])iKs.s!ble. Hav- 



ing prepared the pot or pan in this way, a 

 small skewer-like stick, w^th the ipointed 

 end slightly flattened, should be obtained, 

 and with it a very small tuft of the healthy 

 prothalli taken up, and transferred to the 

 pot, which has been prepared for its recep- 

 tion. Aji the soil is very light this small 

 cluster of prothalld may be pressed into its 

 place with the finger, and, if carefully done, 

 no injury will result. X space of a quarter 

 to half an inch should be allowed between 

 each tuft, and when the pot is finished it 

 should be watered through a very fine rose, 

 using tepid water for the purpose. This will 

 settle everything in its place, and the grow- 

 ing prothalli will extend and fill up the in- 

 tervening spaces. I have sometimes pricked 

 them oft' three times before the least signs 

 Oi frondft were visible, and have conse- 

 quently obtained a very large number from 

 a single pot. When the pots are prepared 

 for pricking oft' the prothalli some cultiva- 

 tors prefer to water the soil before transfer- 

 ring the little tufts into their new quarters, 

 but, having given both systems an extended 

 trial, I much prefer the first-named plan. In 

 carrying it out only one pot at a time 

 should have the fine soil put on the top; 

 otherwise, if several are prepared at once 

 the compost becomes too dry and the prick- 

 ing off then is not so satisfactory. 



PROTECTING CHOICE TULIPS AND 

 DAFFODILS.— M. E. H., Bedford, whose 

 daff'odils are now pushing through the soil, 

 inquires as to the best means of protecting 

 these flowers and tulips from spring frosts. 

 Daffodils and tulips are so hardy that, except 

 in the case of some rare species of the latter, 

 they do not need protection for the purpose 

 of saving their lives, but some protection is 

 often desirable, especially in a season when 

 long continued open weather has induced 

 early growth, and it is followed by severe 

 frost. Sharp frost has the effect of stunting 

 the advancing growths because under its 

 influence the hard surface soil grips the de- 

 veloping stem very hard. This trouble may 

 be guarded against by laying heather, furze, 

 or birch twigs over the beds or borders con- 

 taining daffodils and tulips, but the pro- 

 tecting material must be lightly laid on, or 

 it will "draw" the plants up. A good layer 

 of cocoanut-fibre refuse is also a good pro- 

 tection. 



GLAZED FROST.-^M. J., Streatham, and 

 E. R., Wey bridge, write asking for an ex- 

 planation of the term ''glazed frost," which 

 phenomenon was mentioned in a recent issue 

 as having occurred at Wisley : A glazed 

 frost such as that experienced at W'isley 

 and in the metropolitan district on 

 January 18, is of somewhat rare occur- 

 ence. It is caused by the falling of rain at 

 a time when the temperature is below freez- 

 ing point, and the result is that leaves of 

 evergreen shrubs, twigs, arches, etc., are 

 covered with a film of water that freezes ,as 

 it settles, and if rain continues to fall for 

 some time during the frost all the wetted 

 surfaces ibecome coated Avith a film of clear 

 ice, this film varying iu thickness with the 

 position of the leaf or twig, and the amount 

 of rain and frost. On the morning of 

 January 18, the "glazing" varied from the 

 merest icy film up to a thickness of two- 

 tenths of an inch. Although glazed frosts 

 are rare in this country they >are fairly com- 

 mon in many parts of America and France, 

 aud it ueed hardly be pointed out that sucli 

 frosts sometimes do a great deal of harm. 



EDIT5LI: AND POISONOUS FUNGI.— 

 C. P., Don taster, is anxious to obtain an in- 

 ex]:)enriive book with coloured illustrations of 

 edible and poisonous fungi: You can obtain 

 a booklet entitled " Edible and Poisonous 

 Fungi," from the office of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, Whitehall Place, London, S.W., for 

 Is. This contains coloured illustrations :ind 

 descriptions of twenty-five species, and is a 

 very useful little work. 



NEMESIAS FOR POT CULTURE.— 

 J. S. S., Hitcllin : The seeds of nemesias 

 should bo sown now to provide flowering 

 plants f(!r <'(>nservatory decoration by the 

 end of May or early June. Sow thinly, 

 just coveriut^ tiic seeds with sandy soil, and 



place in a temperature of about 60 degrees- 

 prick off the seedlings as soon las they can 

 be handled, and eventually pot each plant 

 separately, growing them in a light green- 

 house or warm frame, where ample ventila- 

 tion in good weather land <a position near 

 the glass will produce good results. 



S. 



W 

 T. 



■Zygopetalum iMackeyi. 



NAMES OF PLANTS. 

 S., Tenby.- 



H., Ongar. — Zygopetalum Mack'eyi. 

 R. C, Alnwick. — 1, Cypripedium Hera 

 Euryades, a good form; 2, Asparagus ver- 

 ticillatus, 



G. P. R., Abingdon. — 1, Linum trigynum; 

 2, Begonia fuchsioides; 3, Curculigo reciu'. 

 vata; 4, Sarracenia Drummondi. 



B. E. S., Ilfracombe. — 1, Ruscus racemo- 

 sus; 2, Cissus discolor ; 3, Buddleia asiatica; 

 4, Primula floribunda; 5, Cycas revoluta. 



R. E. W., Buckley. — 1, Fittonia argyro- 

 neura Pearcei ; 2, Acacia cultriforrais ; 'I 



_■ 



Primula f rondos a ; 4, Iris sitylosa; 5, pro- 

 bably Selaginella Emileana; 6, Cotoneaster 

 horizontal is. 



GARDENING ENGAGEMENT. 



Mr. George Carver, for the past thirty 

 years gardener to the late Mrs. Fenwick, 

 Allerton Hill, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, lias 

 been appointed head gardener to C. F. Ryder, 

 Esq., The Grange, Scarcroft, near Leeds. 



METEOROLOGICAL 



OBSERVATIONS. 



TAKKN IN THK BOYAL HORTICULTUBAL 

 .SOCIETY'S GAIIBEXS AT AVISLEY, SURREY. 



Ke ight above Seia-l^^vel , 1 50 feet. 



Date. 



1912. 

 January £1 



TO 



January 37. 



Jan. 



I) 



19 

 I* 



21— Snnday 



22— Monday 



Tuesday 



24- Wednesday. 

 25 -TbnrsGay... 



26- tViday 



27 — Saturday.... 



Means 



CD 



lii". ] 



Temperature of the 



Air. 



At 9 a.m. 



0 12 



2 2-1 



(total) 

 2 36 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



de^. 



37 

 40 

 38 



38 

 33 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



deg, 

 4i 



37 

 40 



38 



38 

 37 



31 



38 



37 



Dny 



HiirU 

 est. 



43 



41 

 4:! 

 46 

 39 

 40 

 86 



41 



Nigbt 



Low- 

 est. 



deg. 

 43 

 36 

 37 



:i7 

 Zi 



■6l 



S6 



Date, 



Temperature of 

 the Soil 



At 9 A.M. 



1912. 

 January 21 



TO 



January 27. 



Jan. 



t 

 I 

 » 

 I 

 I 



21— Snnday 



22- Monday 



23 Tuesday 



24 — Wedne-sday.. 



26 — Thursday..., 

 26 - Friday 



27- Saturday.... 



MeatiR 



(total) 

 1-08 I 



0 



^ < 



O K 



deg. 



45 31 



A slight fall of snow was ohs^rved on Saturday 

 momino". January 27. 



■1 



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 A written request from your ironmonger or 

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West Bromwich. 



PINE SPRAY SYRINGE (pa.ent) 



IHl 



- I 



t 



