98 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 1, 18C9. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
Layering Carnations. —Layering is the surest method of propagating 
border and other Carnations and Picotees, and the earlier this is done 
in August the greater the certainty of well-rooted plants being obtained. 
First loosen the surface soil round the plants to be operated upon, and 
then add a layer, 2 inches thick, of fresh loamy compost, to which sharp 
sand or road grit has been freely added. Select moderately long 
flowerless growths, trim off the lower leaves, and half cut through at a 
joint where the wood is moderately hard, give the knife an upward turn 
so as to form a tongue about an inch in length, and then carefnlly 
bury the cut part in the soil, a rather strong peg being necessary for 
keeping it in place. In dry weather water should be given whenever 
the new soil is approaching dryness, and by the end of September or early 
in October most of the layers will be sufficiently well rooted to be potted 
or transplanted. Choice border varieties in pots may be planted out on 
beds of fresh soil, nothing being better than a frame on an exhausted 
hotbed, with the lights taken off, and every suitable growth layered. 
These, when rooted, ought to be placed singly into 4-inch pots, and kept 
in cold frames or pits till the spring, when they may be either planted 
out or shifted into larger pots. 
Seedling Carnations and Picotees. —These, if given ordinarily fair 
treatment, flower splendidly, masses of showy flowers being produced 
during the summer. In most instances a considerable number of single 
varieties are unavoidably included in every packet, but even these are 
attractive and serviceable. So freely do these seedlings flower that the 
majority fail to form growths for flowering during the following summer, 
and this necessitates raising a fresh stock each spring. If the advice 
previously given on this subject has been taken, the seedlings raised 
this season are now fit for finally planting out. As a rule Carnations 
and Picotees generally succeed on slightly raised beds formed in a 
moderately warm aspect. These may be 6 feet wide with a one-foot 
pathway between, the beds to hold five rows of plants, and which 
should be carefully moved from the boxes with a trowel and firmly re¬ 
planted—without burying the hearts—about 12 inches apart. Carna¬ 
tions do not require a very rich soil, but if planted in succession to any 
other plants that may have exhausted much of the fertility of the 
ground, this ought first to have a liberal dressing of fresh loam and 
horse-droppings or old Mushroom-bed refuse forked into it. Slugs are 
liable to work sad havoc among tender young Carnation plants, and it 
is advisable therefore to place Cauliflower leaves, heaps of brewers’ 
grains, or other traps among them, the slugs caught on these every 
morning being destroyed. 
Dahlias. —Dull showery weather is most conducive to wood growth, 
and the plants are generally late in flowering. If quality, or say a few 
exhibition blooms, rather than quantity are desired, both the leading 
growths and the branches ought to be freely thinned and carefully tied 
to the stakes, or otherwise showery windy weather may break them. In 
order to obtain extra fine show blooms only a few flowers should be 
allowed to open at one time on a plant, all side buds being removed 
from the leading growths, and the latter, if it can be managed, should 
each be staked uprightly, some of the varieties also requiring to be 
sheltered both from heavy rains and fierce sunshine. Earwigs are apt 
to prove very troublesome to the grower of large double blooms, and 
these must be closely trapped and destroyed. They will collect in any 
dry material, and lengths of the hollow Broad Bean stalks tied to the 
Dahlia stems prove especially attractive to them. The old fashioned 
plan of inverting small pots filled with dry moss on the tops of the 
stakes also answers well, the earwigs collecting in these every night. 
Dahlias on poor ground will be benefited by occasional supplies of liquid 
manure. 
Spring Bedding Plants from Seed. —There are several useful and 
showy spring flowering annuals and biennials that should be raised 
from seed during August and the early part of September. Wall¬ 
flowers, Brompton Stocks, Forget-me-nots, Primroses, Polyanthuses, 
Alyssums, Auriculas, Pansies, and a few other perennials and biennials 
ought already to be large enough to transfer from boxes and pans or 
the seed beds to nursery beds, from which they may be eventually 
transplanted to where they are to flower, or they will not prove of 
much service. Such annuals as Sweet Alyssum, Candytuft, Collinsia 
bicolor, Cyanus major, Godetias, Limnanthes Douglassi, Saponaria 
calabrica, Silene pendula compacta, and Virginian Stocks that should be 
sown from the beginning to the third week in August, according to the 
locality, or whether naturally early or late. Slightly raised sheltered 
borders answer well for raising a number of these plants, the seed being 
sown thinly in shallow drills drawn about 6 inches apart, and if at all 
dry duly moistened prior to sowing. If the seedlings are lightly thinned 
out where at all thick the reserved plants may eventually be trans¬ 
planted direct to where they are to flower, this being done in the 
autumn after the summer occupants of the beds are cleared off, or not 
till the spring. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Gardenias.— Plants that were not allowed to flower in spring but 
induced to make growth in brisk heat should now be well developed 
specimens with hard wood. They should enjoy cooler and more airy 
treatment with exposure to full sunshine to further harden and ripen 
their shoots. This wiU have the effect of bringing growth to a stand¬ 
still, and flower buds will quickly form. Young plants, or those 
that were cut back, may be placed into larger pots. If this is done 
without checking the plants they will quickly root freely in the new 
soil, and continue to make luxuriant growth. Fully expose these to the 
sun, and maintain the structure in which they are growing close and 
moist. Use for a compost good fibry loam, one-third leaf mould, sand, 
and one-seventh of decayed manure. Peat is not necessary in the com¬ 
post for these plants. If the plants are infested with scale or mealy 
bug it should be thoroughly eradicated now, especially from the early 
plants. Insecticides can be used stronger on those with firm wood and 
mature leaves than can be dpne with safety after the flower buds have 
commenced forming. It is a good plan to take the plants outside and 
wash off the bug with clean water, and then thoroughly syringe the 
plants with petroleum and water. Three ounces to each 4 gallons of 
water will be sufficiently strong to destroy scale. The application may 
be repeated at the end of a week or ten days. 
Anthurium Andreanum. —Young plants raised from cuttings will 
have filled 5-inch pots with roots. These may be removed into 7-inch, 
using rough fibry peat, charcoal, and sand. The surface may be covered 
with living sphagnum. The soil at this stage need not be elevated 
above the rim of the pot. This can be done as the stem grows and roots 
are produced from it. Grow these plants under warm and moist con¬ 
ditions, and they will soon attain sufficient strength to flower more or 
less throughout the winter. 
Alocasias. —These as well as all the ornamental foliage Anthuriums 
must be examined critically, for if red spider becomes established upon 
them it will quickly destroy their beautiful foliage. If it makes its 
appearance sponge the foliage with a weak solution of any insecticide 
recommended for the purpose. This should be followed by placing the 
plants over a tank, and thoroughly syringing them with the same or a 
similar solution, which should be repeated at intervals of a week until 
every trace has been destroyed. 
Allamandas. —Where these and other similar plants are trained 
under the roof of plant stoves they must be judiciously thinned to pre¬ 
vent them overshading the plants growing beneath them. At this 
season of the year they grow rapidly, and would soon fill the whole 
roof if laid in. 
Allamandas are very effective when they cover a good space thickly, 
and on this account are often left so thick as to prove a serious injury 
to other plants. The various plants beneath will grow quickly, even 
rapidly, and for the time look well, but they invariably fail soon after 
the approach of winter. The plants beneath must in most cases be 
considered as much as those on the roof, and therefore the shoots of the 
latter must be liberally thinned out directly signs of crowding are 
visible. Plants that are confined in pots and have been growing and 
flowering for some time should be liberally supplied with stimulants in 
a weak state, or top-dressed with manure and loam in equal propor¬ 
tions. 
Ixoras. —Plants that have flowered may be cut back thoroughly, 
cleaned, and started into growth in brisk heat, fully exposed to the sun. 
They will soon break into growth and flower again in early autumn. 
Cuttings may be inserted singly in small pots. The young growing 
ends strike freely in a close frame in a heated structure. 
Pancratiums. —These will be throwing up freely and will bear re¬ 
moval to a cooler house without injury, so that a more lengthened 
succession of flowers may be had. Thrips are usually troublesome at 
this stage of the plant’s growth. The plants can be kept clean by a 
free use of the syringe ; but if they be infested syringe or dip them in 
a solution of tobacco water. 
Gesneras.— Stimulants in a weak state may be given to the earliest 
batch of plants. Continue to grow them in a close, warm, moist pit, 
where the pots can stand upon some moisture-holding material. Be 
careful that water does not fall upon their foliage, or it will become 
spotted and disfigured. Later plants may be placed into 5-inch pots in 
a compost of loam, leaf mould, and sand. Equal quantities of the two 
former may be used and a liberal quantity of the latter, with the 
addition of a little decayed manure. Grow these under the same con¬ 
ditions as the earlier plants. 
Tydccas of the Madame Heine section should be placed in their 
flowering pots (5-inch) ; the same compost will do as advised for 
Gesneras, but a little more loam may be used with advantage. The 
plants need the same treatment in other respects, but need not be 
grown quite so warm. Plants that are established in their flowering 
pots may have their points removed to induce them to branch. These, 
as well as Gesneras, need shading from bright sun. 
NOTES ON BEES. 
QUEEN REARING. 
The season has been more favourable for queen rearing than 
was the summer of 1888. Half of our queens for next season’s 
work are now laying. I have been supplying queens to people 
who had queenless stocks as “ A Hallamshire Bee-keeper ” advises— 
namely, catching the queens as they issued with after swarms. 
Often we get as many as a dozen at a time, and this is one of the 
main causes why bees abscond after being successfully hived. I 
quite agree with “ A. H. B. K.” regarding the treatment of 
