698 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 5, 1890. 
The Am ateurs’ Garden. 
SEASONABLE WORK in the GARDEN. 
Chrysanthemums.—The principal points to be 
attended to at present are staking, tying, and watering. 
Look sharply after green-fly and the frog-hoppers, 
whose presence may be recognised by the masses of white 
frothy, spittle-like matter called Cuckoo Spit in the 
axils of the leaves. More harm is done by these than 
is general!}'imagined. An insector two will always be 
found in the spittle, which is their excretion. By 
brushing away the spittle, the tender-skinned creatures 
will be exposed to the action of the sun, and killed, or 
they may readily be squeezed between the finger and 
thumb. 
Bouvardias.—Young plants should now be ready 
to put into their flowering-pots. A good compost may 
be made of turfy loam, a little peat, some well-rotted 
stable manure, and sufficient sand to insure perfect 
drainage. After the plants have become re-established 
in the fresh soil, they may with advantage be stood in 
the open air in some sheltered position till autumn. 
Chinese Primulas.—Prick off the young seedlings 
as they become fit, and stand them in a cool frame with 
a northern aspect for the summer months. Shading 
may be resorted to in very bright weather. Rooted 
cuttings should also be grown in a cool frame. Five- 
inch pots will be large enough till the plants gain 
strength, after which they may be potted on. All 
flowers that make their appearance should be pinched 
off until the regular flowering season commences. 
Calceolarias.—Now is a good time to sow seeds for 
flowering next spring. Well-drained pans may be 
filled with ordinary potting compost, and after pressing 
it down cover with some light sandy soil. Leave about 
^-in. or so at the top to give the seedlings room to 
germinate, as the pans should be covered with a square 
of glass to retain the moisture which is essential during 
the actual period of germination, for just then a large 
proportion of the seedlings die at this critical period, or 
they fail to rise above the soil, owing to the latter 
having been allowed to become dry. After the seedlings 
are up, they may be placed in a cold frame with a 
northern aspect. 
Cyclam.ens.—Old plants should be kept cool and 
freely ventilated, just giving sufficient moisture to 
prevent them becoming baked. Young plauts must be 
treated more liberally to keep them growing. They 
also require attention in the matter of potting as soon 
as they get sufficiently large. They must never be 
allowed to become dry. 
Fuchsias.—Old plants of these are now in full 
bloom. Tie in the long straggling shoots to give the 
plants symmetry. Yacant spaces where the old stem 
is not furnished with laterals may now be remedied by 
tying young shoots into them. They delight in a 
liberal supply of water all through the growing 
period, and if they are heavily syringed with water 
overhead even while in bloom they will be all the 
better for it. This had best be done about six in the 
evening, when the sun is declining. Let the water 
from the syringe drop upon them as a gentle spray. 
Leave air on the top ventilators all night. 
Gardenias.—Vigorous young plants of these that 
require potting, should have the operation performed 
before the roots get thoroughly pot-bound. Plants 
that are required to flower early should by this time be 
well advanced in growth, and when that has been com¬ 
pleted, the plants should be placed in a cool house for 
a time to induce them to rest. Later on they may be 
placed in a brisk moist heat, when they will rapidly 
push into bloom. 
Variegated Pine Apple.—When these come 
into fruit, the crown of leaves terminating the latter 
should be taken off and rooted, as it forms more 
compact and useful plants for decorative purposes than 
those raised from suckers. In like manner, very small 
and well-variegated crowns of Pandanus Yeitchii that 
push out from the stem will form nice compact plants 
of a more serviceable nature than large and vigorous 
sirckers. 
Amaryllis.—The bulbs of this class of plants 
should be carefully attended to in the matter of 
watering after-they have done flowering till the leaves 
begin to fade, when moisture should be gradually with¬ 
held. The plants should not be stored away till the 
foliage has perfectly died down. 
Bougainvillea glabra.—As the plants go out 
of bloom, thin out the weakly and useless wood, and 
after a short rest start them into fresh growth, when a 
supply of bloom will be obtained a second time in 
autumn. 
Basket Ferns.—All Ferns now require a large 
supply of moisture ; but those that -are suspended in 
baskets have their roots more exposed on all sides, and 
therefore must be liberally supplied. To avoid the 
wetting of the floors of conservatories and other places 
that are much frequented during the day, the watering 
should be done early in the morning, and the moisture 
wiped up, or in other eases it may be more convenient 
to do it at night. 
Peaches.—As the fruits in succession houses pass 
the stoning period the trees should be gone over, to 
remove all small and badly-placed fruits before 
they interfere with those that are left. Preference 
should be given to those fruits which show signs of 
taking the lead, as they will ultimately make the finest 
specimens. Syringe the trees heavily twice a day in 
fine weather until the fruits begin to ripen, using clean 
soft-water. 
Figs.—"When the second crop has been gathered 
from the earliest trees the temperature of the house 
should be allowed to decline, so as to allow the wood 
and foliage to become thoroughly matured, and the 
axillary fruit buds to plump up. The plants should 
be stood near the glass if in pots, and trees that are 
planted out may be allowed to push their foliage up to 
the glass, in order to benefit from a maximum of light. 
By this treatment they will become thoroughly pre¬ 
pared for starting again in November. 
Grub in Chrysanthemum Leaf.—I find that 
my Chrysanthemums have a grub in the leaf which 
does great damage ; I should be glad if you would tell 
me how to get rid of them.— M. J. Reg.d. [The leaves 
of your Chrysanthemums are tunnelled or mined with 
the larva of Phytomyza nigricornis, a small black fly 
which infests many kinds of Chrysanthemums, as well 
as other plants. Your best plan would be to remove 
and burn all leaves that are badly affected, as they are 
of little, value and greatly disfigure the plant. The 
remainder you can examine on the under-surface, and 
where the grub is discovered crush it between the 
finger and thumb. By perseverance in this way you 
can reduce the number of insects. You might also 
syringe your plants occasionally with weak tobacco 
water or soot water, to prevent the winged flies from 
laying their eggs in the leaves.] 
Layering Carnations.—I tried last year to 
propagate some border Carnations, both by cuttings 
and layers, but failed entirely with the former, and my 
success at layering was anything but encouraging. Can 
you put me up to a “short cut” ? -J. A. It., Kingston. 
[You cannot propagate Carnations and Picotees by 
cuttings without the aid of gentle bottom heat, and 
the want of that essential was doubtless the cause of 
your failure. We like layered plants best, and there is 
no difficulty in getting them if you get to work soon. 
If layered late, and the autumn should be cold and 
wet, the layers do not root freely, and are then more 
difficult to manage in the winter. Begin layering at 
once, then, and get it done as soon as you can. Get 
some light, sandy soil into which to peg the shoots, 
sharpen the small blade of your knife, neatly remove 
some of the lower leaves, and make an upward cut in 
the stem to the base of a node or joint, and carefully 
peg it down, of put some of the sandy soil above the 
cutting, and on that a pebble-stone to keep the layer 
in its place. Perhaps the accompanying small illus¬ 
tration will better explain the modus operandi. We 
like pegging the best, and the neat 'pegs sold by Mr. 
Pi. Sydenham, of Birmingham, better than any. With 
these you can always tell the position of the layer 
underground, and do not have to mutilate the roots in 
hunting for the stem to sever it from the old plant. 
When you pot the layers up in the autumn, if you can 
give them a little bottom-heat for a week or two so 
much the better.] 
Pinks Coming 1 Single.—Anna Boleyn and other 
Pinks of the same kind are throwing up single instead 
of double flowers this summer. I should be very glad 
to know the reason. Most of the clumps have been 
undisturbed for three years ; no single bloom has ever 
appeared before. Is any kind of treatment possible 1 
The soil is dry and sandy, but Pinks have always 
thriven fairly well hitherto.— C. A. G. [The cause of 
their coming single is to be found in the poverty of the 
soil ; the ground is poor, and the plants have been too 
long on it. You ought to raise some young plants 
every season, and only grow them for two years if you 
want good blooms. The pipings may be put in now in 
a shady place under a frame or bell glass, and when 
ready for planting out, well enrich the dry sandy soil 
with well-rotted manure and leaf-soil, and mulch them 
with a litter of the same in the spring.] 
Mignonette Culture.—Please inform me of the 
best method of sowing Mignonette seed in pots ; also 
the treatment after sowing. What variety is best for 
large blooms?— Nahant, Jlass. [The precise treatment 
required depends upon when you want the plants to be 
in bloom, and the size of them. For spring flowering 
sow in August or September in 5 in. or 6-in. pots, 
using a compost of two parts of good fibrous loam, one 
of dried well-rotted cow manure, and one of old mortar, 
thoroughly mixed and blended together. Drain the 
pots well, and after filling them with the compost, 
press the latter down very firmly, sow seeds thinly over 
the surface and cover them lightly with the same 
compost. The plants ought to be flowered in these 
pots. After sowing, stand the latter in a cold frame 
until severe weather approaches, then remove the pots 
to an airy greenhouse and stand them on shelves close 
to the glass. Long before the plants get crowded thin 
them out to five or six in 43-sized pots, leaving the 
best. Never allow them to get dry, but at the same 
time guard against stagnant moisture at the roots. 
Stake or tie up the plants before they get broken down. 
The best varieties for this method of culture are Miles’ 
Hybrid Spiral, Crimson King, Garaway’s White, 
Golden Queen, and Queen Victoria. If you desire to 
grow single specimens to a large size, sow.soon after 
midsummer in small pots, thin out the seedling.^ 
leaving only the best one, and shift on into larger sized 
pots as the plant grows and fills the pot with roots. 
Standard specimens may be grown in this way.] 
Pleasing Combination in a Cottage Gar¬ 
den.—Those who live in country districts and move 
freely about, often come across very beautiful combi¬ 
nations and singular contrasts in roadside cottage and 
farmhouse gardens. I recently saw in a cottager's 
garden in Somersetshire, one of the most pleasing bits 
of grouping that has ever come under my notice. The 
plants consisted of the double scarlet Anemone, the 
Spring-flowering Forget-me-not, and the yellow Alyssum 
saxatile, and they were associated together in a bed in 
large masses, the whole being edged with double- 
flowered Daisies. The effect was most striking. In a 
border by the side of the house were some Tulips of the 
Gesneriana type, double yellow Wallflowers, and a 
number of other things to come into bloom later on. 
It was a little garden that did one’s heart good to look 
upon. In another cottage garden, early in May, I saw a 
glorious bit of colour. There were some grand double 
dwarf German Wallflowers, various Tulips, yellow 
Alyssum, Anemones of various kinds, common white 
Arabis, Forget-me-nots, some large plants of the true 
old Brompton Stock, and the common Thrift, Armeria, 
used as an edging plant round the beds. I noted also 
some fine patches of Limnanthes Douglasii, some good 
and early Pansies, and Bellfllowers ; and near the 
fence was a large bush of the common Furze, a glorious 
mass of golden yellow.— Dorset. 
ThfNia BENSO>'t.£.— The habit of this plant is like 
that of T. alba, now to be found in most collections 
of any extent. The tapering stems are about 3 ft. in 
length, covered in the lower parts with large leafy 
bracts, and towards the top with well-developed leaves 
from 6 ins. to 10 ins. long, and of a light green. The 
sepals and petals are white at the base, and more or 
less heavily tinted with purple upwards. The lip is 
lilac-purple, with darker veins, and heavily fringed 
with lacerated yellow lamellar marked with white. 
This peculiarity of the lip gives character and charm to 
the whole flower. The latter are produced in racemes 
from the top of the young stems, just as they have 
completed their growth. We noted a flowering specimen 
in the Orchid house containing the rockwork in the 
establishment of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. | 
