704 
July 4, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
Failures. — An ugly word this, and yet it is one that 
forces itself upon the notice of the gardener with 
determined persistence. No one likes to find his 
best efforts brought to nought, and that no harvest 
follows the labours of spring. And yet the 
possibility of failure in the cultivation of various 
subjects has to be taken into account, and as nearly 
as possible guarded against. Now experience of any 
kind is valuable, provided it is not forgotten, and the 
experience of failure during one season may not be 
altogether an unmixed evil, since, if the cultivator 
profits by the lesson, it may pave the way to success 
the following season. It is undoubtedly a bitter 
disappointment to go to a lot of trouble and some 
expense to obtain a favourite plant, and to bestow 
upon it a deal of attention, only to find out after all 
that it will not grow, and that the whole of the 
labour, in so far as immediate success is concerned, 
has been thrown away. A few of such experiences 
as these are enough to try the pluck and determina¬ 
tion of any gardener, but these occurrences are only 
the thorns by the way that keep the wayfarer in the 
right path, warning him that if he strays from the 
track he must expect to meet with difficulties. 
Let us for a brief space of time consider a few of 
the mistakes that an amateur is apt to make, and 
which will, in nine cases out of ten, land him in the 
slough of failure. The first is, perhaps, the mad 
rush after novelties. A new variety of some flower 
or lruit is brought out with a fanfare of trumpets as 
being better than anything else of its kind in 
existence. Its merits are, to say the least of it, 
never under- rated; and the amateur fondly imagines 
that he bas got hold of a real treasure this time, and 
proceeds to discard old and well-proven varieties in 
favour of it. Sometimes the change succeeds, but 
often it does not. Now we would not dissuade any 
gardener, professional or amateur, from making 
experiments with novelties, for it is by means of 
these that the best varieties are found out ; but the 
cultivator must first ask himself whether he can 
afford to incur the risk of discarding the old for the 
sake of the new variety, the merits and demerits of 
which he has yet to find out. In large establish¬ 
ments the trial of novelties is a healthy sign, if it is 
judiciously carried out, for there is room to grow 
also a quantity of well-proved sorts which will come 
in as reserve material should the novelty fail. 
In the small garden of the amateur the question of 
space naturally is the great drawback to growing 
merely for the sake of trial. Wedonotmean tosaythit 
seedsmen willingly deceive customers as to the rela¬ 
tive value of new varieties, but it may very well, and 
often does, happen that a variety may do remarkably 
well in one locality and yet produce very second-rate 
results in others. Hence there is always a great 
deal of uncertainty attaching to new things. 
Trying to do too much is as fruitful a cause of 
failure as heedless investment in novelties. Even an 
amateur's greenhouse cannot be managed so that no 
matter how much is put in there is always room for 
something else. Of course, a good deal maybe done 
by the erection of shelves in suitable places, but 
even then it is a matter of great difficulty to arrange 
a heterogeneous collection of plants so that all may 
receive proper attention, and none of them be injured 
by the others. Some, of course, will like to have the 
syringe plied amongst them during the summer 
months, whilst others, such as plants in flower, will 
not like overhead sprinkling. It is a bad plan, there¬ 
fore, to crowd a lot of different subjects in one house, 
and expect them all to do equally well. 
Note Book.—There is nothing of greater import¬ 
ance to the amateur gardener than to keep a note¬ 
book, in which may be entered all the important 
particulars of the cultural routine. Such a note-book 
comes in exceedingly handy for reference during 
succeeding years, both for comparison of results, and 
as a guide to the dates for sowing various seeds, 
putting in cuttings, etc. Every amateur should keep 
one, and regularly enter in it all items of interest 
connected with the various olants cultivated. If 
this system be regularly followed up for a year or 
two, it is astonishing what a mass of information can 
be got together, information indeed that can only be 
obtained in this particular way, for it shows the 
cultivator the best methods of grappling with the 
difficulties, or making the most of the advantages, of 
the special locality in which he is placed. 
Celery —There is no vegetable that stands higher 
in the favour of all classes, rich and poor alike, than 
this. It is, in fact, one of the most important crops 
at a time when vegetables are none too plentiful. 
Like the Cauliflower, Celery requires a rich deep soil 
in order to do really well, and this fact to a certain 
extent prevents it being grown in such quantities as 
it otherwise would be by amateurs, and holders of 
small gardens, who are unable to easily procure the 
requisite amount of manure. 
If the trenches have not been already dug, no 
further time must be lost in getting them in readiness, 
otherwise the season of growth will be seriously 
shortened. Plants put out now, provided they are 
fairly strong to start with, will produce medium¬ 
sized heads by the end of the season—quite large 
enough for ordinary requirements. Indeed, they 
will do better than plants which have been consigned 
to their permanent quarters at the beginning of June, 
but which, owing to the seed being sown too early, 
have been allowed to become drawn through over¬ 
crowding. 
Trenches.—There are several methods of growing 
Celery, each of which finds especial favour with 
some growers. Thus many prefer to plant in single 
lines, others allow two or three lines to a trench, 
whilst some put their plants in beds containing a 
number of rows. For all ordinary purposes, 
especially where strong or medium-growing varieties 
are employed, the first-named plan, that of planting 
in single lines, is to be preferred to the others- 
Treated thus the plants get more light, and earthing 
up is more easily attended to. For the smaller 
growing white sorts, however, a little room may be 
saved by making the trenches 2 in. or 3 in wider, 
and planting a couple of rows instead of one. 
If we elect to plant in single lines the ground 
which the Celery is destined to occupy should be 
marked off first of all. A distance of 4 ft , at least, 
from the centre of one trench to that of the next 
should be allowed, although, if the room can be 
spared, another 6 in. may be given with advantage. 
The trench itself should be about 15 in. in width, and 
must be dug out to the depth of 1 ft. The soil that 
is taken out should be placed in ridges in the inter¬ 
vening spaces. If a supply of well-rotted stable 
manure can be procured a good layer of this should 
be placed in the bottom of the trench, and dug nicely 
in. 
Planting.—All will now be ready for planting. 
The young plants should be lifted from the nursery 
bed with a long trowel or light spade, in order to 
insure a good ball of earth being attached. As the 
heat of the summer sun exercises a very trying 
influence upon lifted plants which are exposed for 
even a short time, too many plants should not be got 
out of the ground at once. It is far better to make 
one or two extra journeys, and thus save the roots 
of the plants this parching experience, than it is to 
lift the whole of the plants required to fill a trench at 
one time. From 6 in. to 9 in. of space between the 
plants in the row will be sufficient. The trowel will 
be found to be the handiest tool to use in the 
operation. 
Watering"—As soon as the planting is complete a 
good soaking of clear water must be given, and this 
must be followed up at intervals should the weather 
prove dry and hot. The plants will then soon com¬ 
mence to grow, as, if the above directions have been 
carried out, but little check will be given them. 
Intervening spaces.— As the soil on the ridges 
between the trenches will not be disturbed to any 
appreciable extent for some time to come, it will be 
advisable to turn it to some account by planting upon 
it some light crop. Lettuces do remarkably well, 
and very often the finest heads of the whole season 
are cut fron the Celery ridges. Dwarf Kidney Beans, 
too, are a quick crop, and in such a position yield 
very satisfactory returns. Whatever crop is chosen 
to occupy the space, however, it is obvious that it 
must be gathered before the soil is wanted for earth¬ 
ing up the Celery.— Rex. 
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Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
A nyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
“ Amateurs' Page " on the top of their letters. 
Fuschias in the Flower Garden.—It does not 
very much matter, Y. as to whether you plunge your 
Fuschias in the beds just as they are, or whether 
you knock them out of the pots and plant them in 
the ordinary way. If you elect to plunge the pots, 
you must watch the plants very carefully for water, 
as they will take a lot during dry weather. There 
is this advantage pertaining to the method of plung¬ 
ing, that the plants can be easily lifted in the autumn 
and stored away until the spring. It is scarcely 
likely, however, that they will make such vigorous 
growth as if they were planted out. 
Damaged Chrysanthemums. —You are quite 
right R. Hayman ; it is the earwigs that are to 
blame for the injury to your “ Mums." You must 
catch the pests and kill them with what speed you 
can. Halves of Potatos hollowed out, small pots or 
jars with dry hay, or hollow Bean stems laid among 
the plants form excellent traps. 
Faulty Grapes. — Will you please tell me what is 
the matter with my Grapes ? I forward samples of 
the berries to you herewith.— J. Hales. 
This is a bad case of what is technically known as 
" shanking.’’ The footstalks attaching the berries to 
the bunch dry up, and the berries keep sour and never 
ripen properly. The best thing you can do will be to 
take out all the berries that you see to be similarly 
affected, as they will never come to anything. Shank¬ 
ing is often brought about by over-cropping, by want 
of sufficient water or by the roots of the vines getting 
into cold, wet, uncongenial soils. If you think the 
latter is the true cause write us again in the autumn, 
and we will advise you how to remedy matters. For 
the present there is no remedy, supposing the roots 
to be at fault. 
Raspberry Suckers, —My Raspberry stools are 
this year throwing up a very large number of suckers. 
Would it not be as well if some of these are removed ? 
A speedy answer will oblige .—A L'Estrange. 
For some reason or other Raspberries are sending 
up a lot more suckers this year than usual. Certainly, 
your best plan will be to cut out all the weakest 
growths, and then to thin the remainder out to from 
three to five to a stool. It is best to do this thinning 
now instead of waiting until presently as the strength 
that would otherwise be wasted in producing a lot 
of useless growth is thus turned to the best advan¬ 
tage. Occasional supplies of liquid manure will be 
of great service in increasing the size and number of 
the fruits. 
Strawberry Runners. —For all ordinary purposes, 
T. Ayres, it will be quite soon enough to start layering 
your Strawberry runners when the fruit is gathered 
from the beds. It is quite true that for procuring 
plants for forcing, many gardeners layer much earlier 
than this. To do this a small plantation is set 
apart and not allowed to fruit, the flower trusses 
being picked off as soon as they show themselves. 
The whole of the strength of the plants is thus 
devoted to the development of the runners. For 
obtaining plants quite strong enough for all ordinary 
requirements, both for forcing and for the making of 
new plantations, the crop of fruit may be secured 
first. Small sixty-sized pots filled with any soil will 
do. The runners should be securely pegged down. 
Stones may be used for fastening down as you 
suggest, but the pegs are the more secure. 
Creeping Jenny, or Lysimachia Nummularis, is 
the name of the plant you make inquiries about, 
Suburban. Town and country air seem to come both 
alike to it, for it flourishes equally well in either. 
During the summer months the bright golden yellow 
of its flo wers are an ornament to many a window 
box. The plant may be propagated very freely 
by division of the root, either in autumn or early 
spring. 
Strobilanthes dyerianus. —This plant may be 
grown out of doors, if desired, during the summer 
months, but you will require the heat of an inter¬ 
mediate stove to keep it going during the winter 
months, IV. T. S. It is only in the small state that 
the rich colouring of the leaves is to be seen, for 
when the plant reaches a more advanced stage, a 
great part of its beauty vanishes. It is necessary, 
therefore, tc strike cuttings at frequent intervals. 
Mildew on Roses. —It is by no means an un¬ 
common thing for Mildew to attack Roses growing 
