February 22, 1896, 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
399g* 
Potting will now be in full swing, as it is advis¬ 
able to get the heavier part of the shifting over before 
March gets very far advanced. In dealing with 
Palms, Crotons, Dracaenas, Pandanads, etc., a shift 
into larger pots should only be given when it is 
absolutely required, for in establishments where 
numbers of table or vase plants are required a large 
pot seriously discounts a plant’s usefulness. It is 
possible to obtain healthy well-developed specimens 
of the above in relatively small pots. In the first 
place firm potting must be resorted to, co as to put a 
check upon too gross growth, and secondly, resource 
must be had to artificial stimulants. By the use of 
these latter during the winter months some splendid 
results may be obtained. 
Newly Potted Plants.— A little extra care is 
needed in dealing with plants that have been potted, 
for a few days subsequent to the event. It is a great 
mistake to deluge them with water, as this is a sure 
way to make the soil sour and unkindly, which, of 
course, militates considerably against the production 
of new roots. A rose must always be affixed to the 
can when water is being given. Now and again one 
sees plants half washed out of their pots, simply 
through negligence in exercising this simple pre¬ 
caution. 
It is also necessary to give a word of warning 
about the treatment of plants immediately previous 
to their being shifted into fresh pots, particularly in 
cases where the roots are not to be much disturbed. 
If they are at all inclined to be dry a good watering 
must be given the day before potting is attempted, 
for if the balls are at all dry when they are covered 
with the new soil, evil is bound to^result. The layer of 
new soil is naturally less dense than the old ball, and 
any water, that is given after potting, soaks through 
at the places where it meets with the least resistance, 
in this case all round the inside surface of the pot, 
leaving the roots contained in the ball in the centre 
to perish for lack. It is a bad practice also to pot 
plants immediately after they have been watered, for 
in such a case the rammer, if used at all freely, is 
sure to do harm. 
Pandanus Veitchii. —This is one of the most 
useful stove foliage subjects we have. It is easy of 
cultivation, and, in fact, needs but little else than a 
plentiful supply of water. A number of offsets are 
usually borne upon the main stem of the older plants. 
These may be cut off with a sharp knife, and inserted 
in small pots in sandy soil. A few weeks in a warm 
pit, where the syringe can be kept plied amongst 
them, will cause them to root with almost unfailing 
certainty, and they soon make plants of a handy size 
for decoration within the mansion. 
Adiantums. —It will not be wise to put off the 
potting of these for too long. Many of them can be 
handled much better just as they are commencing to 
throw up the new fronds than they can if left till 
later on, particularly such species as A. aethiopicum, 
A. polyphyllum, A. scutum, and A. concinnum. The 
crowns should be carefully examined for brown scale, 
which is usually to be found in greater or less 
quantity clinging to the base of the stipes close to the 
soil. When the plants have got into full growth it 
becomes exceedingly difficult to dislodge them from 
thence. Advantage should be taken therefore of the 
present season, when the fronds are not so thick, to 
turn the intruders out. 
Gymnogrammes must be handled with the greatest 
of care. Avoid unduly disturbing them at the root, 
for they are very impatient of this, and we have seen 
more than one good specimen spoiled by rough and 
careless mutilation of the roots when potting. 
Indeed, the older plants seem to be far worse in this 
respect than the younger ones. If a close pit is 
available where the plants can be plunged in cocoa-nut 
fibre they will pick up much more rapidly than they 
would if left to take their chance in the more airy 
stove. 
Pits and Frames. 
Tuberous Begonias. —The season has once again 
come round when these should be started into growth. 
In most establishments it is the usual custom to allow 
the tubers to remain in their pots through the winter. 
They should therefore be turned out of these with¬ 
out delay. Shake away the old soil and re-pot, using 
pots a couple of sizes smaller. The compost should 
be rather light in character, and may consist of 
equal parts of peat, loam and leaf soil, with plenty 
of silver sand. Do not bury the tubers too deeply, 
and on no account pot firmly. The soil may be 
made quite firm enough by moderate pressure from 
the fingers. A stage should be erected fairly close 
to the glass in a light pit, where the surface of the 
soil in the pots can be kept nicely moist by means of 
an occasional dewing over with the syringe. The 
moisture in the soil in addition to that obtained from 
the syringe will be sufficient until the tubers are 
fairly started into growth. A temperature of from 
58° to 6o° will suffice for the present. 
Double varieties are held in a great deal of 
favour in some quarters, and although they are 
somewhat heavy in character they add variety to 
the collection. Where it is desired to increase the 
stock of them recourse must be had to cuttings, 
which strike readily enough if taken when a few 
inches in length, inserted in light, sandy soil and the 
pots plunged to the rims in a nice bottom heat. 
-- 
FRUIT UNDER GLASS. 
Pot Vines. —The instructions given in the last 
calendar as to the treatment of these with regard to 
stopping, watering, etc., will hold good for the 
present. The temperature, however, may now be 
raised a couple of degrees, and should thus not be 
allowed to fall below 65° by night. If possible a 
chink of air must be left on the bottom ventilators all 
night. 
Earliest Permanent Vinery. —The work of 
bringing down the shoots to the level of the wires 
will be actively in progress here. Too much pressure 
must not be exerted upon them, or the overstrained 
shoots will snap. It does not matter if they do not 
come right down now, as long as they are not in 
actual contact with the glass. Their own weights 
added to that of the bunches, will fetch them down 
fast enough presently. Attend to the stopping of 
shoots two or three nodes beyond the bunches, as 
well as to the removal of the latter in cases where 
they are not required. The number of bunches left 
upon a vine must, of course, be left to the discretion 
of the operator, who has to take into consideration, 
first of all, the strength of the vine and the particular 
purpose for which the Grapes are intended, whether 
for show or ordinary use only. Special attention 
must be given to the ventilation, for on a bright day 
the thermometer may run up rather high, and if air is 
rushed on recklessly, draughts are caused which are 
in every case, and at all times, most injurious to 
growing vines, but never to a greater extent than at 
this particular stage of their growth. 
Early Pe tCH House. —The trees here will need 
very careful watching. Too hard forcing, as has 
been previously intimated, is injurious, and its evil 
effects will first be noted in the appearance of the 
leaves. If these look to be thin, delicate, and 
flimsy in texture, more air must be given in order to 
favour more healthy growth, for it must be remem¬ 
bered that strict attention to the well-being of the 
foliage is absolutely essential to the securing of a 
good crop for this year, as well as to the permanent 
welfare of the trees themselves. Continue to remove 
foreright shoots by degrees, so as not to cause any 
great derangement of the circulation ol the sap. 
The Succession House. —The bulk of the flowers 
will now be over here, but attention must be paid to 
the pollination of the later ones so as to make sure of 
a crop. As soon as all the flowers are over, the 
syringe must be started to work again. Take care 
not to coddle the trees in any way, but to give plenty 
of air whenever it is possible to do so without causing 
draughts. 
Watering Borders. —As the roots of the trees 
become more active as growth proceeds, the supply 
of water to the soil in which they are placed will 
become of the utmost importance. The watering of 
fruit borders is usually a heavy item during the first 
part of the season, for the natural coldness of the 
water has to be overcome by the addition of sufficient 
hot water to raise it to a temperature at least as 
high as that of the atmosphere of the house which 
is being operated on. In case of the houses that are 
just started, the water applied to the borders 
should be 5 0 or xo° warmar than the atmosphere of 
the house. Happy is the gardener who possesses 
the means of procuring plenty of hot water. A good- 
sized copper which can be filled and heated when 
desired is a convenience that should be present in 
every garden. Failing that, a tap affixed to the boiler 
driving the hot water pipes will come in very handy. 
—A.S.G. 
(gleanings from tljc Pnrlii 
of Stiencq. 
Competition between Wheat and British 
plants.—For more than fifty years Sir John Bennet 
Lawes, Bart., has been carrying on experiments of 
various kinds on his estate at Rothamsted, Herts. 
In the particular case under notice a field had been 
under cultivation with Wheat for a number of years, 
commencing in 1882. Then Sir John conceived the 
idea of leaving a corner of the field uncultivated to 
see what would happen when thus left to its own free 
will. The Wheat continued to spring up for a period 
of five years, sowing itself annually of course ; but 
at the end of that period it completely succumbed. 
No tillage nor manure being given, the Wheat gradu¬ 
ally declined in vigour and in the number of plants t 
till the British weeds completely ousted the originally- 
cultivated subject. This, in itself, would be sufficient 
proof that Wheat is not a British plant. It is very 
probable that a similar fate would soon overtake the 
Wild Oat (Avena fatua), even though now common in 
corn-fields, if the arable land were all sown down in 
pasture or left to its own resources as in this 
particular case. 
General aspect of the uncultivated ground. 
—We passed through this field at the end of July 
last; and our first impression was this particular 
corner had been planted with deciduous trees for 
some reason, such as shelter, ornamental effect, or 
simply to square the field to make the trial plots of 
even length. We soon learned the circumstances of 
the case, however. The principal trees that have 
taken possession of the ground, are chiefly Haw¬ 
thorns, Oaks, the Goat Willow, and Hazel, which 
must have come from the hedges which surround the 
field. The Hawthorns are the most numerous, and 
have grown most rapidly. All are so fairly well dis¬ 
tributed as to look like an artificial plantation. No 
doubt they will ultimately cover the whole ground 
and not only keep the herbaceous subjects subordin¬ 
ated to them, but also any other trees that may 
spring up, by reason of their having had a good 
start so as to get above the rest. They show how 
the land would ultimately get covered with forest of 
native growth. 
Other colonists.—At first the Wheat would have 
been fairly free from weeds, but the more rampant 
of the latter speedily got the upper hand of the 
exotic, and now they number something like seventy 
species, all told, even on this limited area of ground. 
In the course of a hurried ramble over the unculti¬ 
vated portion we noted about thirty-six distinct 
species. No doubt a portion of them came from the 
hedges in the vicinity ; others might have been weeds 
of the corn-fields, which multiplied rapidly when 
allowed free scope, and a number might have been 
carried from greater distances by the wind, by birds, 
and other agencies. The weeds of arable land will 
no doubt become extinct in their turn as the soil 
hardens and gets covered with perennial and deep¬ 
rooting weeds. 
The most conspicuous grass is Dactylisglomerata, 
and other equally rampant and conspicuous weeds to 
be noted towards the end of summer are the Yarrow 
(Achillea Millefolium), the Meadow Vetch (Lathyrus 
pratensis) ,and the Cow Parsnip(Heracleum Sphondyl- 
ium), a deep-rooting and coarse biennial weed. The 
first three mentioned have some value for grazing 
purposes. The Cock's-foot and Yarrow are indeed 
sometimes recommended for pastures, the former for 
horses and cattle and the latter for sheep. 
Rank and file of the weeds.—Grasses consti¬ 
tute a large percentage of the herbage as far as 
quantity is concerned, but they do not seem to form 
the staple with regard to numbers; but as time goes 
on they may increase till a more decided equilibrium 
is set up, to be disturbed again by the growth of the 
trees and the shade cast by them. Besides those 
above-mentioned, other prominent grasses are Phleum 
pratense, Agrostis vulgaris, Poa trivialis, Holcus 
mollis, and Lolium perenne, the common Ryegrass. 
The others constitute a rough and weedy lot, and 
include the Field Scabious, Coltsfoot, Field Thistle, 
Dog-Rose, Black Medick, Pimpinella Saxifraga, 
Plantago lanceolata, Field Bindweed, Dandelion, 
Knapweed, Crepis virens, Trifolium pratense, 
Sonchus arvensis, Trifolium repens, Traveller’s Joy, 
Senecio Jacobaea, Bartsia Odontites, Calamintha 
Clinopodium, Eeontodon hirtum, Agrimonia Eupa- 
toria, Ranunculus repens, and Bracken. The latter 
had crept from under the hedges. 
