282 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 4, 1890. 
longer time to dry on its surface, than ground that has 
not been dug or trenched ; the reason is not far to seek, as 
the operation of digging dislocates, so to speak, and 
stops up all the natural drains or outlets for the water 
formed by earthworms and deep-rooting of plants of the 
previous crop, the sub-soil being of a tenacious clay, 
holding the water as in a pan and keeping the soil 
above in a constantly saturated state all the winter, 
rendering it very unworkable, and in anything but a 
fit condition in the spring for the putting in of seeds 
or plants, the crops—especially root crops—doing badly 
on it. 
On the other hand, I have invariably found the plots 
of ground that have been left undisturbed, and with the 
remnants of the previous crops still in the ground, and 
all the natural drains formed by the worms and roots, 
still intact and in working order, carrying off all the 
surplus water, till the beginning of March, to be in a 
drier and more friable condition, easier to work, and 
altogether in a better state for the reception of the 
crops than the ground that is trenched in early winter. 
It will also be found that frost penetrates to a much 
greater depth the ground that is compact and left un¬ 
disturbed through the winter than it does the early 
turned-up soil lying light on its surface. 
From a study of the foregoing facts, I some years 
ago prepared a calendar of operations to suit our peculiar 
circumstances and conditions of soil, to which we faith¬ 
fully adhere, and have no reason to be dissatisfied with 
the results. For the sake of convenience, we divide 
our ground now into two plots, each undergoing, on 
alternate years, a thorough manuring and early winter 
trenching. 
The early trenched and manured plot we crop with 
Peas, Beans, and the principal kinds of winter stuff, 
the rows of the former being placed at wide intervals, 
and the spaces between cropped with Brussels Sprouts, 
Broccoli, Savoys, Kales, &c. The other plot of ground 
is reserved for Potatos and root crops generally, and is 
left undisturbed until the beginning of March, when it 
is dug and broken up as deeply as possible with steel 
forks ; and as this was the plot of ground that had the 
heavy manuring and deep trenching the previous year, 
no manure is given or used for the root crops beyond a 
little artificial, which is sown in the drills at the time 
the crops are put in. 
The soil mostly turns up in a dry and friable 
condition, and we not infrequently put in our crops of 
Potatos as the digging proceeds, Carrots, Beet, Salsafy, 
and other roots being left to be put in in their due 
season. We mostly experience a few sharp dry frosts 
through March, and thus a nicely pulverised seed bed 
is secured for the crops ; the soil at the same time lays 
light and well divided through the mass to the depth 
the Carrots, &c., will reach. We therefore mostly secure 
clean and shapely roots of these several crops, and much 
superior to what we formerly obtained from early winter- 
trenched ground. 
There is plenty of heavy ground resting on clay 
similar to ours in different parts of the country, the 
cultivators of which, I have no doubt, can bear me out 
in the foregoing remarks on early versus late winter 
and early spring-trenched ground, and the moral to be 
drawn therefrom as to the necessity of being guided 
by their own calendars.— J. Kipling, Knebworth. 
-►»$<-.- 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
—-#•— 
Spuing Bedding. 
During mild weather, all plants intended for spring 
bedding should be transplanted without further delay 
to the positions they are intended to occupy when in 
bloom. This applies to Daisies, Wallflowers, Silene 
pendula compacta, Arabis albida, A. a. variegata, 
A. lucida variegata, Aubrietias, and other things of that 
nature. Spring-flowering bulbs should, of course, have 
been planted in October or November ; but if the 
operation has been delayed, it should be seen to at once, 
as the bulbs are making determined efforts to grow, and 
will accordingly soon lose in substance and vitality if 
longer kept out of the soil. Before commencing to 
plant, the beds should be manured, dug, and dressed. 
Old hot-bed manure constitutes a good dressing, and if 
the soil is naturally heavy, a quantity of half-rotted 
leaf-soil will do much to lighten it. Lift the plants 
with a fairly good ball of earth, and re-plant them in the 
beds with a trowel. Daisies, Arabis, and Aubrietias 
should he broken up into moderately small pieces if 
they have not already been so treated when lifted from 
the beds last summer. The best and neatest effects are 
obtained when all the plants in any one line are made 
nearly as equal in size as possible. 
Protecting Carnations from Sparrows. 
As food becomes scarce in the winter, sparrows render 
themselves obnoxious by eating and picking the leaves 
of Carnations to pieces. This is more especially the 
case in spring, when the young leaves begin to push ; 
and in all town and suburban gardens these marauding 
birds attack not merely Carnations, but Primroses, 
Cowslips, and Crocuses (especially the yellow kinds), as 
well as Peas and other vegetables that may be coming 
through the ground. A very effective method of dealing 
with them is to stick small wooden pegs into the 
ground, and run a few black threads from one to the 
other. This puzzles and frightens them so that not¬ 
withstanding their audacity, the Carnations are left 
alone. Without some such method as this, it would be 
impossible to get flowers at all in some gardens, the 
leaves being eaten until the crown of the plant is 
reached and destroyed. After growth has fairly com¬ 
menced late in spring, green and other more agree¬ 
able food becomes plentiful, which the birds naturally 
seek. 
Pruning Vines. 
The owners of greenhouses frequently have an ambition 
to possess a Vine, which can, of course, be easily 
procured by anyone ; but then comes the question of 
growing it. The great stumbling-block with many is 
the matter of pruning. The Vines are generally 
allowed to luu riot all through the summer, till there 
is literally no breathing space for the foliage, and light 
is altogether prevented from reaching it. Pruning 
should be taken in hand immediately, and carried out 
with a fearless hand all through the summer, so that 
no unnecessary wood may be developed at all beyond 
that which is absolutely needful. The main rods, 
whatever their number, should be trained straight up 
under the glass of the roof, at 3 ft. or 3J ft. apart from 
rod to rod. No excuse should be made for allowing a 
greater number, because the lateral shoots from them 
will occupy all the available space. At the present 
time all these laterals should be cut back to a good 
bud, as near the base of the same as possible. They 
will, of course, present a naked appearance; but this 
is as it should be at this season of the year. All the 
rough loose bark, if there is any, should be rubbed off 
with the hand, to destroy lodgment for insects, and 
should there have been any on the Vines the previous 
season, carefully scrub or wash the bark with a solution 
of Gishurst Compound to destroy what eggs may be 
deposited upon them. A painter’s half-worn brush is 
a good thing to do it with, for then the insecticide can 
be well rubbed into every crevice of the bark, and 
every cranny where the spurs join the main stems. 
Auriculas in Frames. 
Owing to the mild weather which has prevailed during 
the greater part of the last two months, Auriculas are 
greener than they should be at this season if resting 
properly. Great attention must therefore be given 
them in the matter of ventilation, to keep them sturdy 
and firm. The sashes should be well-tilted up every 
day, unless frost prevails. On fine dry days the lights 
had better be entirely removed, so as to allow the air 
to play freely amongst them, and dry up superfluous 
moisture. At such times the plants may be gone over, 
to remove dead and decaying leaves, which would soon 
affect others, and might even cause the destruction of 
the crown of the plant itself. 
American Blight. 
Those whose trees are infested with this pest in summer, 
should go over the tress carefully at this season of the 
year, and wherever the insects are detected by their 
bluish black colour, or by the presence of woolly 
matter, the crevices of the bark, and all infested parts 
should be well scrubbed with a half-worn painter’s 
brush, just kept moist with paraffin, or with a strong 
solution of Gishurst Compound. The same might be 
repeated at intervals during summer, and the pest will 
be thoroughly kept under. 
--- 
WHAT IS A BEGONIA?-II. 
(Concluded from p. 261 ). 
Propagation. 
There are two very important means by which 
Begonias may be increased, namely, by seeds and by 
vegetative reproduction ; and the relative value of each 
depends upon the particular kinds to be propagated. 
All species that produce seeds readily may be most 
expeditiously increased by raising seedlings, a fact 
which will be readily granted when we recall to mind 
the enormous number of minute seeds contained in a 
single capsule. The extreme fecundity of a Begonia 
may be compared to that of an Orchid, while the 
facility with which the former may be germinated and 
grown into plants is a thousand times greater than in 
the case of Orchids, as most cultivators of both classes 
of plants are prepared to admit. Except, however, in 
the case of new kinds, and as a means of obtaining new 
sorts by cross-breeding and hybridisation, and in the 
case of the tuberous Begonias, seed raising is but little 
practised. It is, moreover, the most expeditious, 
most natural and satisfactory method of increasing the 
popular tuberous race, whether for pot culture or for 
bedding out, and should be encouraged. 
Vegetative reproduction for convenience sake may be 
sub-divided into some half a dozen headings, namely, 
cuttings, rhizomes, tubers, bulbils, buds and leaves. 
Taken in its widest sense, and for the largest number 
of-species, the practice of increasing stock by cuttings 
is more important to cultivators than all the other five 
methods put together. All the shrubby kinds can be 
struck from cuttings at a rate far in excess of the re¬ 
quirements of any one establishment for pot work. The 
necessary stock of B. incarnata atropurpurea, B. ascot- 
ensis, B. semperflorens, B. Carrieri, and others of that 
class used for bedding purposes, is obtained in this way. 
The tuberous kinds are propagated to a great extent 
by taking cuttings, because this is almost the only 
way of preserving choice varieties true to name. 
Plants raised in this way are, however, often very 
difficult to establish, because although tubers are 
readily produced, many of the latter never develop 
buds, so that their existence cannot be prolonged even 
in the hands of a skilful propagator. There is less 
difficulty, however, with several other herbaceous 
kinds ; and what is remarkable, Adonis and John 
Heal amongst the winter-flowering hybrids can be 
propagated like weeds by cuttings. 
Rhizomes are procumbent, generally fleshy stems, 
and where they occur, as in B. rhizocaulis, B. rex and 
others of that class, every piece with a bud may be cut 
off and rooted. Tubers are not confined to the modem 
race enjoying the appellation of tuberous, but exist 
also in B. tuberosa, B. geranifolia, B. octopetala, 
B. picta, B. Martiana, and several others, all of which 
may be propagated by division of the tubers, preserving 
a bud on each portion. Some deny it in the case of 
the tuberous summer-flowering hybrids, but it is 
feasible enough, although not a very expeditious 
method, nor, perhaps, to be recommended. Leafy 
buds are produced all over the stems of B. phyllo- 
maniaca, but as a means of propagation they are not 
very important. 
Bulbils are of pretty frequent occurrence, either 
singly or in clusters in the axils of the leaves on various 
parts of the stems. Instances of this kind occur in 
B. bulbulifera, B. Martiana, B. Evansiana, and others. 
In some few cases a process of a similar kind develops 
on the midrib of a leaf close to the base of the lamina, 
as occurs in Tolmiea Menziesii and Nymphsea Daub- 
neyana. B. socotrana, John Heal, Winter Gem, and 
others, produced from the first-named, develop little 
bulbs at the base of the annual stem, or close to it 
The small bulbs constitute the natural means of pre¬ 
serving the last-named winter-flowering varieties ; but 
as already mentioned they may, with the greatest 
facility, be propagated by cuttings. The bulbil-bearing 
species may be rapidly increased by that means, as 
those who grow B. Evansiana (B. discolor) and B. 
Martiana well know. 
A number of Begonias may be propagated by means 
of leaves, including the tuberous kinds, but the great 
facility with which most kinds can be increased from 
cuttings renders such experiments unnecessary. It is, 
however, the most expedient method of increasing the 
stock of B. rex, its hybrid forms, and certain other 
allied species. The stronger ribs of the leaves are cut 
through, and the whole leaf is laid on a coco-nut fibre 
bed in a pit, with a small quantity of sand placed over 
them to keep them in position until plantlets are 
formed ; or where space is a desideratum the midrib 
and thicker portions of the leaves are cut up into strips, 
forming cuttings, which are inserted thickly in pots of 
sandy soil. This latter method is adopted in some 
market nurseries. 
Hybridisation. 
The sole object of cross-breeding or hybridisation is to 
obtain new and improved forms, that is, from a horti¬ 
cultural point of view. The grand stride that has 
been made in this respect amongst the tuberous 
