no 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



February 10, 1912. 



single, double, giant, and Star varieties, the 

 latter group being again subdivided into or- 

 dinary, double, and giant flowered forms. 



Taking tlie groups in order of mention, an 

 excellent half-dozen varietievs would be Hie 

 Duchess, white, with a carmine zone round 

 the orange eye; Crimson King, deep vivid 

 crimson; Coral Pink, a lovely form, which 

 sweet pea enthusiasts would probably de- 

 scribe as cream-pink; The Czar, deep purple- 

 violet ; Heading Blue, of fine habit; and 

 either Pearl or Royal Whit-e for a white 

 variety. From among double varieties; the 

 scarlet, pink, and white forms are of the 

 finest quality, and wonderfully useful; while 

 Double Duchess is extremely effective, and 

 Double Salmon Pink gives a shade of colour 

 that is e^^pecially desirable in late winter. 



Tlie giant race has been evolved at the 

 expense of fertility, and in this group it is 

 quite possible that the limit of size and c^ub- 

 L^tance of blooms has been reached — at least, 

 it seems that if larger flowers could be ob- 

 tained these would yield no seeds, as under 

 present conditions seed saving is a difficult 

 matter among the giants. But they are a 

 noble s-et, and if they do require a little 

 more warmth and attention than the others, 

 these are w^ell repaid by the magnificence of 

 the plants when in flower. Giant White, 

 Giant Roval White, Giant Crimson, Giant 

 Salmon Pink (a wondrously beautiful and 

 effective primula), and Giant Pink, are a 

 good set. 



llie Star varietiei^ are immensely popular 

 because of their taller and more graceful 

 habit of growth, and because of their adapt- 

 ability for cutting and for house decoration. 

 In point of popularity the original White 

 Star, with white flowers over dark foliage, 

 has not yet l>een beaten ; White Queen Star 

 gives flowers of greater substance ; Pink Star, 

 and both Light Blue Star and Dark Blue 

 Star, make excellent companions to the 

 white varieties ; while Ruby Star gives a wel- 

 come glow of rich colour. Double Star varie- 

 ties are now offered in mixture, and there are 

 Giant Star forms, with white, ruby, or car- 

 mine flowens, the blooms being much larger 

 here than in the typical Star primulas. 



Although Chinese primulas provide the 

 great feast of colour and beauty at Reading 

 just now, filling many houses and exciting 

 wonder at the skill of the cultivator as well 

 as the skill of the raiser. There are other 

 displays of note, and these include a splendid 

 lot of cyclamens, probably the finest lot that 

 even Messrs. Sutton and Sons, have produced. 

 The varied colours of these useful flowers and 

 the freedom with which they are produced 

 make it quite certain that cyclamen culture 

 will not abate for long years to come. Tlie 

 firm has also a first-rate strain of Primula 

 obconica, the plants strong and vigorous, the 

 flowers large, and the colours distinct and 

 good. 



L£int£ina.S. — Last year, when the summer 

 was wet and cold, the different lantanas 

 proved in many places to be among the most 

 satisfactory of summer bedding plants, and 

 this year, with quite opposite summer condi- 

 tions, they have been equally satisfactoi*y. 

 That the very hot weather experi:^nced dur- 

 ing the present year has been in their favour 

 can be fully understood, for in many parts 

 of the tropics lantanas are among tha com- 

 moner weeds, growing luxuriantly, and 

 flowering with great freedom. Of those em- 

 ployed for bedding in this country tho most 

 generally met with is Lantana salvisefolia, far 

 better known, however, as Lantana delicatis- 

 sima. The flowers of this have been during 

 the present season unusually deep in colour. 

 This lantana is generally seen as dot plants 

 over low-growing subjects, and in this way 

 some of the other varieties are very effec- 

 tive. They are, however, 'ike heliotropes, in- 

 asmuch as a bed may be planted entirely 

 with them, dwarf and tall plants being grown 

 in association. Of the bright scarlet forms, 

 Incendie is one of the best, being frea grow- 

 ing and profuse flowering, while two espe- 

 cially good dwarf growing varieties are 

 Chelsea Gem, bright crimson and aml>er ; 

 and Drap d'Or, orange-yellow^ — W. T. 



MANURES AND MANURING. 



Important Points for Gar- 

 deners. 



Fertilisers that are used in an intelligent 

 manner are undoubtedly a source of profit 

 to both fruit and vegetaibles growers, espe- 

 cially the latter; but carelessly used, they 

 may he a source of greai^ loss. To suggest 

 that they can ever take the place of culti- 

 vation iSj of course, absurd ; in fact, it is 

 only in conjunction with the most thorough 

 working cS the soil that they will prove pro- 

 fitable. And it is safe to say that success 

 in gardening operations depends primarily 

 upon the continual use of the spade and 

 the hoe, and unremitting warfare against 

 insect and fungoid enemies. Clenerally 

 speaking, the use of chemical fertilisers in 

 the garden may be directed according to a 

 few fundamental rules, although, of course, 

 lo'L'al vsoil conditions and other active 

 influences wi'l enter largely into considera- 

 tion. 



These rules may be outlined briefly as fol- 

 lows : Plants grown for the sake of their 

 leaves and stems^ — the calibage tribe, let- 

 tuces, asparagus, onicns, and a groat many 

 others— require an excess of nitrogen. For 

 the legiunes which gather their own nitro- 

 gen, and potatoes, which use up large 

 amounts of potash, potassic manures can 

 safely be reconimende<l. Root crops, such 

 as carro'ts, parsnips, turnips, heet^ etc., re- 

 quire a fair amount of leaf growth in order 

 to be able to store up the sugar and the 



starch and other nutrients in the root; and 

 :n order to secure this, generous applica- 

 tions of potash must be made, as well as 

 phosphatic and nitrogenous manxires and 

 lime, sufficient to give the requisite amount 

 of growth. The swollen roots of such plants 

 as are named above are merely storing- 

 places for an excess of food assimilated by 

 the plants during summer. 



The cultivator shoidd have in his mind 

 at least one principal object in manuring ; 

 that object should be the conversion of the 

 soil into a medium suitable for the cultiva- 

 tion of the plants which he intends to grow 

 therein. Prior to the application of maniu'e, 

 however, a necessity arises to consider the 

 distinctive features of the soil, for a knovv- 

 ledge of these featvn*es renders the choice 

 of suitable manures and crops much easier. 

 Generally speaking, light sandy soils are 

 poor in phosphoric acid, and often deficient 

 in lime ; they require liberal manuring and 

 frequent applications of lime, and the intro- 

 <liK-t On of humus is necessary in order to 

 improve their texture and to increase the 

 supply of nitrogen. Heavy clayey soils of 

 a more retentive nature are generally rich 

 in potash and nitrogen, but deficient in lime 

 and pho^sphoric acid ; organic matter is 

 often n^eeded here, and applications of 

 lime are found beneficial. Further, although 

 containing a full complement of potash, 

 the amount of this essential plant food 

 which may be available for a growing crop 

 has often to be augmented by judicious 

 applications of potassic manures. Alluvial 

 soils and good loams are usually regarded 

 as fertile soils, inasmuch as their mechani- 

 cal conditions leaves nothing to be desired, 

 while the chemical constituents iiieliule 

 liberal supplies of all the necessary plant 

 foods, without any trace of poisonous sub- 

 stances. 



Tlu* ])roblem of manuring, therefore, re- 

 solves itself into the ''making" of soils by 

 the applic^ition of manures designed to 

 supply all the deficiencies required, both on 

 l>ehalf of the soil itself and tlie plants culti- 

 vated therein. Farmyard or stable manure 



has serA^ed many genei-ations of farmers and 

 gardeners, faithfully and fairly efficiently 

 in this respect, but as this material is more 

 or less fixe<l in its composition, its use ia 

 subject to some drawbacks. From an 

 analysis of an average sample of fresh dung^ 

 we may quote the following: Total nitro* 

 gen, 0.439 per cent. ; insoluble nitrogen^ 

 0.317 per cent. ; total phosphoric acid, 0.271 

 per cent. ; soluble, 0.138 per cent. ; total 

 potash, 0.435 per cent. ; soluble potash^ 

 0.330 per cent.; dry matter, 22.49 per 

 cent. ; organic matter, 16.58 per cent. ; 

 ash, 5.91 per cent. 



From these figures it may be noted that 

 dung is a complete manure ; and by reason 

 of the large proportion of organic matter 

 or humus which it contains, may often pro- 

 duce better results than where equivalent 

 amounts of nitrogen^ phosphoric acid, and 

 potash are supplied. However, as we have 

 before noted, the composition of dung is. 

 invariably fixed, and therefore admits of no 

 special consideration of the particular re- 

 quirements of soils or crops. For this 

 i-eason it is ])referable to use artificial 

 iBanures in conjunction with moderate 

 quantities C'f dung. This plan enables the 

 cuitivato to supply with greater certainty 

 the particular anurial constituent or consti- 

 tuents at a time when thev are mast needed 

 by the crop. The manurial requirements of 

 special crops, such as celery, onions, carrots^ 

 asparagus, vines, goosel)erries, chrysanthe* 

 mums, and a gieat many others, can then 

 be attended to more effectively. 



Nitrification in the soil, or the conversion 

 of the existing nitrogen into nitric acid or 

 nitrates, pi'oceeds most favourably when the 

 soil is moist and porous and the w<*aiiier 

 warm. In tlie winter and early in spring,, 

 the nitrates fonned in the preceding sum- 

 mer, are washed down into the subsoil by 

 rain, and are lost; thus the early spring 

 crops are denied this mast essential stimu- 

 lant unless some readily available form of 

 nitrogen is su]^plied at the proper time. 

 Undoubtedly the most suitable form of 

 nitrogen for rapid work is nitrate of soda, 

 although a less well-known but quicker act- 

 ing manure is to be found in the shape of 

 nitrate of lime. The effect of these ferti- 

 lisers is short-lived, but they are only sup- 

 posed to supply active stimulant at a parti- 

 cular time, and therefore should be used 

 in moderate quantities. 



Where it is necessary to push on lettuces, 

 cabbages, or other green crops for s]jecial 

 purposes, loz. or l^oz. per square yard may 

 be applied with safety ; but strong growing 

 crops, such as rhubarb and asparagus, de- 

 mand more than this, and as much as 2^oz. 

 is a suitable dressing. In order to facilitate 

 the distribution of the nitrate, it may be 

 mixed with a quantity of fine dry earth. 

 Sulphate of ammonia is a nitrogenous ferti* 

 liser, which gives a more lasting effect than 

 nitrate of soda ; it undergoes certain 

 changes in the soil owing to the action of 

 bacteria^ the process consisting of ctmver- 

 sion into nitrate of lime in the first place, 

 and nitrate of lime in the second place. 

 This process does not take place very 

 rapidly, and so the fertiliser produces avail- 

 able nitrogen throughout the whole of the 

 growing season. In exceptionally hot and 

 damp seasons, however, it will soon become 

 exhausted. As regards the amount of sul- 

 phate of ammonia to be used in gardens, it 



yard 



may be sa'd that from hoz. per squfi 

 for vsmall effe-ts to l^>oz. for greater effects 

 generally answers tlie purjiose well and effi* 

 ciently. At all (*v<^ntN, there are many rea- 

 sons why it should be preferre<l to soot, 

 which is so commonly usf^l in many gardens. 

 In the composition of the latter substance- 

 only Gibs, out of every 100 consist of sttl* 

 phate of ammonia. J- 



(To be concluded.) 



