124 
October 26, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
The Flower Garden. 
The beauty of the flower garden is now pretty well 
over, and we may cry " it is finished,” with a ven¬ 
geance. Gone are all the gay flowers that basked in 
the summer sun, either dead or retired beneath the 
surface of the soil to await the new year and another 
spring. Even those that are left look miserable 
enough, and dead or yellow leaves abound on every 
hand. As the beauty of the summer plants is now 
quite a thing of the past the beds may be cleared of 
them and the rubbish carted away. Even if the 
beds are allowed to remain empty all the winter 
they will look all the better for a clear up now. 
There is no need, however, for them to remain 
empty, as there are numbers of spring-flowering 
bulbs that may be put in to fill up the gap. No 
time whatever should be lost in planting these, 
advantage being taken of a nice dry day, when the 
soil works easily. Root the stumps of the old 
plants out of the beds bj means of a digging fork, 
and then carefully level it over again, leaving it 
slightly higher in the middle that it is at the sides, but 
not making a sufficiently steep slope to cause wash¬ 
ing of the soil in the event of a heavy downpour of 
rain. 
We will glance briefly at a few plants that are 
suitable for the filling of flower beds, so as to give a 
good display in spring time. 
Tulips. 
There can be no possible doubt as to the brilliancy' 
and effectiveness of these popular plants. Not only 
do they present an infinite number of colours and 
shades, but the form of the flower varies consider¬ 
ably, and in some of the sections exhibits a really 
grotesque appearance. We would not advise the 
purchase of many of the late-flowering sorts, except 
for the purpose of planting them in little groups of 
five or six in the herbaceous border, where they can 
be permitted to remain undisturbed, and finish their 
growth naturally. For planting in ordinary beds 
early flowering varieties should be chosen, in order 
that they may have time to have an innings, and to 
reach a sufficiently advanced stage of maturation be¬ 
fore the height of the sun in the heavens announces 
the fact that the time has arrived for spring flowers 
to give place to the summer ones, or in other words, 
that what is still popularly known as the bedding-out 
season has come. 
Arrangement.— Supposing that it is elected to 
grow a number of varieties, the great point at issue 
is how are they to be arranged with regard to colour ? 
This, of course, will depend in a great measure upon 
the taste of the operator, although it may be men¬ 
tioned in passing that the ladies of the household 
often want to have a word ‘or two w ith regard to 
this ; indeed, it is often the grumble of many an 
amateur who likes to pose as a martyr that he takes 
all this trouble with the garden solely on behalf of 
the ladies of the house. But to resume. If the bed 
is fairly large a very good effect is obtained if the 
varieties are mixed indiscriminately and no attempt 
whatever made to blend or contrast colour. Such a 
bed is usually very brilliant and effective, on account 
of the wealth of variety and diversity of hue it pre¬ 
sents, and this system is decidedly a good one for 
introducing a quantity of sorts. Another way to fill 
large beds is to plant two or three rows of a sort, 
introducing three or four colours. This also looks 
very brilliant, but is open to the objection that it 
presents a much too formal appearance. As a rule, 
large beds are conspicuous by their absence from 
small villa gardens, and instead we see a number of 
small ones cut out in the turf immediately in front 
of the windows. Sometimes these form a small 
design, often a circle surrounded by smaller beds cut 
out in the form of segments of circles. Another 
favourite plan is a circular bed some 4 ft. or 5 ft. in 
diameter, surrounded with smaller ones of the same 
shape, like a planet with its moons. In cases like 
this nothing looks better than to fill the beds with 
one variety each, an edging of Crocuses or Snow¬ 
drops also being given to come into bloom early in 
the year, and thus to secure a show right from the 
time when winter relaxes its stern grip of vegetation. 
Varieties.— It is not necessary to worry the 
reader with a long list of names of sorts suitable for 
planting. The indefatigable exertions of our 
English and Dutch florists have swollen the lists 
until they have almost reached mammoth propor¬ 
tions. The names in fact are legion, and any 
ordinary amateur gardener is apt to get puzzled 
somewhat in attempting to wade through them, and 
find out which are the best. The following short 
selection may be of service to some who do not 
want to go to this trouble, although it must be dis¬ 
tinctly understood that these are not nearly all those 
worthy of mention, but just a few that will be found 
thoroughly reliable. Those who wish to do things 
on a larger scale and supplement this list we would 
advise to apply to Messrs. Barr & Son, King Street, 
Covent Gorden, where they will obtain all they can 
possibly require. 
Keizerkroon, vivid scarlet, bordered with yellow, 
an extra large flower; Joost Van Vondel, crimson, 
flaked with white ; Belle Alliance, crimson-scarlet; 
Proserpine, rosy-carmine; Queen Victoria, rosy- 
white ; Royal Standard, white, feathered with 
crimson; LTmmaculee, white; Yellow Prince, 
bright yellow ; and Pottebakker White. These are 
all very suitable for planting in masses of one 
variety. Where it is desired to have a bed filled with 
mixed varieties, you cannot do better than apply to 
Messrs. Barr & Son for a small collection of the 
lovely English Amateur Tulips. These can be 
obtained at fairly moderate rates, and the owner 
will in return be greeted by such a flux of beauty 
that he cannot fail to be charmed with the richness, 
brilliance, and chastity of the markings and feather¬ 
ings. 
Planting.— Having decided upon what varieties 
to plant, let us now turn our attention to the method 
of planting proper. The Tulip is without doubt a 
first-class amateur’s flower, and does not need a 
great deal of cultural attention, at least, in the stage 
at which the bulbs have arrived when they pass 
from the merchant's bands into those of the growers. 
A trowel is the best instrument to work with, more 
especially if the soil is at all inclined to be heavy, as 
a dibber leaves the soil immediately surrounding 
the bulb in anything but a suitable state for the 
tender roots to penetrate. The bulbs should be 
planted from 3 in. to 4 in. deep in order to preserve 
them from very severe frost, which would injure 
them were they planted any shallower. From 6 in. to 
7 in. apart each way is quite sufficient room to allow 
if plenty of bulbs are to hand, but in this, as in 
other things, the amateur must cut his coat accord¬ 
ing to his cloth, and it often happens that the room 
to be filled up is greater than the quantity of bulbs 
there are to fill it. In this case they should be 
evenly distributed over the surface to be occupied. 
If the soil is rather heavy a little sand should be 
laid in the bottom of the hole for the bulb to rest 
upon. After the whole of the bed has been planted 
the surface of the soil should be levelled by means 
of a rake, firming it slightly at the same time, and 
the grass edges cut and trimmed with the edging iron 
if they are at all ragged, thus leaving things neat and 
workmanlike.— Rex. 
---w 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
Anyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. 
Cinerarias.—Yes, by all means pot your Cinerarias 
at once, G. T. ; for the longer you wait the more the 
evil resulting from the cramping of the roots will be 
aggravated. The great thing to avoid at this season 
of the year is over-pottiDg ; for a lot of cold stagnant, 
unoccupied soil lying around the roots of such 
delicately constituted things as Cinerarias cannot fail 
to do a great deal of harm. Equal parts of loam, 
leaf soil, and dried manure, with a sprinkling of 
sand, will suit them well. Drain the pots well and 
see that they are clean. As your plants are now in 
small 48's a shift into six-inch pots or large 32's will 
be ample, and should allow them plenty of root-room 
to flower in, as such late plants as these never make 
such large specimens as those resulting from seed 
sown earlier in the season. See that the compost is 
not too wet before using, and keep the plants close 
for a few days immediately after potting. 
American Aloe .—Jabez has an American Aloe in a 
twelve-inch pot which has been standing in an 
ornamental vase in the flower garden until recently, 
when, owing to the apparent imminence of frost it 
was taken into the greenhouse for shelter. He 
wishes to know whether it will require any water 
through the winter, as he has been told from 
another source that it -will not do so and wishes to 
make sure. 
As a rule succulaut plants, such as the Alee, 
seldom require much water during the dull season. 
They are generally lerft out of doors until the advent 
of autumnal rains which soak them pretty 
thoroughly, and often leave them waterlogged. 
Such plants as these it would be madness to water, 
and indeed all of them may be allowed to get much 
drier than it would be safe or wise to allow the 
ordinary run of plants to do. They must not be 
kept so dry, however, as to cause shrivelling of the 
leaves ; but this th ey are not likely to do as loDg as 
the atmosphere continues so close to saturation 
point. For the present therefore Jabez may keep his 
Aloe upon total abstinence principles. 
Asparagus in a Greenhouse .—Orion writes to tell 
us that he has a fine specimen of the beautiful 
Asparagus plumosus nanus, which, getting too large 
for its pot, was planted out in his greenhouse in the 
spring-time. The bed measures two feet in length 
by one in width and fifteen inches in depth, and is 
enclosed by brickwork. The plant has grown very 
vigorously all the summer, and is trained over the 
end of the greenhouse, which, however, Orion is 
afraid will not be warm enough for it during the 
ensuing autumn and winter. Accordingly he asks 
for advice as to what he is to do. 
By all means let the plant remain where it is. 
Strong plants of Asparagus plumosus nanus will put 
up with a surprisingly low temperature during the 
winter months, provided proper precautions are 
taken with regard to watering. Keep the plant well 
on the dry side; indeed, unless a hot water pipe runs 
through or in close proximity to the bed no water at 
all will be needed. Of course you must not expect 
the plant to grow much under such circumstances, 
and it is more than likely that the greater part of the 
fronds will have become rather shabby by the com¬ 
mencement of the warmer weather ; but that will 
not matter, for the plant will live and start into 
growth once the thermometer shows signs of rising, 
with all the more vigour for the long rest. 
Rats in a Vinery.—My garden lies very close to a 
rick-yard, and I am in consequence overrun with 
rats. These have found ingress into my small vinery 
where some late grapes are hanging, and have done 
a great deal of damage, eating a good deal of the 
fruit. I have now cut the bunches and bottled them, 
and have thus placed them out of harm's way, but 
I should like to bring the marauders to book, and 
make them pay the penalty of their misdeeds. I 
have tried to trap them, and have baited the traps 
with all sorts of things that it is usually supposed 
that rats love, but all to no avail; the depredators 
are apparently not taking any just now, for the baits 
lie untouched. Can you suggest anything that 
might tempt the rascals to overcome their scruples 
in accepting the hospitality (?) that my traps afford ? 
Thus does Ajax unburden his soul in complaint. 
The best bait for rats, and one which we have 
never known to fail, is Sunflower seeds. Of these 
they are inordinately fond, and we have known 
barns and outhouses where heads of Sunfiow’er seeds 
have been stored to be literally overrun with rats, 
which have scented the prize from afar. Try sprinkling 
a few of these upon the concealed plate of the gin, 
or, if the trap is one of the wire-cage contrivances, 
spread the seeds on a piece of paper, lay them inside, 
and await events. 
Soot for Chrysanthemums .—Teignmouth comes up 
with the query as to the best way to apply soot as a 
manure to Chrysanthemums. He says that he has 
been advised to give the plants a top-dressing of it, 
and wishes to know whether this method of applica¬ 
tion meets with our approbation. 
We should by no means advise Teignmouth to 
apply the soot as a top-dressing. To start with, if 
very much is given, ihe surface roots may be burnt. 
A still more serious result, however, will take place 
after a few waterings have been given, for the sedi¬ 
ment of the soot will form a hard crust upon the 
surface that will prevent the water from penetrating 
so readily to the heart of the ball as it should do, 
and mischief will be done that way. By far the best 
method of giving soot of which we are cognisant is 
to put a quantity in a sack or bag of coarse canvas, 
and to soak this in a tank of water for three or four 
days. By this means a clear solution is obtained, 
