688 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 27, 1896. 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
Forget-me-nots.— As our common native Forget- 
me-not haunts the sides of streams and ponds where 
its roots can obtain plenty of water, many people 
possess the idea that all the species and varieties of 
Myosotis are semi-aquatic, or at least that they must 
have a damp and shaded position given them in order 
to get them to do well. This, however, is a gross 
mistake, for there is no more beautiful, showy, and 
useful subject for spring bedding in ordinary garden 
soils than the Myosotis. The tufts of bright blue 
flowers are both conspicuous, and ornamental, in the 
hardier flower garden during the months of April and 
May. Of course, when growing in damp soil, the 
plants keep in bloom for a longer period than they do 
when the soil is dry. All the hardy varieties may 
easily be raised from seed sown now in the open. A 
shady corner of the garden should be chosen, such as 
that beneath the shelter of a high north wall, and 
here the seed bed may be made. 
Cannas—The popularity of these charming plants 
increases every day, and for sub-tropical bedding as 
well as for pot culture they have evidently ccme to 
stay. A small bed or two filled with them is a great 
addition to any garden. Cannas love a deep rich soil, 
and plentiful supplies of water. The plants will by 
this time have become established in their new 
quarters, that is if they were put out at the beginning 
of the month. The nutriment contained in the soil, 
will be enough for the present, but liquid manure 
may be given later on. A light mulching with cocoa- 
nut-fibre refuse will render valuable service, as it 
will tend to prevent rapid evaporation of moisture 
from the soil. 
Grass. —The dry weather experienced throughout 
the greater part of May and the first two weeks of 
June, has made a marked effect upon the grass, 
which even the recent rains have not been able to 
restore. It will take time of course to replace the 
brown scorched up blades with fresh green ones. As 
soon as the grass begins to pick up a bit, a little soot 
should be sprinkled broadcast over it. This is best 
done just before a shower, but in case that shower 
does not come, it will be safer to give a good watering 
with the hose, so as to wash the soot well down 
among the roots. In applying the soot, it will be as 
well to don an old coat, buttoning this up closely, 
and tying the sleeves at the wrists. Perhaps it is 
not a pleasant job, and there is no doubt that the 
amateur sweep will be glad to change his coat and 
perform some necessary ablutions at the end of it; 
but if we always shirked work that was not exactly 
pleasant, many a garden would be sadly neglected. 
Tennis and croquet lawns, if they are to be kept 
green through the summer, must be given frequent 
waterings. Evening is of course the best time to do 
this, after the burning heat of the sun is over. 
Rhubarb. —As fast as the flowering stems show 
themselves they must be cut out, as to allow the 
plants to flower and seed would greatly impoverish 
and weaken Them to no purpose. The pulling of the 
stalks will now be very moderate, the more moderate 
the tetter in fact. How often do we see people 
pulling and pulling until only a few miserable leaves 
are left. The result is that a good plantation soon 
becomes ruined. As small fruits will soon be in full 
swing now, the demand upon the Rhubarb will not be 
so great as it has been during the months of April 
and May. Some cottagers are very fond of making 
a last attack upon the plants for the material where¬ 
with to make wine; but it is by no means an 
economical proceeding to put such an extra stress 
upon a plantation, already weakened by the supplies 
of stalks it has afforded during the months of early 
spring. Indeed, where Rhubarb wine is much in 
favour it is advisable to have a plantation for 
supplying the wherewithal to make it. A good 
mulching, of short half rotted stable litter, will now 
be of great service, and this matter should be 
attended to as soon as possible. 
Earwigs.—What a pest these are amongst Dahlias 
and Chrysanthemums, and how sorely is the patience 
of professional as well as amateur gardeners tried 
when they see the damage done to their floral pets 
by these little pests. Of course it would not do to 
sit tamely down and lament the injury done, without 
striving to get even with the injurors, The best 
method is to set traps, and thus the numbers of the 
ememy may be reduced somewhat. Small pots 
filled with nice dry hay are very tempting lodging 
places for earwigs, also pieces of stems, 4 in. or 5 in. 
in length, of Broad Beans. These should be laid 
about among the plants, and looked over night and 
morning, and their contents, if any, destroyed. A 
great many may be caught in this way, for the earwig 
loves to creep into some dry snug retreat after a 
meal. 
Pinks. —Old fashioned as these sweet-scented 
flowers are they are none the less beautiful, and 
every garden should possess at least a few good roots. 
The best time for propagating is just after the 
flowers are over. Division of the roots may be 
practised if desired, but decidedly the best method 
is the insertion of cuttings. Strong healthy stools 
will yield any amount of suitable cuttings. If a 
spare light is obtainable a bed of sandy soil some 
3in. or 4m. in depth should be made up inside it. 
In this the cuttings may be dibbled, making the soil 
nicely firm about their roots. They may be put in 
fairly close, as after they are rooted it will be well to 
transplant them. A light shading must be given 
from bright sunshine, and watering must be carefully 
attended to. They should be kept neither too wet 
nor too dry, and not watered until they want it, 
when a good soaking should be given. Air should 
be given pretty freely also. Treated thus a large 
percentage of the cuttings will strike.— Rex. 
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Correspondence. 
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. Those who desire 
Jtheir communications to appear on this page should write 
“Amateurs' Page " on the top of their letters. 
Peach Leaves Falling. — The leaves on my Peach tree 
are commencing to fall. Will you kindly tell me the 
reason ? The tree is growing under glass in an 
unheated house, and is tearing a fair crop of fruits. 
I enclose samples of the fallen leaves —M. Pitsou. 
Your tree is badly affected with red spider. This 
has caused the withered up appearance of the leaves, 
which after being crippled by the insects have fallen 
prematurely. A dry arid atmosphere is almost sure to 
bring on attacks of red spider, and this has doubtless 
been coupled in your case with insufficient water at 
the root. See to it that the defect, if any, in the 
water supply is remedied without delay, if you would 
preserve both your tree and your crop. 
Give the tree thorough syringings morning and 
evening, not just a sprinkle but a good hard washing, 
so that the spider may be washed off. If you follow 
these directions properly you will soon be able to 
report a decided improvement. It may be that the 
syringings will cause numbers of other leaves to fall, 
but this must not deter you from persisting in the 
course of treatment, as leaves that are so crippled 
as to fall so easily are of very little use to the tree, 
and would drop of their own accord in a day or two 
at any rate. 
Marechal Niel Rose —The roof of my greenhouse 
is covered by a good sized Marechal Niel Rose, 
which has just finished flowering. How must I treat 
it with regard to pruning ? Shall I cut it back now 
or wait until autumn ? I only came into this place 
in the spring, and thus am at a loss to know what to 
do. — X. 
The Rose should be cut back now. A few of the 
strongest growths should be left at nearly their full 
length, but the others may be cut out. Plenty of 
young growths will soon be made, and these must be 
tied down to the wires as soon as they get long 
enough to handle properly. An occasional syringing 
in the evenings of very hot days will do the plants 
all the good in the world. 
A Pretty Edging for Flower Beds —You cannot 
do better, Mat , than plant Pyrethrum Golden Feather, 
and blue Lobelia alternately, round your beds. Blue 
and yellow form an excellent contrast, and both 
plants will grow almost anywhere. The Pyrethrum 
may be kept dwarf by pinching it occasionally. 
Cactus Rotting. —I had a Cactus given me a few 
months ago, when it appeared to be all right. Since 
then, however, it has rotted off at the bottom. Can 
you tell me what is the reason l—Inlander. 
Too much water, probably ! Cacti require to be 
kept much drier at the root than ordinary plants. 
The best thing for you to do will be to cut off the 
decayed part from your plant with a sharp knife and 
insert the sound portion as a cutting. Mix some 
mortar rubbish and crushed bricks or crocks with 
the soil, and be very sparing in the use of the water¬ 
ing can. 
Dirty Palm Fronds. —The sediment that has 
settled upon your Palms, M. N., is due to your 
having used chalky water to syringe them with. 
Such water might appear to be clean enough to the 
naked eye, but it is sure to leave a white deposit 
behind. This, besides looking dirty, gets into the 
pores of the leaves and blocks them up, and so does 
harm that way. It will be better not to syringe at 
all, unless you can procure water that is free from 
chalk. Soft rain water is the very best for syringing 
purposes. 
Tomatos. —You are rather late to think of planting 
Tomatos out of doors, S. Garland, but still you may 
well give them a trial. The south wall you mention 
will suit Tomatos admirably, and given a fairly 
sunny August and September you should be able to 
reap the reward of your labours in a good crop of 
luscious fruit. Like many other things, success or 
failure in Tomato culture, especially out doors, 
depend in a great measure upon the kind of weather 
we are favoured with. As the soil close to the wall 
is rather poor it will be well to dig holes from 15 in. 
to 18 in. in depth, and fill them up with good strong 
loam. In this the Tomatos will thrive, and little 
fear need be entertained as to their growing 
vigorously at least. 
Ants ia a Greenhouse. —As far as doing actual 
damage to the plants goes, you may set your mind 
at rest with regard to the ants in your greenhouse, 
P. T. Gibbs. Indirectly, they do some harm, because 
if any mealy bug happens to be about they will carry 
it all over the place, and thus assist it to spread. If 
you wish to catch the ants you may do so by placing 
shallow saucers filled with some sweet liquid, at 
intervals on the plant stages. 
Sprinkling Maidenhair Ferns —No! Jacob, we do 
not recommend this practice. Maidenhair Ferns do 
not benefit by being sprinkled or syringed overhead. 
If this is continually done you will soon see the 
effect in the withered edges of the pinnules that look 
as if they have been scorched. Young fronds, 
particularly, should be kept dry, older ones will put 
up with an occasional wetting without taking harm. 
Adiantum is derived from the Greek adiantos, dry, 
in supposed allusion to the fact that the fronds of 
Ferns belonging to this genus remain dry when 
plunged in water. You may easily try this, J. 
Hallam. 
Indian Shot.—The name of Indian shot is given 
to the Canna, Yeo, on account of the hardness of the 
seeds, which are round and black, not unlike swan 
shot. Indeed, Canna seed has been used for charging 
guns employed for killing birds. 
The use of Stomata.—To go fully into your ques¬ 
tion, Querist, with its “ whys and wherefores " would 
take a very long time, and would practically mean 
a long dissertation on elementary botany. The 
stomata were at one time supposed to be the 
apertures through which the plant obtained its 
carbon dioxide. Then it was demonstrated that 
carbon dioxide could and did pass through the 
cuticle of the leaves, and the stomata were said to 
be merely of use for getting rid of the surplus water. 
Now it is admitted that they have more to do with 
the absorption of carbon dioxide than was originally 
supposed. 
- 
GERANIUM OR PELARGONIUM. 
As there still seems to be a good deal of misconcep¬ 
tion in respect to the above terms—they are some¬ 
times used synonymously—it may not be unwise or 
out of place on my part to attempt a rough-and- 
ready garden definition. What, then, is the difference 
between these terms ? Clearly one of degree only, 
as they both belong to the same natural order, 
Geraniaceae. But as gardeners and amateurs fre¬ 
quently call Pelargoniums “ Geraniums," it is evident 
that their distinctive differences are not always 
properly understood. In fact, they might, with 
much more show of reason, call Pansies " Violets," 
or Violets " Pansies," inasmuch as these latter plants 
are both members of the same genus, whereas the 
