August 22, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
816 
5$ in. long, decimate, creamy-white, and radiate on 
all sides of the umbel of flowers, of which they con¬ 
stitute the most conspicuous feature. Botanical 
Certificate. Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
Vegetable Committee. 
Apple Cardinal. —This early Apple is also known 
as Peter the Great. The fruit is above the medium 
size, oblate, striped, splasher 1 , and suffused with red 
on a yellowish-green ground. The eye is closed and 
seated in a shallow cavity. It is highly fragrant and 
already ripe. Award of Merit. Messrs. Geo. 
Bunyard & Co., Maidstone. 
Pear Aspasie Aucourt.— The fruits of this Pear 
are of medium size, oblong-turbinate, and of a light 
yellowish-greeD, with darker spots and a few russet 
splashes. The stalk is long and stout, attached 
obliquely or seated in a shallow depression at the 
base of the fruit. It is distinct looking and early. 
Award of Merit. Messrs. Geo. Bunyard & Co. 
Melon Harris Favourite.— The fruits of this new 
variety are globular, and those shown would weigh 
about 4 lbs. The rind is yellow, closely netted, and 
very thin, as the flesh is of great depth and of a deep 
red close up to it. The flesh is close in texture, but 
juicy and sweet. Award of Merit. Philip Crowley, 
Esq. (gardener, Mr. J. Harris), Waddon House, 
Croydon. 
- — 
EXHIBITION CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Disbudding. 
In the last article this subject was fully considered, 
and by this time many of the buds will have been 
secured, especially of the Japanese section. 
This work must be closely watched, removing all 
lateral growth and buds, immediately the centre bud 
shows. The distinction between a “ crown ” and 
•' terminal ” bud is easily understood ; the former is 
surrounded by young growing shoots or laterals, 
whilst the ‘’terminal ” consists a number of buds; 
and usually, if perfect, the centre one is chosen, as 
this may generally be exp ected to produce the finest 
flower. In all cases the crown shows first; and if 
this is rubbed off, in two or three weeks another bud 
shows which is the terminal. The crown buds 
produce the largest flowers, but if these are taken too 
early the result will be large coarse flowers wanting 
in colour. Therefore it is of the utmost importance 
that the bud should be secured at the right time; 
for if too early, ragged, useless flowers, and if too late, 
under-sized flowers will result. 
Surface Dressincs. 
When considering the question of final potting 
(May 30th), it was recommended that the soil should 
not reach the top of the pot, by about a couple of 
inches, which would allow of a rich top dressing of 
compost. This should now be given, and may 
consist of good strong loam with a little leaf mould 
and sand added; for additional strength, add two 
8 in potfuls of bone meal, two of soot, and one of 
guano, or some other approved artificial manure, to 
each barrowful of soil. 
After this dressing no other stimulants will be 
needed for a few days. After the surface dressing, 
extra care for a time will be needed in the watering : 
for instance, the new soil will not dry so quickly as 
that below, which is permeated with strong hungry 
feeders. Where the pots are filled within an inch of 
the brim, no addition can be made in the form of 
compost, but feeding must not be overlooked ; and if 
the weather proves showery, help can be given by 
scattering manure on the surface of the soil, when 
the rains will gradually wash it down to the roots, 
and in some cases will induce the roots to come to 
the surface, which is an index to the grower that 
matters are progressing satisfactorily. 
Mildew 
is a scourge against the well-being of the “ Mum," 
and should not be seen for some time to come : but 
cold winds, and injudicious waterings, may occa¬ 
sionally, at this early stage, encourage the pest, If 
so, strong means should be taken to stamp it out at 
once; and this can be done by mixing flowers of 
sulphur with soft soap and water, a handful of 
sulphur and two ounces of soft soap to a large can of 
water. Turn the plant on its side and syringe, so 
that the underside of the foliage may be thoroughly 
drenched. The soap will have the power of making 
the mixture adhesive, and not easily washed off by 
rains. One dressing should be sufficient to overcome 
the pest; but if not successful it must be repeated. 
— W. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
The rains that have fallen in some parts of the 
country have .been gladly received, for the long 
drought was making itself severely felt on all hands, 
and matters were becoming serious. In many parts 
however, the rain clouds have not brought results, 
and the ground is as dry as ever, whilst everywhere 
more rain is wanted. As long as this state of things 
lasts all hands must be kept to the watering. Many 
young trees whose roots are near the surface, and 
others which were planted during last winter or 
spring will need to be looked after very closely, for 
they will be the first to take serious harm. 
Towards the end of the month the propagation of 
all kinds of bedding plants will have to be vigorously 
prosecuted. Growth this year, owing to the 
drought, has not been nearly so rank as usual, and 
the cuttings, although they may be fewer in number, 
will be firm, and short jointed, and there should be 
no difficulty in obtaining a good ‘‘strike.” At this 
season of the year most of the gentry are residing at 
their country seats, and tennis, and garden parties 
are as a consequence pretty numerous. Naturally 
the gardener wants the flower garden to look its 
best at such times, both for the sake of his own 
credit, and that of his employer. Where zonal 
Pelargoniums, and Calceolarias have been 
extensively employed in the bedding arrangements 
the taking of cuttings means the spoiling of the look 
of the beds, for some time at least, and for this rea¬ 
son propagation has to be deferred for as long as it 
is possible to do so. 
Box Edgings— When well kept these look much 
better than dead edgings of tiles, be they never so 
fancifully moulded. In order to keep them within 
bounds they must be gone over occasionally with 
the hand-shears, and neatly clipped. Close cutting 
should be avoided, if possible, as it will weaken the 
plants too much, and there is very little doubt that 
this is a fruitful cause of box edgings dying off badly 
in the winter. It is better to clip only lightly, and 
to go over the plants twice or thrice, if need be, in¬ 
stead of cutting hard back once, and crippling them. 
The effect obtained, too, is decidedly better. 
Agapanthus umbellatus. —If the plants have 
been flowering pretty freely liquid manure should be 
given occasionally, say twice a week, in order to 
keep up the display as long as possible. Where 
they are standing in ornamental vases it is astonish¬ 
ing how much water they will take during the dry 
weather; indeed, this beautiful Cape plant is never 
happier than when it is standing in the water, hence 
it would be unwise to allow it to suffer from lack of 
the necessary fluid. 
Ornamental Vases. —In far too many instances 
the makers of these have had apparently only the 
one end in view, viz., to make them as ornamental 
as possible, and some of them are so shallow that 
very little soil indeed can be given the plants 
allotted to fill them. This must be made up 
by plenty of liquid manure given pretty frequently. 
In the larger vases which are of good depth, liquid 
manure will also be of great service, for it is usual 
to fill them with tall and strong growing plants in 
order to obtain an imposing effect. Large Fuchsias, 
Abutilons, Palms, Castor-oil plants, etc., appear to 
great advantage in such positions, always providing 
they are not starved. 
Violas. —Some help must be accorded these also, 
if they are to continue to bloom freely. Every 
grower knows how completely the roots of the 
Violas permeate and take possession of the surface 
soil, from which they are not long in absorbing all 
the nutriment. A dressing of Clay's Fertiliser 
applied immediately before watering will be found 
a valuable aid to the Violas, and its beneficial 
results will soon be apparent by contrasting the 
appearance of plants that have been thus assisted 
with others which have not. 
General Work. —The herbaceous border will be 
in need of constant attention. The earlier perennial 
Asters are commencing to bloom, and although 
they are dwarf in habit will yet pay for staking. 
The later ones will be rather taller, and they must 
be secured against the heavy winds that often visit 
us about the autumnal equinox. The seed pods of 
Sweet Peas must be gathered as soon as they are 
ripe, and laid in shallow boxes in an airy shed or 
early vinery to dry before they are stored away. 
Seeds of any other plants that may be ripe should 
be gathered as soon as possible, and laid to dry on 
separate sheets of paper in a similar position to 
that accorded the Sweet Peas. The Dutch hoe 
should be kept at work wherever it is possible, 
both to keep down weeds, and to prevent the soil 
from becoming baked by the hot sun and the water¬ 
ings. Gravel paths will be in urgent need of constant 
attention. In dry weathef loose stones are very apt 
to ' kick up, and walking ever them is anything 
but a pleasant experience. Frequent waterings and 
rollings will obviate this difficulty. Under the in¬ 
fluence of the few recent showers the grass has 
wonderfully improved, hence the mowing machine 
will need to be busily plied. 
FRUIT UNDER GLASS. 
Late Vineries. —Owing to the vast amount of 
bright sunlight that we have received this season, 
late vineries are generally looking most promising, 
the berries in many cases being in a more than 
usually advanced stage. This is a matter for con¬ 
gratulation, and there should be less complaints this 
autumn about badly coloured Grapes. It will be 
advisable, however, to augment the work of the sun 
to some degree by warmiDg the pipes gently at night, 
and by keeping a little heat on all day if the weather 
turns damp and dull. Not only does the buoyant 
atmosphere thus obtained prove of great service in 
ripening the fruit properly, but the wood, which is 
of equal importance with the fruit, benefits to a con¬ 
siderable degree. Where mealy bug proves trouble¬ 
some great care must be taken to see that it does not 
effect a lodgment in the bunches, for once there it is 
difficult to get it out again, and bunches thus tainted 
are scarcely fit to send to table. 
Houses from which the fruit has been cut should 
be thrown open widely. If the top lights are 
movable every third one may be taken off, and a 
more complete exposure thus obtained. It may be 
necessary to remark here that these lights should be 
put in a safe place where the panes of glass are not 
liable to get broken. Neither should the wcod of 
the sashes be allowed to come into direct contact 
with the ground, otherwise the solidity of the lights 
may be endangered. A couple of wooden spars 
should be placed so as to keep the lights from direct 
contact with the ground. Repeated waterings may 
be necessary before the borders are reduced to their 
proper condition of moisture, although only clear 
water should be used, as it is not advisable to keep the 
canes at high pressure any longer than can be helped. 
Cherries. —As soon as the last of the fruit is 
picked here, the netting, which was placed over the 
ventilators when the fruit was commencing to ripen, 
in order to exclude the birds, may be taken off. The 
house should be thrown wide open, and the syringe 
started to work again with no illiberal hand. Cherries 
are usually very dirty subjects, and filth of all sorts 
is sure to collect when the fruit is ripening, and this 
must be removed with all the speed possible. 
Figs.— In order to get the most out of the second 
crop the Fig houses should be shut up rather earlier 
in the afternoon than usual; for it must be remem¬ 
bered that the Fig will at all times stand, and even 
enjoy, more heat than will the Vine. If the trees 
.have been treated well the second crop should now 
be ripening off rapidly, and there will be no lack of 
Figs until the close of the season. 
Melons. —Bearing in mind the fact that the 
summer is now rapidly approaching its close it will 
be necessary to make the mostr of the sun’s heat in 
forwarding the latest crops. The house must be 
shut up soon in the afternoon. A good syringing 
may be given at the same time, and the walls, pipes, 
and passages, well damped. This will cause the 
temperature to rise pretty high during bright days, 
but if the plants are fairly healthy they will stand it 
all right. 
Tomatos for Winter Fruiting. —These should 
now be sturdy little plants in large 32 pots, which 
size will be large enough for them for a week or two 
to come. A place out of doors where they are 
exposed to the sun will suit them admirably, and 
here they may be allowed to remain until it is time 
to pot them up or plant them out in a prepared 
border, according to whichever system is favoured. 
Not later than the beginning of September the house 
should be got ready for them, as it is of importance 
that the plants should get a good start before winter 
sets in.— A. S. G. 
