486 
April 2, 1892. 
fHE GARDENING WORLD. 
larly when full size. Had the growers been florists by 
education this mixture would never have been per¬ 
mitted, as it is it will take a vast amount of labour to 
rectify the error. It is not a rare sight, the growing of 
Harrisii, longiflorums, Callas and Narcissus of several 
varieties, all mixed together in one bed. 
Callas find a congenial home in Bermuda ; they are 
propagated easily and rapidly, but the growers will 
not be as enthusiastic in their cultivation as they are 
in Lily culture, as it requires a much longer time to 
grow good flowering bulbs or tubers. But nowhere 
can they be grown more profitably, while, when once 
planted, they can remain undisturbed until they are 
ready for sale, but a better plan is to separate and 
replant annually. 
The cultivation of the Chinese Narcissus is having 
a trial and bids fair to be successful. At the present 
prices of importation the industry will be fairly 
remunerative, providing the production is as valuable 
for flowering purposes as those imported from China. 
It is very easy to produce a bulb, but not always an 
easy thing to produce one that will flower satisfac¬ 
torily. As the seasoning of flowering and ripening of 
the bulbs is the same in both countries, there is no 
reason why the bulbs will not be equally good. Trial 
alone will determine. 
Freesias can be as easily grown on the Island as 
weeds, and, while the bulbs are not as large as those 
grown in our greenhouses, they flower quite as well. 
Whether the growers will be willing to compete in 
prices with the French growers is a question they 
must determine if they wish to establish the indus¬ 
try. They grow finely and flower freely, the spikes 
being tall, strong and well furnished. 
The bulb growers in Bermuda seem very anxious 
to increase their industries : they have some vague 
or wild ideas of growing plants for our markets, 
which, of course, they cannot do except an occasional 
plant such as can be packed and shipped without 
injury. Among the few species they might grow' at 
a profit is the Ficus elastica. This, from a single 
eye in the open, will make a well furnished plant, 
three feet high, in one season. This would be a 
profitable industry at one-half the price it would 
cost to produce them in our greenhouses. We saw 
one specimen, but tw-o and a half years old, that was 
12 ft. high, much branched, and fully 12 ft. in dia¬ 
meter. A finer specimen we never saw. 
The Dracaenas of all denominations are rapid 
growers ; good strong canes 3 ft. to 4 ft. high can be 
produced in two years. While the demand cannot 
ever be large, as compared with that of the L. Har¬ 
risii, yet it is sufficient to warrant the undertaking. 
Many varieties of flower seeds that are now 
grown under glass in Europe should be grown in 
Bermuda, the only difficulty being the want of 
experience, and possibly the question of labour, which 
is somewhat of a serious nature there. Most of the 
population w-ork for themselves, while a large num¬ 
ber are as uncertain as the labourer in our Southern 
States.—C. L. Allen, Floral Park, N. Y., in " The 
Florists' Exchange." 
--S*- 
REMARKABLE LEBANON 
CEDARS. 
At Hayes Place, in Kent, once the country home of 
the great Earl of Chatham and the Right Hon. 
William Pitt, are two celebrated Cedars of Lebanon, 
and which on good authority are said to have been 
planted one by Pitt and the other by Wilberforce. 
They are growing on the lawn only a short distance 
from the house, and so close together that the outer 
branches have met each other—a rather curious 
coincidence in tree life with the lives of the two 
great statesmen, and who were almost inseparable, 
during their politicial career at least. 
The largest of these Cedars is 15 ft. 6 in. in girth 
of stem at 2 ft. from the ground, and the smaller 
12 ft. 10 in. at 3 ft., while the branches spread out¬ 
wards for a space of about 72 ft. in diameter, and in 
several places sweep the greensward. They are 
of about equal height, 60 ft., and seem to be growing 
rapidly, the soil and situation being extremely 
favourable for the growth of this particular tree. 
I must admit that when first pointed out to me I 
had grave doubts that Lebanon Cedars of the above 
dimensions could have attained to such in a little 
over one hundred years, but a comparison with the 
trees on the British Camp at Holwood (which latter 
place also belonged to Pitt), and which are known 
to have been planted by the great statesman, eases 
the mind somewhat, while the better soil at Hayes 
Place might, too, account for the larger size of the 
trees, that at Holwood being poor, shingly ground. 
— A. D. W. 
A NEW LONDON SEED 
WAREHOUSE. 
The enormous growth of the seed trade in this 
country during the last half century, taken in con¬ 
junction with the equally remarkable development 
of the trade in trees and plants which has taken 
place during the same period, will undoubtedly claim 
a large measure of recognition in any future history 
that may be written of the commercial progress 
made by this country during the latter half of the 
nineteenth century. In an ordinary way it is 
almost impossible to indicate in words what that 
progress has really been, but of the enormous benefit 
which it has been to the nation, most men above the 
middle age are able to appreciate. In the seed trade 
a record of the rise and progress of the leading firms 
of the present day would be interesting reading, and 
provide much solid food for reflection also. In the 
metropolis alone some striking instances can be 
furnished of the wonderful development of certain 
businesses which has been brought about by the 
combined forces of energy, sagacity, and capital 
which have been brought to bear upon them, and as 
an illustration we may specially now refer to the 
firm of James Carter & Co., of High Holborn, who 
last week had an “ At home ” in their new retail and 
export warehouses, in which they have just estab¬ 
lished themselves, to celebrate this very remarkable 
extension of their boundaries. 
The new premises are none other than those 
formerly occupied for so many years by the cele¬ 
brated blacking firm of Day & Martin, a building 
covering a large area in the rear of the imposing 
facade, so familiar to all frequenters of Holborn. 
Hitherto the business of the firm has been conducted 
in two great sets of buildings on the opposite 
side of this great London artery, so that the new 
block may be said to form the north point of a 
triangle within a radius of fifty yards, an 
arrangement that could hardly be improved upon 
for facilitating supervision and management. The 
main building is an immense square block com¬ 
prising three floors and a basement at the rear of the 
Holborn front, where the principals and clerical staff 
find accommodation in spacious rooms above and on 
either side of the open court-like entrance. In this 
part also is the Post-office and testing room, an 
important adjunct to such an establishment, inas¬ 
much as here, under the supervision of a skilled 
analyst, every sample received is tested for purity, 
cleanliness, and germinating power, and in some 
cases for dyeing, a trick not unknown on the 
Continent and some other parts of the world. 
The first and second floors of the main block are 
open in the centre to the roof, thus forming a well 
lighted and airy quadrangle. The basement and 
first floors are devoted to the heavier classes of seeds 
which pass through the firm's hands, and here 
also are the packing and dispatching rooms, the 
various kinds of machinery used for cleaning seeds, 
all driven by a powerful gas engine; rooms for 
sorting seeds, making up orders, and for conducting 
the numerous other details which go to make up a 
large portion of the sum total of management of an 
extensive business. On these floors the various 
interesting details pointed out to visitors are of more 
general interest to farmers than gardeners, to the 
former of whom the tons upon tons of Grass Seeds, 
Mangolds, and Turnips, etc., and " Mangold 
Avenue,” especially, will doubtless prove of absorb¬ 
ing interest. It is on the top floor where the 
gardener will find the things most familiar to him, 
and in quantities that are utterly bewildering. On 
one side is the flower seed department, with the 
vegetable seeds similarly provided for opposite, both 
rooms large, well lighted and provided with thousands 
of drawers all properly arranged and classified for 
the economy of time and labour. On the othersides 
of the square are the rooms for making up seeds 
into packets and parcels of various sizes, and for 
making up the ” collections ” which have become so 
popular with many, a branch of the trade which has 
enormously increased since the advent of the parcel 
post. 
While making our tour of inspection we could not 
help being struck by the substantial character of the 
alterations which have been necessitated to adapt 
the buildings to their present purpose ; the quiet or¬ 
derly way in which the large staff of employes go 
about their various duties, the absence of friction in 
the working of the great business machine ; and the 
extraordinary care that is exercised, first in the 
sampling and testing of the seeds sent out, and then 
in the executing of the thousands of orders required 
to keep such a vast business going. At this busy 
season, with everyone working up to the full measure 
of their capacity,and the resources of the establishment 
taxed to their utmost, the new warehouse is a sight 
at once most interesting and invigorating, and we 
congratulate the firm, and their responsible manager, 
Mr. C. H. Sharman, both on the acquisition of such 
admirable quarters, and the gratifying cause which 
necessitated it. 
-- 5 -- 
THE CULTIVATION OF 
WINDOW PLANTS. 
(Concluded from page 471 .) 
Repotting. 
Supposing one of you has a few Pelargoniums, a 
Fuchsia or two, Creeping Jenny, Myrtle, House- 
leek, Fern, Hydrangea, the Plectranthus, or what is 
better known in London as the nettle-leaved 
Geranium, and a few others of like character, you 
might be found asking, " When should I repot my 
p ants ? ” First, only when they want it. Well, 
here is one piece of practice very necessary to avoid, 
and that is, don't repot them when they are showing 
flower buds, or they may fall off. Don't repot them 
in winter when Nature is at rest and plant life dor¬ 
mant. The spring is the best time to do it, just 
when growth sets in, say in the month of April. 
Town or house gardeners are apt to fall into one 
error—that of over-potting, or placing the plant in a 
pot larger than it really requires ; and the evil is 
heightened in the case of plants that push forth their 
roots slowly. When a plant is repotted first prepare 
the pot which is to receive it by placing over the 
hole at the bottom a piece of broken pot large 
enough to cover it, and add a half-inch, at least, of 
smaller broken pieces and place over this a bit of 
moss or a like fibry soil, then take the plant to be 
potted, carefully turn it upside down and tap the pot 
edge gently on the table, and the ball of earth and 
roots will come out on the palm of your hands, a 
perfect representative in shape of the pot it was 
grown in. It may appear to be nearly all roots, but 
the greater part of these will be dead, with here and 
there young active roots forming. Take away the 
drainage creeks from among the roots and loosen 
the ball of earth by working gently with the fingers 
at the lower part of the ball, and the plant will be 
ready for its new pot. Next place the ball of roots 
in the centre of the new pot, having previously put 
sufficient soil in the bottom to raise the surface of 
the whole ball to within half an inch or so of the top 
of the pot, then fill in the soil well round, shake it 
down and when full press it firmly down with the 
thumbs or fingers, turning the pot round so that it 
may be done on all sides. Do not be afraid of hurt¬ 
ing the roots by too much pressure, most plants like 
to be potted firmly, and it is especially necessary in 
the case of plants that are to occupy awindow, where 
the pots are exposed to sun and drying influences. 
When plants are potted loosely, water passes through 
the soil rapidly as through a sieve, the soil dries 
quickly, and the plants suffer for want of moisture, 
and when potting is finished leave half an inch of 
space below the pot rim for watering. Many 
window gardeners not only fill the soil in up to the 
rims of the pots, but pile it up round the stems. 
How then can water be given ? The fact is, it will 
run off over the sides of the pot, leaving the ball of 
soil quite dry at the centre, then the plant flags and 
the leaves turn yellow. 
Top-dressing. 
It may not always be convenient to re-pot plants, 
but they can be greatly helped by a process known to 
gardeners as 11 top dressing.” This should be done 
when the plant is in vigorous growth, by taking away 
the surface soil to the depth of an inch, if thereby 
the roots are not injured; and filling in the space 
with fresh good soil, pressing it down firmly as in 
potting. The roots will come to the surface to gain 
benefit from the soil, and the plant will be greatly- 
helped in its development. 
Watering. 
This is one of the most important matters in con¬ 
nection with successful plant culture. How often 
is the question put “ How many times a day should 
this plant be watered ? ” Just as if every plant 
required, say three meals a day like a human being. 
Plants require water only when the soil about the 
