November 7, 1889. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
397 
sow the other light with Ellam’s, to come in for planting out as a 
succession to the early. Those pricked out in the frame may be 
planted out in March or the beginning of April in small hoed 
trenches about 2 feet apart. Plant out seedlings from the frame 
in April as a succession. During this month sow the principal crop. 
Each one has his favourite sorts, and it does not matter so long as 
it is a good one and suits the cook. 
A good quarter of the garden ought to be chosen for this crop. 
Trench deeply and keep all the plants well watered first with clear 
water, then with liquid manure. The plants can be drawn from the 
seed bed at different periods to fill any small corner or border as a 
safe way of always having some good Cabbages to cut ; and it is 
always best to have a few to having a glut at one time and none at 
another. If there are any more Cabbages than wanted they can be 
used for the pigs. 
Sow seed and plant again in May. I would sow Little Pixy or 
some small form to plant out after the summer crops are being 
cleared off. They will come in at a very useful time after most of 
the Peas.—G. A. Bishop. 
WINTERING CARNATIONS. 
It is not so difficult to winter Carnations in safety as it was 
some years ago, as the plants now cultivated are generally of a 
more robust constitution than they were formerly. As a matter 
of course, I am treating of the fine named varieties that are layered 
in pots. If my own plants can be taken as an indication of the 
general experience I should say that layers have done well, as all 
mine appear to be rooted, and they are clean and robust. I am 
more and more convinced that there is nothing like early layering, 
and the sooner it can be done in August the better. Much depends 
upon whether the “ grass ” is sufficiently ripened, and this is a 
matter of the first importance, as many disappointments result 
from layering shoots which are too young and sappy. 
The time to repot the rooted layers has come. Time was when 
a kind of prejudice existed against bushy plants, and when they 
were taken from the sides of the pots, after carefully severing them 
from the parent plant, the practice was to remove all decaying 
foliage and such small side shoots as had been put forth, the theory 
held being that a clean stem was always preferable to a bushy plant. 
In potting, a strong plant can be placed singly in a 3-inch pot, or 
two plants in a 4-inch pot, using a fairly stiff compost made up of 
good yellow loam, some leaf mould, and sand. It is better to have 
the compost a little heavy than too light, and the Carnation likes 
firm potting. Do not bury the plants too deeply, keeping a clear 
stem above the soil, and they should then be placed in a cold frame 
for the winter. 
An ordinary garden frame will do, for the Carnation is a 
thoroughly hardy plant, and needs protection from wet rather than 
from frost ; but a dry base is essential to keeping the plants in 
perfect health during the winter. Dryness about the earth on 
which they stand and about the pots has a material effect on their 
well-being. At the Royal Nursery, Slough, the frames employed 
for wintering Carnations in pots are shallow, so as to have the 
plants near the glass, and the bed on which the pots stand is made 
of dry brick rubbish, upon which is laid cinder ashes, enough to 
make a good level surface. When placed here the newly potted 
plants can be shaded from bright sunshine, and be kept a little 
close for a few days until they become established. Then air can 
be admitted freely, and if the lights are drawn off and the plants 
have the advantage of a genial autumn shower they are benefited 
thereby, but drenching by heavy showers should be avoided. 
Some growers of small collections did make a practice of 
plunging the pots up to their rims in cinder ashes during the winter. 
This may be still desirable in the case of any delicate growing 
varieties ; but cocoa-nut fibre can now be employed, as it is cheap 
and easily procured. During November and December but little 
water will be required, and when it is given it should be through a 
fine-spouted watering pot, pouring the water gently on the surface, 
and taking care not to wet it in any way if it can be avoided. 
Water should be given only when the air is dry and bright, so that 
the lights can be removed and superabundant moisture expelled. 
A mild shower will be beneficial, only that when close muggy 
weather follows it is difficult to get rid of the moisture which 
hangs about the foliage. 
Let it be remembered that the Carnation is a thoroughly hardy 
plant, and will endure a great amount of frost. The charge is 
sometimes brought against those who grow their plants in pots, 
that by doing so they coddle them, and make them delicate and 
tender, robbing them of that robust constitutional vigour peculiar 
to the plant. This is ignorantly made by those who know but little 
or nothing of the thoroughly hardy way in which the plants are 
grown all through the year. By growing them in pots the cultivator 
has his plants under perfect control, and they run none of the risks 
which threaten those grown in the open air. I grow inferior 
varieties in the open, but all choice ones of high quality in pots ; 
but they are as hardy as those which pass the winter in the open 
soil. As a matter of precaution it is well to cover the frames 
closely when severe weather prevails. In dull, foggy, and misty 
weather the lights should be so tilted as that a current of air can 
pass about and over the plants, and whenever it can be done let 
the lights be pulled off. During the winter the plants should 
be examined at times, any decaying foliage cut away, and the 
surface soil stirred. 
March has been described as the most trying month, for then 
dry and parching winds prevail. By that time the plants are 
beginning to move, and will require more water when the weather 
is open and drying. While cold winds blow they should not play 
upon the plants if it can be avoided ; and it is well, therefore, to 
open the lights opposite to the quarter whence the wind is blowing. 
At all times cleanliness is of the first importance. 
I am a decided advocate for early transference to the largest 
pots. Our springs are now generally late and retarding, and as 
a good start is of great importance in the matter of having fine 
blooms in July early potting is desirable. I know some growers 
who begin early in March, if not before. A good deal depends upon 
the plants being well established in the pots in which they have 
been wintered. If they are filled with roots then repot into those 
in which they are to flower as early as possible, and do not overpot, 
and at all times adapt the size of the pot to the constitutional 
vigour and necessities of the variety. 
Those who leave the ordering of Carnations and Picotees until 
the spring, when the plants are frequently taken from the pots in 
which they were layered, cannot expect they will produce such fine 
blooms as those potted in the autumn. I have known orders for 
plants sent to a nurseryman in April, at a time when the plants 
should be in the pots in which they are to flower.—R. D. 
CYPERUS ALTERNIFOLIUS. 
This is an easily grown plant that anyone having a greenhouse 
should cultivate, for none is more accommodating, or withstands 
indoor treatment better, unless it be the Aspidistra or Ficus 
elastica. A healthy well-rooted plant can be kept indoors for weeks 
without change if duly supplied with water, of which it requires 
abundance, and the foliage occasionally syringed or sponged 
in order to keep them free from dust accumulations. It is one of 
those plants that are suitable for use in gas-lighted rooms, the 
atmosphere of which proves fatal to so many that are culti¬ 
vated in greenhouses. It is of easy propagation by division 
of the roots or by striking the crowns. The former is the quicker 
mode by which large plants are secured, and perhaps the more easy, 
but for useful decorative material in small pots the method of 
rooting the separate crowns will find most favour. They may also 
be raised from seeds. 
It is only recently I have found how easily they may be rooted 
in water. The heads, no matter whether they are seed-bearing or not, 
if taken off and thrown into a tank of warm water will within a 
very short space of time form new growths and roots simultaneously. 
These shoots may be allowed to extend about an inch long previous 
to placing them into small 60-pots, which, when favoured with an 
intermediate temperature, not necessarily air-tight, roots and tops 
very soon become active. Heads that contain matured seeds may 
be treated as cuttings and placed at once into small pots ; but 
germination is hastened in this case by their being kept air-tight. 
Just now our plants are in active growth, and many of the older 
leafstalks assume a worn-out appearance consequent, presumably, 
on the energies of the plants being directed^ into other channels in 
the formation of new growths. These o d beds make suitable 
material for increasing the stock, and if the3e are rooted now they 
will most likely make useful little plants by the early spring months 
for standing in small vases on the table. Probably the above 
remarks may help a correspondent to solve a difficulty with a 
variegated Cyperus, as it is said the leaves are turning brown. I 
should advise him to cut them off, and if warm water in a tank or 
tnb is not to hand they may be placed in saucers of watei and put 
on the hot-water pipes until rooted. 
Rich soil in potting is not required, and for the variegated form 
it should be strictly avoided, for if this is applied the variegation 
will be replaced by its green or original colour, which is afterwards 
difficult to restore. Loam and sand should form the greater bulk 
in the compost prepared, but if of a heavy nature this might be 
corrected somewhat by the addition of a small quantity of peat or 
leaf mould. , 
Water they require frequently when the pots are full ot roots, and 
in the green sort occasionally an application of liquid or artificial 
