280 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Jan. 3rd, 1885. 
Potting Plants.— This is a practice required in a 
garden almost all the year round, but it is too often 
carelessly and imperfectly done. Some suggestions in 
relation to this important topic are always opportune, 
and especially to amateur cultivators of plants who 
look to The Gardening World and papers of a like 
character for advice and assistance. Let us try to lay 
down a few simple rules worthy of being studied and 
observed. In potting plants that require any cutting 
or pruning, the two operations should not be performed 
at the same time ; it is best to prune first, and allow 
the plant to make fresh growth before the potting ; is 
performed. That is one of the golden rules in the 
management of plants. Here is another:—deciduous 
plants should never be repotted till they have burst 
into leaf. Fuchsias, for instance, which have been 
dried off in winter, should in no case be shaken out 
of their old soil till they have expanded a few leaves, 
and any pruning required in their ease should be done 
before the roots are disturbed. Mr. J. Lye, of Clyffe 
Hall, who grows such splendid Fuchsias for the West 
of England exhibitions, cuts back his specimens in 
September, by the end of October they have broken 
into growth, they are then potted, and kept pretty 
dry all the winter, and in early spring they commence 
active growth, when they are shifted again. Ever¬ 
green greenhouse plants, such as Camellias, Oranges, 
and Myrtles, have a particular season at which the 
roots elongate and increase with more rapidity than is 
usual at other stages of then- growth, and, under 
ordinary circumstances, that season is immediately 
when they have made their growth in branches and 
leaves, and it is the most desirable time to shift such 
as require it into larger pots and more nourishing 
soil, just as the roots are extending and ready to take 
hold of fresh soil. 
Shifting a plant into a larger pot often becomes 
necessary when pruning is not called for. When it is 
desired to increase the size of a plant, it should be 
shifted into a larger pot as soon as the roots have 
circled themselves among and around the soil in their 
present pot to an extent that renders it safe to perform 
the operation without danger of the ball falling to 
pieces. Generally speaking, a sure criterion as to 
when a plant requires more pot room and nourishment 
is when the roots make then- appearance through the 
bottom of the pot. It is, however, much preferable 
at the near approach of winter to leave plants a little 
cramped at the roots than to shift them on at such a 
season; under such circumstances the operation 
should be deferred till early spring. Azaleas and 
Camellias should not be shifted till after the blooming 
season is past and they have made fresh growth ; and 
the exact season for potting such plants must, of 
course, be determined by the time at which they are 
forced to, or retarded from, making their growth. 
Another very important point is, that the pots 
should be scrupulously clean and quite dry when used. 
If they have been previously used, they should always 
be washed before putting another plant into them. 
Every particle of mould or slimy matter which adheres 
to them and clogs up the pores should be removed, 
both outside and inside. When a plant is potted into 
a pot, the inside of which is covered with particles of 
earth, the mischievous consequence, to say nothing 
of others, is that in turning a plant out of it the ball 
is sure to be broken, and of course the roots also 
injured. If time does not allow of the pots previously 
use! being washed, the cleanest and driest should be 
selected, and well wiped round in the inside with a 
wisp of straw until all adhering particles of dirt are 
removed.— Quo. 
--H*- 
Chrysanthemum culture: Large-flowering 
Varieties.---Cuttings inserted as previously directed 
(p. 248), should by February be ready for potting 
singly, and it must then be decided for what purpose 
the plants are to be grown. I will first deal with the 
mode of culture to obtain specimen blooms. The 
cuttings should be shaken out of the cutting pots and 
be re-potted singly into 3-in. pots, and again returned 
to the frame, and be kept shut up close for a few days, 
then air should be given on every favourable occasion. 
Early in April they should be potted into 6-in. pots, 
and should then be stood in a sheltered position out- 
of-doors. They will be ready for their final potting 
early in June into 8|-in. pots, which size will be 
found quite large enough to bloom the plants in. 
The plants should now have stakes put to them 
and be stood on ashes in a sunny position, and as 
they grow they should receive plenty of clear water 
and be syringed overhead at least twice a day during 
hot weather. When the pots get full of roots, a little 
clear soot water may be given occasionally with 
advantage. The plants will (early in July) throw out 
side shoots, and from three to six (according to the 
variety) should be retained, and all the others be 
pinched off. On these shoots the flower-buds ■will 
appear about the middle of August, and if good 
exhibition blooms are desired, they must be disbudded, 
i.e., there will be seen at the end of each stem a 
cluster of buds, and the best one (generally the centre 
one) should be left, and all others be taken off with 
a sharp knife, by so doing, the strength of the plant 
will be thrown into the buds left, and large blooms 
will be the result. 
Growing plants for conservatory decoration is very 
simple. After the cuttings have been potted singly, 
as above directed, they should be returned to the frame 
and be treated according to the directions given for the 
single varieties on p. 264. They will only require 
about four or six sticks to support the branches, and 
they should not be so largely disbudded as those 
intended for specimen blooms, as the object here is to 
have a good display of bloom, and for this purpose the 
collection should contain a few of the late as well as 
the early-flowering varieties, a list of which I will give 
in my next. 
For outdoor culture they should be planted early in 
April, but I do not recommend the large-flowering 
varieties for outdoor culture, as, unless we have a 
season like the last, they generally get spoilt by the 
frost in October. 
Pompon cuttings should be struck in February, 
and as soon rooted should be potted singly, and 
pinched as directed for the single varieties. In most 
cases a single stick will suffice for these, and they 
make useful plants for the front row of borders. 
There are various modes of training the plants for 
exhibition ; but I do not advise amateurs trying their 
hands at training until they have had some experience 
of cultivation. 
Another useful variety for outdoor culture or for 
early blooming in the greenhouse or the conservatory 
are the summer-blooming varieties ; but I had better 
defer my remarks ujion these until my next.— W. E. 
Boyce, Holloway. 
Dryness at the Hoots of Trees. —Let amateur 
gardeners look well to the roots of their fruit-trees. 
During the past month a good deal of rain has fallen, 
but not nearly enough to penetrate deep into the 
soil. We are now dealing with the London district, 
and particularly with the soils resting on a gravel 
subsoil. It is surprising how fast and completely the 
rain passes away into the soil; ponds and ditches 
are low, unusually so for the season of the year ; 
floods are unknown ; the lowest lands are not under 
water; the highways are almost dusty in the closing 
days of the year, and that without the intervention 
of hard, dry frost. A few days ago we were in a large 
fruit-garden and witnessed the operation of root- 
pruning in the case of some vigorous young fruit-trees. 
From 12 ins. to 18 ins. below the surface, the soil 
about the roots was almost dusty dry, and it was 
necessary to give a good soaking of water before the 
soil was returned to the roots. The drought of the 
past summer penetrated to a much greater depth than 
is generally supposed, those who trench or turn over 
heaps of soil that have laid by for a time, find this out. 
And the matter is one of special importance, because 
we may have entered upon a cycle of dry seasons of 
which 1883 was the first. Should there be less of 
rain than is usual between now and the end of May, 
and the summer be as hot and dry as the last, crops 
must suffer, and it is mournful to contemplate that 
greatly important as is the subject of the storage of 
rain water, little or nothing has been done during the 
past few years of a permanent and general character. 
Yet it is a subject of the first importance, but we fear 
one scarcely likely to take a firm hold upon the 
public mind until the nation experiences something 
like a water famine. 
THE SWEET WILLIAM. 
Dianthus barbatus. —The bearded Dianthus is one 
of the most popular of common garden flowers, and 
truly so. It may be said to find a place in every 
garden, large and small. It is said to be indigenous 
to Germany, and from thence it has found its way all 
over Europe. It is unfortunately generally deficient 
in fragrance, but there are indications that some of 
the varieties are sweeter-scented than they were a 
few years ago; but what it lacks in fragrance it 
supplies in masses of bloom, which always makes it 
welcome. It has a kind of history too. A physician 
to the Emperor Charles V., by name D. Reinbertus 
Dodoneus, is reputed to have been the first author 
that wrote about this plant. Dr. Turner did not 
notice it in his work of 1-563, but twenty-nine years 
afterwards it is mentioned by Gerarde, who says, 
“We have in our London gardens a kind of Sweet 
William bearing most fine and pleasant white flowers, 
spotted very confusedly with reddish spots, which 
setteth foorth the beautie thereof, and hath been 
taken of some to be the plant called of the later 
winters the Pride of Austrich.” Philip Miller in his 
Dictionary (1731), has several Sweet Williams, double 
and single, under the Generic name Caryophyllus 
barbatus, and ha alludes to some narrow-leaved 
varieties that ware known as Sweet John. It will 
thus be seen, the double varieties are older in point 
of time than is generally supposed. 
It was the late Mr. Joseph Hunt, of Wycombe, who 
did so much to improve the Sweet William. He was 
an ardent florist, growing Tulips, Pinks, and other 
florists’ flowers with great success. It was as far back 
as 1835 that Mr. Hunt began to cultivate the Sweat 
William, and he worked wonders with it. Later on 
there was originated a strain termed Auricula-eyed, 
the flowers being characterized by large white centres 
and smooth edges; but it is only fair it should be 
stated that Mr. Hunt had these types in his collection. 
There is now no excuse for any gardener having an 
indifferent strain. Fine Sweet Williams are now 
plentiful about the country, and .a gardener can soon 
originate a strain for himself by starting with a good 
one and carefully selecting from it. 
The seed should be sown early in July, in a prepared 
bed in the open-air ; if dry weather follows, the surface 
should be kept moist in order to assist the seeds in 
germinating. The small plants soon strike their roots 
deep into the soil, and during showery weather grow 
rapidly into size. Then the plants can be planted out 
in beds, in lines 18 ins. apart each way. The best 
soil is a fairly stiff sandy loam, well enriched. Any 
particularly good varieties can be increased by taking 
off the side growths in the summer and dibbling them 
into the soil. The double varieties must be similarly 
treated, as they do not produce seeds.— B. D. 
ASTERS FOR EXHIBITION. 
Aaiong half-hardy annuals none are so popular or 
more generally grown than the various varieties of 
German Aster. The little difficulty attending their 
cultivation and the grand display which generally 
rewards a little^extra culture combines to render them 
universal favourites with almost every amateur 
possessing a town garden. Scarcely a garden in the 
Black Country, where Flora’s beauties are so charily 
dispensed, can be said to be complete without its bed 
or border of this showy plant. In fact, Asters may be 
set down as peculiarly adapted for small town gardens 
and smoky districts, although of course to be had in 
greater perfection in more favoured localities. Most 
provincial autumn shows contain prizes for them, and 
those familiar with the grand stands, usually to be 
found in the Midland districts, must acknowledge that 
for summer and autumn display they are unequalled 
by any other easily grown plant. 
Few soils seem to be amiss to them provided the 
requisite nourishment in the shape of well decomposed 
manure be well incorporated, and this during dry 
weather, frequently supplemented by liberal supplies 
of manure water. My practice, for the first blooming 
in July and August, is to sow the seeds in pans or 
boxes placed in a gentle heat, at the latter end of 
February, and, as soon as the young plants are large 
enough to handle, prick them out into a frame or 
under handlights upon a nearly spent dung bed. In 
this situation they make fine sturdy stuff by the 
