326 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 19, 1889. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
-- 
Calceolarias. 
"Wherever these are being wintered they should be 
kept as cool as possible, airy and near the glass. They 
are so nearly hardy that coddling does them great 
injury by drawing the stems and leaves. If not 
already in their flowering pots they should be potted 
off without delay, at least all the more forward of 
them, using a compost of good fibrous loam, leaf-soil, 
a quantity of good well-rotted manure, and sufficient 
sand to render the whole porous and open. If the soil 
used be in a sufficiently moist condition no watering 
will be required for some days, during which time the 
roots will have made some fresh action. 
Show and Fancy Pelargoniums. 
In order to secure a good display of bloom, the plants 
should receive their final shift now. Where early 
flowering is intended the plants have been placed in 
their largest sizes some months ago—say in October. 
In both cases considerable attention will have to be 
given in the matter of training during the winter 
months, as the shoots soon become crowded and 
drawn. In addition to the looping down of the shoots 
more room will be required between each plant, and 
all should be placed in the most advantageous position 
with regard to the light. Shoots becoming drawn and 
lanky now should have their tops pinched out. 
Chinese Primulas. 
Those who raise their own seedlings must always derive 
great pleasure in watching the blooms as they expand 
for any that may appear of high quality. Great strides 
have been, and continue to be effected in this beautiful 
class of plants, and the collection of even ten years ago 
are poor in comparison with the best collections to be 
seen now. Their culture is also yearly being better 
understood by a larger class of growers. Like every¬ 
thing else they are found to be worth growing well. In 
cool greenhouses they require very careful management 
at this cold or wet season to prevent damping at the 
collar—that is, where the plant springs from the 
soil. This does not imply that the plants should be 
starved, but merely that water should be given only 
when the soil in the pots gives evidence of requiring it. 
Manure water should, however, be given, or some of 
the artificial manures recommended, when watering is 
done, and a greater amount of bloom will repay this 
extra trouble. 
Hyacinths, Tulips, and Narcissi. 
The stock of these bulbs, which are at present plunged 
in ashes or coco-nut fibre, should be occasionally ex¬ 
amined to see what progress they have made. If the 
flower-scape and leaves have pushed some way, they 
should be uncovered immediately, and to prevent them 
from damping off, should be removed to the greenhouse 
and placed on a shelf near the glass, where they will 
have plenty of light, and be immediately under the 
eye, so that water may be given if necessary. At 
present, however, and until considerable growth has 
been made, very little watering will be required. None 
will be necessary immediately after they are taken 
indoors, and the condition of the soil, on close obser¬ 
vation, will best indicate when moisture is wanted. 
The foliage at first will present a blanched appearance, 
and should bright sunshine occur, a small inverted pot 
should be placed over their crowns for a few days until 
the foliage assumes its wonted green appearance. The 
more forward of them may be placed at the warmer end 
of the house, in order to hasten them while the others 
are retarded for a succession. 
Pruning the Tine. 
"Whether grown against a wall out of doors or under 
glass, the fertility of the Tine is generally much im¬ 
paired by the allowance of a superabundance of young 
wood. This is especially felt under glass, where the 
leaves crowd one another to such an extent as to prevent 
the wood from becoming properly ripened. What 
should be done at this time is to prune back all the 
lateral shoots to one or two buds at the base of each, 
leaving only the old rods, except there may be room to 
train on a vigorous young shoot to form a new rod. 
The wood should be thoroughly ripened now, and if 
pruning is done when the Vines are at rest, there will 
be no risk of bleeding when the sap begins to rise. 
Cuttings of Gooseberries and Currants. 
These should be taken off about 12 ins. or 14 ins. in 
length, according to the strength of the shoots at 
command. In the case of Gooseberries and Red and 
White Currants, every bud at the base of the shoots for 
distance of about 8 ins. should be removed with a 
sharp knife, to prevent them from throwing up suckers 
after they have become established, and are forming 
bushes. The first 5 ins. of the cutting is necessary to 
fix it firml} 7 in the ground, the next 3 ins. or 4 ins. to 
form a stem clear of the ground, and the remainder to 
form a head. In the case of Black Currants, the 
throwing up of suckers from the root is a matter of less 
importance, and, in fact, the bush is sometimes 
renewed in this manner when it happens to get broken 
down with snow, or ceases to bear freely on account of 
the age of the bearing shoots. 
Heating, Watering, and Cleaning. 
In reply to the numerous applications for infor¬ 
mation which we have received of late from 
inexperienced cultivators, especially of the amateur 
class, we would beg space for the insertion of some 
amenities of practice for the benefit of the class of 
friends referred to. One, rather an acute old hand in 
many respects, was in a dilemma regarding the firing 
of a new greenhouse which lately had been erected. 
He put on strong fires at night with the view of 
expelling damp. Now, we are all ready to admit that 
firing is necessary for more purposes than keeping a 
desired temperature, but that cannot be done if used at 
nigbt while the atmosphere outside is cold and damp, 
when the structures must remain closed. Death to the 
plants and waste of fuel are the evils which must 
ensue under such practice. To expel damp we raise 
the heat in the pipes early in the day, increasing the 
passage of air through the house as the temperature 
rises. Towards the close of the day the pipes should 
be allowed to cool, and the ventilators may be shut, 
the air being continued at the apex of the structures 
all night. When the weather is severe the temperatures 
under glass should be kept at their minimum height—- 
40° or a little less is safe for all plants suitable for cool 
houses. 
Watering is a real difficulty with the inexperienced 
amateur, and when subjects, such as Heaths and many 
New Holland plants, die off suddenly, too much water 
has often the blame ; but an examination of the ball 
of soil would soon prove that the precious liquid had 
been badly applied, and, perhaps, given in stinted 
proportions, the upper portion of the soil, where the 
roots are in smaller proportion than at the base, being 
merely moistened. We have seen plants which have 
been raised in nurseries and tended with great care and 
skill brought home by purchasers and placed in their 
glass structures, and in a week or two they were sickly 
and dying—quite beyond recovery. Heaths and New 
Holland plants generally are liable to destruction in 
the manner indicated, therefore it is imperative that 
well-rooted plants should have enough of moisture 
when it is administered or none at all. The “little 
and often ” system is mischievous in the extreme, both 
in summer and winter. 
Another item of malpractice is allowing insects and 
dirt to have part or lot in the matter of plant or fruit 
growing. Where such exists without giving pangs of 
horror to the cultivator, the sooner he gives up his 
voluntary or professional work the better ; for if a 
practical man can tolerate vermin with impunity 
(having the means to eradicate them), it is a sure sign 
he has embarked in the wrong vocation. The present 
is a proper time for cleaning glass structures, by wash¬ 
ing every part with soft-soap, and the surface of the 
soil in plant or fruit houses should be renewed with 
fresh material.— Caledonian. 
-- 
THE SUCCESSFUL GARDENER. 
In gardening, as in all other professions, there are men 
who enjoy almost unbroken success in all they under¬ 
take, and, in time, amass a respectable fortune. Others 
seem only to meet with misfortune, although apparently 
as well situated, and having all needed requirements to 
properly conduct their business, including perhaps, 
also, a fully equipped range of greenhouses, and withal 
a thorough business education, coupled with an 
extensive botanical knowledge of plants and plant life. 
The inexperienced may have difficulty to account for 
this diversity, but not the successful plantsman. Fully 
appreciating, as he must, the importance of a good 
education including, if possible, botany, he is yet alive 
to the fact that his success is due to the strict attention 
he has always given to detail in his business, and 
particularly to the watchful care he has bestowed on 
his plants. Such a man when he sees others always in 
trouble over hard luck with their seeds and plants, 
rightly attributes this nine times in ten to carelessness. 
It appears strange that any man depending upon 
plants or their products for a living would knowingly 
allow them to suffer, even die, for want of proper 
attention, yet this is constantly occuring. We have 
all known men, well equipped in all essential respects, 
to meet with shameful failure simply because they were 
careless in the many little points recognised as vital by 
the successful cultivator. 
Among the matters of first importance in gardening 
are proper care in seed sowing, the potting of plants, 
the temperature of the houses, the prompt destruction 
of insects, and most important of all, the judicious 
watering of plants. What does the ability to name 
and classify plants, to know their seeds, to explain the 
grand plan by which vegetables propagate themselves, 
and to understand their heat and moisture requisites 
amount to, if we then fail to apply this knowledge to 
all proper details, and with necessary uniformity ? 
What if a man becomes so expert at potting plants, 
that he can pot thousands while his neighbour pots 
only hundreds, if after potting he allows them to suffer 
tortures from neglect as well as from the ravages of 
every known insect enemy ? 
I recall to mind at this moment an incident of such 
a kind which came under my direct observation 
recently. One of our men had in charge the sowing 
and care of some Primula seeds. When the young 
plants should have appeared it was found that all the 
seeds were dead; that inattention was the cause of 
failure was denied by the man. More seed was 
obtained from the same lot as the first, and which I 
knew had germinated freely with other growers. I 
gave the seed to the man, warning him that Primula 
seed is almost certain to perish if allowed to suffer 
from drought during the germination stage. 
Naturally I was on the outlook, and one day, at the 
most critical time, found the Primula soil quite dry. 
I had it promptly watered, but it was too late, and 
only a few seeds started. Here was an instance of 
carelessness, for the man has had an extensive garden¬ 
ing education. 
Understand me, I am an earnest advocate of a 
thorough education for the gardener, including at least 
the rudiments of botany, and earnestly urge all young 
men to include it amongst their studies. But what I 
wish young gardeners to especially heed are 
those apparently little things so easy to learn if 
attention is paid to them, and yet for some far harder 
than whole vocabularies of botanical names. Let him 
turn to some of his successful neighbour gardeners to 
be found everywhere, yet who do not profess to be 
gardeners. They have learned a few of the first 
principles of plant culture perhaps, and they practice 
them faithfully. They watch their plants as they do 
their children, discovering immediately, as far as their 
knowledge goes, their every want. Experience brings 
with it knowledge. In all operations they exercise 
care, and success is the reward. 
Young gardeners, learn to do all things well, and do 
them with your whole might. If then you are in love 
with your profession you will soon learn much about 
it; if you are not in love with it give it up as soon as 
you can secure anything else to do, for the chances are 
that you will never make a successful gardener.— James 
Currie in Popular Gardening. 
-- >X< -- 
Hardening Miscellany. 
Dwarf Poinsettias. 
I HAVE read several articles on the cultivation of Poin- 
settias during the last few years, but do not recollect 
having seen anything about a late system of potting 
which has been practised with much success by myself 
and two other gardening friends. The cuttings are 
struck in thumbs during April and May, potted on into 
3-in. pots, and when established are removed to cold 
pits, where the plants are encouraged to make a sturdy 
short-jointed growth by giving air in abundance (tilting 
the lights at the back) on all favourable occasions. 
"Watering must be closely attended to, but never 
syringe overhead, because it induces the plants to make 
a long sappy growth. They remain in the 60-sized 
pots until September—in fact, until it is no longer safe 
to leave them in the cold pits ; and when housing, we 
re-pot them into 48, 40 or 32-sized pots, as may best 
suit the purposes of the cultivator. As the bracts are 
generally being formed at this time, instead of the 
plants making a long growth when introduced into a 
little dry heat, the stems thicken up, and growth is 
otherwise concentrated in the bracts. I have never 
