February 27, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
visable that they should be supplied with weak liquid 
manure-water twice weekly until they open their 
flowers. Plants treated in this manner will make 
sprays of flowers 12 ins. and 18 ins. long. This size of 
plant is very useful to place about amongst foliage 
plants of any description, and a very fine appearance 
they have so used, the arching shoots, loaded with 
bright flowers, showing up remarkably well. 
The Euphorbia may also be planted out and trained 
to the back wall or rafters of a stove, where they grow 
vigorously and produce very long sprays of flowers. It 
is very apt to die at the roots when so treated, especially 
after blooming ; therefore, it is advisable to have a 
stock of young plants on hand to supply vacancies. 
- TV. G. 
-- 
Scottish Gardening. 
Garden Work; Planting. —The season has 
again arrived when planting claims primary attention, 
and few years of our.gardening experience have passed 
in which we have not been actively engaged in work of 
this kind. At present there is much of it in prospect, 
and the previous preparation of the soil (whatever it 
may be expected to grow) is the question demanding 
immediate consideration, as it has much to do with 
after results. Wet sloppy soil placed about the roots 
and afterwards trodden down, is not planting, and 
failures from this cause are by no means rare. I have 
often heard cultivators speak of their system as being 
in accordance with sound practice when planting has 
been performed during “showery” periods; but for 
myself, I would prefer an excessively dry soil to that 
which is soddened. Shrubs are best taken direct from 
the nursery or other ground to their permanent posi¬ 
tion. Much mischief is often done by allowing trees 
to stand in the ground “heeled in,” when they may 
have the soil lying loosely around the roots in which 
the fibres are perishing. Another evil fraught with 
much disappointment, is the cramming of the roots 
into small holes, in which they are fixed as in a vice ; 
in clay-land these pits hold w’ater, and in very dry 
ground there is danger from the roots being scorched in 
summer. Freedom for the roots to extend outwards into 
well-broken ground is as advantageous to a Cabbage as 
an Oak, or to any plant which is expected to develope 
rapidly. 
Shrub planting, especially evergreens, we have 
always found (when not completed in September or 
October) is most successfully performed when growth 
is about to be resumed. This practice is generally 
adopted with plants in pots, and it also holds good 
with the giant of the forest. All newly planted shrubs 
and trees are the better for a good mulching of such 
material as rotten leaves, w r ell-broken peat (where it 
abounds), or manure in which a goodly portion of straw 
forms a part. With dry land a good watering may be 
given over the mulching, and then a coating of soil 
over the whole gives an orderly appearance and saves 
much labour in watering afterwards. Deciduous 
plants may have attention as soon as circumstances 
will allow. Evergreens need not be made a pressing 
matter, except they are to be lifted with balls of 
soil attached to then’ roots ; in such cases one is often 
so pressed for time, that they have to push forward the 
work at some hazard. 
Planting of Box, Berberis, Mahonia, Heath, St. John’s 
Wort, Yinca, Ivy, and a host of other plants for edgings 
to shrubbery borders may have early attention. Such 
edgings as some of these answer well where bands of 
grass would be out of place, or might be liable to suffer 
from shade or drip. Shrub edgings are dressy, and 
give little labour. There are so many striking colours 
among shrubs now, that grounds may be made perma¬ 
nently beautiful where bedding plants have long filled 
the space with questionable taste. Hardy herbaceous 
plants requiring re-arrangement may have attention as 
soon as the ground can be manipulated. These beds 
and borders are often injured by chopping out roots, 
and leaving portions of them in the ground. Edgings 
for such borders, formed by Primroses, Thrift, and 
others of the cheerful dwarf hardy plants, are often 
preferable to Box edgings. We have some hundreds 
of feet (about 1,800 ft.) edged with dwarf pink and 
scarlet Primroses, which are much admired. They 
have been struggling into flower all the winter, but 
little progress has been made till now, when the pro¬ 
pelling power of the little sun heat we have lately 
experienced is bringing out the masses of bloom. All 
such plants can be turned into great numbers in the 
course of a season. 
We do not despise Box edgings when they can be 
neatly kept. There is a variety of opinion regarding 
the proper period of the year for trimming these 
edgings. In some very old garden literature, the end 
of July is recommended for northern districts. We 
did sonie last year in August, and would have been 
pleased had all the Box edgings been cut then. Little 
or no growth w’as made, but the edgings are now green 
and compact. I have cut Box during March, April, 
and May ; but think just before it starts into growth 
is very suitable to northern districts. Turf laying 
should be finished as soon as possible. I have laid 
turf (in warm districts too) all through summer, but 
not from choice. The preparation of ground for Grass 
seeds may have attention now ; the whole made firm 
after it is well broken, and enriched with good soil 
(not rank manure), it may be raked and made ready 
for seeds, which do well when sown during April. 
Much blame is often given to Grass seed, as being 
inferior, when it has been of the best quality. Badly 
prepared, sour, or inert ground, filled with seeds of 
weeds, and the birds being allowed to feed on the Grass 
seeds, are some of the evils to be avoided.— M. T. 
-- 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
Where space is limited it is never advisable to keep 
a large stock of plants for summer bedding, they 
occupy a considerable portion of the houses during the 
winter, and render them dull, when by growing a suc¬ 
cession of other plants they might be cheerful at all times. 
A careful estimate of the plants to be required the 
following year should be made in the autumn, and 
then a few potfuls of cuttings can be struck, or some 
old plants re-potted and preserved, so that by propa¬ 
gation in spring a sufficient number can be raised for 
the purpose. For suburban or town gardens even this 
trouble is scarcely needed, as ordinary bedding plants 
can be purchased so cheaply from the numerous nur¬ 
serymen round large cities, that the time, trouble, and 
space can be better employed for other plants. 
In small country gardens, some distance from nur¬ 
series, where the amateur has sufficient time to devote 
to the matter himself, or where there is sufficient labour 
at command, the home propagation may be resorted to 
advantageously. It is readily accomplished where a 
small house or pit is devoted to the purpose of general 
propagation, and frequently a division of some other 
house at the warmest end is employed in the same way 
with capital results. By good management a large 
number of plants can soon be raised, indeed, it is sur¬ 
prising what an enormous quantity can be obtained 
from a small space by introducing batches of cuttings 
at intervals, rooting them quickly, re-potting, and 
placing them in cooler quarters. If old stock plants 
have been kept through the winter for propagation, 
they can now be placed in slightly warmer quarters to 
induce fresh growth, preparatory to) commencing strik¬ 
ing the cuttings. 
Pelargoniums that may have been preserved as 
cuttings rooted in autumn, can be re-potted, and en¬ 
couraged to grow, so that they can be tojsped later on, 
and these rooted, will form useful plants by bedding-out 
time. Iresines, Coleuses, and similar plants should be 
topped as they are in the pots, for it is desirable to 
have these as nearly equal in size as possible, and if the 
earlier plants are encouraged to grow too freely, this 
cannot be effected. Alternantheras, of which so large 
a quantity is now employed for carpet bedding, can be 
safely left for a month or more yet, as they cannot be 
placed out until June, and a short time suffices to 
obtain a great number of cuttings when the plants are 
growing rapidly. Attention may at present be confined 
to the preparations mentioned, for as the sun gains 
power, cuttings root much more readily, and March is 
a good time to commence operations in real earnest. 
Some plants, such as Lobelias, which are raised 
annually from seed, require a little more time, as they 
have to be pricked off and potted before they reach the 
necessary size ; therefore, seed may be sown to ensure 
securing a sufficient supply when needed. The soil 
should be very fine, and rather firmly pressed into the 
407 
pots, covering the seeds with a slight dusting of soil, 
and place pieces of glass over the pots, shading these 
for a few days until germination is advancing. The 
soil must be carefully and lightly dewed with water 
from a pot with a very finely punctured rose, as the 
seeds being small, they arc soon washed out of the pots 
or too deep into the soil to germinate if water is applied 
carelessly or in too large quantities. It is advisable to 
give sufficient water to render the soil thoroughly moist 
without being unduly wet before the seeds are sown ; 
and this applies equally to seeds of all kinds, whether 
sown in pots or out of doors. 
Calceolarias, which are generally rooted in the autumn 
in frames, should now be ventilated liberally, as if kept 
close and covered during the recent severe weather they 
will have been considerably weakened, needing addi¬ 
tional care to harden them and render tlreh’ growth 
sturdy. If these plants are weak and “drawn” at 
bedding-out time, failure can only be expected, and 
Calceolarias are more frequently injured in this w T ay 
than any other, the consequence being that when 
placed in exposed beds they fail to make satisfactory 
progress, and die in what is thought to be an unac¬ 
countable manner. They must be grown as hardily as 
possible from their earlier stages, never allowing them 
to become root-bound ; but by restricting the growth 
as advised, they will not need much potting, and strong 
compact plants will be obtained. When successful, 
Calceolarias are highly important in the ordinary flower 
garden, and though some may decry them, they can be 
effectively and beautifully employed in conjunction 
with other quiet-tinted plants. Where people err is in 
planting them adjoining colours that present a glaring 
contrast to their bright yellows or browns, and in such 
cases they are very objectionable. Ladies know full 
well how important a colour yellow is when judiciously 
employed, and how detestable wdien used without taste 
or too freely. Calceolaria amplexicaulis is especially to 
be recommended, as it is of a very soft shade of yellow 
that might almost be termed a sulphur tint. The 
flowers are large and the leaves bold ; moreover, it is a 
rather better grower than some of the others. — Scolytus. 
-- 
EXHIBITION BROAD BEANS. 
How can we get these as fine as possible ? said an 
exhibitor of allotment produce to me a few days ago. 
My reply was, first, have a good sort worth growing. 
That is a matter of the first importance. There is 
Taylor’s Improved Windsor, there is the Harlington 
Windsor, and Carter’s Improved Windsor. I do not 
say there is much material difference between these, but 
they are fine stocks of the Windsor Bean and all 
vigorous growers, having well filled large pods. A good 
exhibition Windsor Bean should produce pods having at 
least five large beans in each; if this can be secured it will 
be a valuable stock. Then the soil must be good. The 
Windsor Beans like a stiffer soil than do the Long-pods. 
It is true that the Long-pods and Windsors are all in¬ 
cluded under the head of Broad Beans, but I am 
making in this paper a difference between them ; I am 
dealing exclusively with the Windsor or broad type. 
Therefore it is that I say grow Windsor Beans in a good 
moist sandy loam, deeply dug and well manured ; and 
the third point is as important as the other two, sow 
wide enough apart. It is a great mistake to crowd 
Beans of this character too closely together. 
Fine pods are required. One of the most successful 
cultivators of exhibition Broad Beans grows his plants 
1 ft. apart; by doing this they are of the most robust 
character, and having plenty of room in which to 
develop, they produce very fine pods. As a matter of 
course the plants are stopped at a certain stage, when 
a few promising looking pods have set, no others are 
permitted, and thus it is that some very fine ones are 
secured for the show tent. If those who grow Beans 
and Peas both for exhibition, would give the individual 
plants more room, they would be surprised at the result. 
The capacities of a Bean or Pea, the latter especially, 
to ramify into lateral growths is something remarkable, 
but it can only be witnessed and appreciated by those 
who give then' plants the requisite space in which to 
develop. We saw this plan once followed in the case 
of Sweet Peas, a line of which had been planted against 
a fence, each plant 3 ft. to 4 ft. apart; they grew into 
extraordinary bushes, and made a great display when 
in flower. Exhibitors should not only sow thinly, but 
pull out their plants in order to give them ample space 
in which to extend themselves. — It. D. 
