474 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March. 29, 1890. 
soil the depth of the seed, and I venture to predict a 
failure in at least nine cases out of ten. The same may 
be said of Broad Beans. Both should he sown at least 
3 ins. deep on a light soil, and 2 ins. deep on a clay 
soil. They ought to be sown even deeper in both soils 
when the chances of drought are at hand, and in dry 
weather the seed drills should have a copious supply of 
moisture immediately before sowing, the seed also 
being thoroughly soaked in water for a few hours. The 
fact that they are moisture-loving plants should be 
always borne in mind. With good mulchings and 
copious waterings in dr} r weather there would be fewer 
complaints of that dreaded pest, mildew. 
French Beans, on the other hand, are often sown too 
deep, and hence the reason of so many failures. These 
will, with impunity, hear the proverbial depth of the 
seed, and little, if any more, is necessary in the 
majority of gardens, unless in exceptionally dry weather. 
In wet weather it is next to impossible to grow French 
Beans in clay soil sown in the usual way. In such a 
case it is better merely to make a mark on the surface 
for each line or row and sow thereon, covering up in 
ridge fashion with about 1 in. of old potting soil, or 
even the clay soil itself well incorporated with leaf-soil 
or wood ashes. These should never be sown deeper 
than 2 ins., even in an open sandy soil, and it should 
be the aim of the cultivator to study the weather in 
sowing them, as if much rain intervenes between the 
sowing and brairding the probability is that all will 
rot. 
The same applies to Beetroot—generally sown too 
early. I never think of sowing before the beginning 
of May, and it often runs . into the middle of that 
month before I feel justified in so doing (I am always 
directed by the state of the soil, not by the date), and 
failures are comparatively unknown. "With a very 
slight frost, even 3° or 4°, when the seed is in its 
embryo state, the chances are that the majority of 
the plants will soon run to seed by midsummer, and are 
consequently rendered useless. For Beetroot, Carrots, 
Parsnips, Scorzonera, and Salsafy, shallow drills, 
perhaps 1 in., on sandy, free soil, and ^ in. on clay soil, 
are quite deep enough ; and little or no trampling in of 
the seeds is necessary. Onions, Turnips, and Parsley, 
on the other hand, require firm soil, and in the 
majority of cases will be none the worse for having the 
ground well consolidated before sowing ; and afterwards 
again trampled or rolled hard. Of course the soil, to 
bear all this, must be rather dry. Onions are one of 
the most useful, and at the same time most troublesome 
and uncertain crops of the garden. A good plan where 
maggots are plentiful—and they usually are in most 
old gardens—is to sow the principal crop in August ; 
from the beginning to the middle of that month will 
suit. If sown then, they are too strong for these 
marauders in their season, and a fine lot of Onions can 
invariably be got. If well harvested they may be 
kept sound till February or March if kept cool and 
perfectly dry, as the presence of moisture at once 
excites them into growth. Under these conditions 
I find they keep sound, although frost may reach them. 
A very few of the spring-sown crop will be required to 
bridge over the time between that and the preceding 
August sowing, as it will be quite fit for most culinary 
purposes by the month of May. Sulphate of ammonia 
is a very good preventive, as well as cure for the 
maggot, sown with a sparing hand at intervals amongst 
the growing crop while it rains, or diluted in water at the 
rate of two dessert spoonfuls to four gallons of water, and 
applied through a rose watering pot. The same is good 
for Carrots and Parsley, and much more efficacious 
than soot or gas lime, or indeed paraffin oil, and 
certainly much more beneficial, as it is a wholesome 
manurial agent. 
Asparagus and Sea Kale seeds ought to be sown as 
early in February or March as possible, as they take a 
long time to germinate ; the same may be said of 
Parsley. Parsnips too require to he early sown, and the 
deepest and freest soil of the garden is necessary to 
procure good roots. These, when well grown, are a 
good substitute for Carrots. 
Where Parsley is much in demand—as it usually is— 
there should always be a good sowing put in about the 
end of July, or early in August, and most of these 
plants will pull through the winter and come in most 
serviceable long before the spring sowing will be fit for 
use. Seeds sown in frames, early in July, and thinned 
out to about 9 ins. apart, kept well ventilated, and 
thus made sturdy, are most useful to gather from all 
the winter. 
It is quite practicable to treat Parsley as a biennial, 
and I should say the most successful way to grow it. 
Seeds of all the Brassica family should be slightly 
trampled in when sown, and netted at once to keep 
chaffinches, &c., from nibbling the seeds in their 
embryo state. Now is a good time to sow all sorts of 
this family for autumn and winter use. 
Celery is generally raised under glass until ready to 
harden off for transplanting, and there is no better 
time than the present for sowing the general crop. It 
should never be allowed to become dry in any stage of 
its growth, even from the day the seeds are sown if a 
good braird is expected ; and after the seeds are ger¬ 
minated, any check through lack of moisture or other¬ 
wise may be the means of 20 per cent, running to seed- 
stems at the mid-season, and so rendering them useless 
except for flavouring soups or sucli-like. The list of 
kitchen-garden seeds is by no means exhausted, but 
those mentioned form the every-day favourites at the 
different seasons of the year. Many things perhaps 
equally useful in some gardens as the above might 
have been enumerated and commented upon, and 
examples adduced ad infinitum. — J. Proctor, Glenfinart. 
-- 
SEASONABLE NOTES ON 
PROPAGATING. 
The industrious man will now be very busy at the 
work of propagating, and the time for many things 
will scarcely be found, as all his work 'will appear to 
come upon him at once. Soft-wooded cuttings of all 
descriptions will now need attention, being careful 
that they do not get drawn before they are taken from 
the parent plant. Bouvardias need especial care in 
this matter, and always root best if they can be heeled 
off from the old wood. I always have found them to 
make much better plants if so treated. The pots for 
these, as for all other cuttings, should be well drained, 
and upon the surface of the crocks a thin layer of moss 
should be spread. Fill the pot to within J in. of 
the top with finely prepared sandy soil—leaf-soil and 
sand preferred. The remaining ^ in. should consist 
of dry sand. 
The cuttings are best inserted as they are taken off, 
and if firm, as I have before advised, they may be 
pushed into the dry sand without the aid of any dibber, 
by pushing the cutting into the pot. In this manner 
it brings the base of the cutting to the surface of the 
fine-prepared sandy soil, the dry sand running all round 
the cutting, and keeping it firm in its place. As soon 
as the pot is full of cuttings, it should be watered 
overhead with a very fine rose water pot, using water at 
about the temperature of the house the cuttings are 
going to be in. I find this plan much superior to the 
old way of watering your pots first, and then inserting 
the cuttings with a dibber, by which system you are not 
always sure that the base of your cutting is resting 
upon a firm bottom. 
Pieturning to the benefits of sphagnum moss as a 
useful article for propagating purposes, I always have 
found that besides the plants I have already enumerated, 
the Casuarina ericoides roots well if just heeled into it 
by the side of other larger cuttings, such as Ficus, &c. 
The Casuarina is not always certain to root successfully 
if put into ordinary cutting pots, as the soil and 
sand seem to lay too close about it, which fact causes it 
to damp off very readily. Nice little offshoots or side 
branches that will heel 08 from the older wood, just 
laid into the sphagnum, will root directly, and very 
soon make nice plants for decorative purposes. 
Toxicophlaia. 
This may be cut up into lengths at the present time 
and pushed into the sphagnum. Before inserting the 
cutting, adopt the plan I previously advised for the 
Ficus, to stop the bleeding of the stem ; it will then 
form a callus quickly, from which roots will soon emit 
themselves, when it may be potted up, moss and all, 
and in a few weeks a nice established plant will have 
been obtained. The Toxicophlrea is a very useful 
winter-flowering plant, and plants that have now 
done flowering will require to be somewhat cut back, 
to bring them into proportionate shape and size before 
making the summer’s growth. The shoots cut away 
from the plants will make capital cuttings. 
Euphorbia Jacq,uini.eflora. 
This always roots best from young growths, that should 
be taken away from the main stem with a heel attached, 
and should immediately have the bleeding stopped by 
hot sand. Insert at once upon the sphagnum, and, if 
necessary, cover with a bell-glass, but be careful that 
the latter is slightly tilted, to allow a circulation of air 
to pass round the cutting. It will not be necessary to 
give the cuttings any water, the moisture from the 
moss being quite sufficient for their wants. They 
readily root with this treatment, and a good healthy 
old plant will yield an abundance of cuttings, which 
should always be taken before they are 2 ins. long. 
SeLAGI HELLAS. 
The present is also a good time to split up any of the 
better kinds of Selaginellas, such as S. Wallichii, 
S. Victoria, and S. tessellata, and if the rhizomes can 
be buried with sphagnum they root away much quicker. 
— Vtrax. 
-- 
THE SWISS NURSERY, HAM- 
MERSMITH. 
The Orchids are the principal features of the town 
nursery belonging to Mr. J. Prewett, and situated in 
Black Lion Lane, Hammersmith. Various other stove 
and greenhouse subjects are also grown in quantity, 
and, besides supplying the cut-flower trade, Mr. 
Prewett is also a successful exhibitor at many of the 
shows in the vicinity, as well as at some distance. The 
houses are of the low, span-roofed type best adapted 
for plant growing, but, as in other town gardens, they 
are under the influence of the smoke and fog nuisance. 
The whole of the stock is, however, soon to be trans¬ 
ferred to the Caterham Valley, Surrey, where condi¬ 
tions more congenial to plant life will prevail. 
We noted the other day some pieces of Deudrobium 
Findleyanum and D. crepidatum suspended from the 
roof in baskets. The latter is a pretty species, having 
white flowers beautifully tinted with pale rose, and a 
large, golden yellow blotch on the lip. Some rare 
species are also showing flower. Amongst Cymbi- 
diums were C. Lowianum, and the sweetly scented C. 
eburneum. The old-fashioned Zygopetalum Mackayi 
had stems about 3 ft. in height, bearing numerous 
flowers. Very fine forms of Coelogyne cristata alba and 
Lycaste Skinneri alba were notable for their purity a 
short time ago. 
The Cypripediums are never out of flower, but a good 
display is prevented by the continual use of the knife. 
Amongst those in flower at the time of our visit was 
the beautiful C. barbatum Crossii, better known in 
gardens under the name of C. b. Warnerianum, and 
distinguished by a broad /\-shaped band of vinous purple 
on the upper sepal, and by its more deflexed petals. 
C. callosum was notable for the great size of the upper 
sepal. Alongside of it was a richly coloured variety of 
C. Harrisianum. C. Argus was flowering, and a piece of 
C. Piothschildianum, just expanding its blooms, showed 
all parts of the flower very richly coloured. Some of 
these are anything but common amongst market 
growers, and we noted various subjects suspended in 
baskets or on rafts which would not readily be taken in 
hand by the general body of that persuasion with a 
view to profit. Many of the smaller kinds are prized 
for their sweet odour rather than the bright colours or 
size of their flowers. 
--- 
MANDEVILLA SUAVEOLENS. 
This is one of the most beautiful climbing plants in 
cultivation, beautiful alike in form and colour, which 
is pure white ; and the perfume is most delicious. For 
these reasons it is much to be regretted that it is 
so seldom met with in a satisfactory condition. It may 
be described as half hardy, and suitable for greenhouse 
or conservatory. "We have flowered it outside under a 
south wall in a warm, dry situation, and believe if 
grown in a large pot or tub and placed under shelter, 
secure from severe frost during the winter months, it 
would, in most seasons, flower sufficiently well outside 
to repay the labour bestowed upon it. We found the 
flowers in fine weather were if anything better than 
those produced under glass, being stouter and standing 
longer when cut. 
The reason why so many fight shy of growing it, is 
its liability to the attacks of red-spider. This we 
believe would seldom happen to it when grown outside 
if properly supplied with water. The attacks of spider 
generally follow upon unheathy conditions of plant 
life. In this instance we often find the Mandevilla 
potted in soil quite unsuited to its requirements, in 
which it may perchance flourish for a time, but when 
the constituents in this description of soil become 
exhausted it falls into an unhealthy condition, and so 
becomes a too ready prey to spider. We have found 
that under different treatment to that generally 
followed with respect to soil, the spider gave us little 
trouble. The directions frequently given in works of 
reference as to soils suitable for particular plants are 
sometimes at fault, and in this instance especially so. 
