504 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 11th, 1885. 
Tie J.MATEISS’ Gaibeh. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Watering, &c. —Now that the days are lengthening 
so fast and plants are beginning to grow freely, in¬ 
creased supplies of water will be needed, or the balls 
will soon become dry and the roots suffer, which quickly 
tells on the foliage and bloom, the one assuming a 
starved look, and the other falling long before it 
otherwise would. There are many greenhouse 
subjects that will now do best in cold frames, and 
among these may be mentioned the Japan Lilies and 
most of the things that have done flowering, such as 
Deutzias, Dielytras, Spirrras, Lily of the Valley, 
Hyacinths, and Tulips, the two latter, if just sheltered 
for a short time to harden them, being of value for 
turning out in the borders, where, next season, they 
will make a fine show. Instead of the other turned- 
out plants being left to themselves, they should be 
taken every care of by being properly watered and 
tended, as by assisting them to make a free growth, 
which they will if syringed and shut up early, they 
will do good service again. 
Solanums that have been cut back may at once be 
planted out in an open sunny spot, as the little frost 
we are likely to get will not hurt them now, and by 
having them turned out early they flower more freely 
and set a great number of berries. Primulas are 
generally thrown away after they have done blooming, 
but it is a good plan to keep a few of the old plants, 
as they come in long before spring-raised seedlings, 
and bear quite double the blossom. The way to 
manage them is to slightly dry them off by only just 
giving sufficient water to keep them from severe 
flagging, and when they have been thus rested and 
lost some of their sap, they should be partially shaken 
out and re-potted in fresh soil and then kept close in 
any cold frame to give them a start. 
Cinerarias. — Any plants that show exceptional 
quality are also worth saving, as the suckers or offsets 
they form may be taken off and grown into most 
excellent plants. Those who prefer seedlings of 
either Cinerarias or Primulas should sow at once in 
fine soil and just cover the seed, when if the pot or 
pan it is in is placed in gentle heat and has a pane 
of glass laid over, and the soil is kept just moist, the 
plants will soon be up and ready for pricking out to 
grow them on larger. Perpetual Carnations are very 
valuable winter - flowering plants that are easily 
managed, the readiest way of striking the cuttings 
being to put them in under a handlight stood on a 
slightly warm bed of manure, where, if the cuttings 
are inserted in sharp sandy soil, they will very soon 
root. 
PITS AND FRAMES. 
These will now be doing good service in hardening 
off the bedding plants, which should not be exposed 
to check them in any way, as there is plenty of time 
yet to have the lights off to inure the foliage to the 
air, a process that ought to be very gradual, or the 
leaves will be chilled and discoloured. Any frames to 
spare may be profitably made use of for Cucumbers 
and Melons, which do well in them after this if a 
little bottom-heat can be afforded to give them a start. 
BEDS AND BORDERS. 
Calceolarias being nearly hardy may be bedded 
out at once. It is much better to plant them early, 
as they get a firm root-hold before hot weather sets 
in. To enable them to stand heat and drought, 
the beds or positions intended for them should 
be deeply dug and manured, and if the plants 
are mulched after they are planted, the heads of 
bloom will be finer. In case the plants cannot be got 
out now, the best thing is to lift them with good balls 
and put them in fresh soil a few inches apart, when 
they will be in first rate order for removal when the 
beds are cleared later on. 
Violets are favourites with everyone, but in few 
places are they well grown, or anything like the 
flowers got from them that they are capable of 
producing, the reason being that they are left from 
year to year, instead of being replanted in fresh 
positions annually, the secret being in getting fine 
bold crowns, without which there cannot be a great 
deal of bloom. The best site for Violets is a sheltered 
half shady position, and the ground should be 
manured or dressed with leaf-mould when dug. The 
plants may be dibbled in in rows, 9 ins. or a foot 
apart, and 6 ins. or so plant from plant, in doing 
which it is necessary to make choice of the strongest 
and best rooted offsets, which soon get fresh hold 
and grow away freely. 
Anemones are now showing their worth, as they are 
ablaze with bloom, the big single kinds of A. coronaria 
being very fine and showy when they are open, the 
colours ranging from white through nearly all shades 
up to the most brilliant of scarlets. The best way 
with these Anemones is to treat them like annuals 
and sow yearly, as young seedlings begin to flower in 
winter and last on till quite late in the season. The 
most suitable place for them is a warm sunny border 
having light soil, which should be manured and dug, 
and, after being raked fine, the seeds should be sown 
in shallow drills or broadcast, and slightly covered, 
when the plants will soon be up and grow rapidly on. 
Lily of the Valley. —Flowers of this charming 
plant may be had in quantity by making a bed or 
small plantation anywhere in spare ground, a good 
situation for it being between rows of fruit trees, or 
close along under a shady wall, in either of which 
positions the soil should be prepared by having plenty 
of leaf-mould or manure, of which Lily of the Valley 
is fond, dug into it. In planting, all that is necessary 
is to pull the roots apart, and put a small clump in 
here and there, when the plants will soon run and 
spread over the ground. 
THE FRUIT GARDEN. 
Fruit Prospects : Mulching. —The promise in the 
fruit garden is all that can be wished, and nothing 
but very bad weather can now prevent us having most 
excellent crops, as all trees are full of blossom, or 
buds that will open later, according to whether they 
are Plums, Cherries, Apples, or Pears. Except the 
protection of the most tender, such as Peaches and 
Nectarines against walls, there is little to do now in 
the fruit garden, but any grafting not carried out may 
still be performed, and if there are any fresh or late 
planted trees not mulched, that should be done, as it 
is a great help to them to have the ground protected 
over the roots, the mulching acting as a shade and 
non-conductor, thus keeping the soil uniform as 
regards heat and moisture. 
Figs. —Although most people grow nearly all other 
kinds of fruit, very few are found to have Figs, and 
yet the Fig is more easy of cultivation than any, 
as no matter how poor the soil may be it will succeed, 
and the poorer it is the better it fruits, as when half- 
starved it makes firm, short-jointed wood, which frost 
does not harm. The most suitable situation to plant 
a Fig is a hot, sunny corner against any building, 
where it may either be trained against the wall, or 
allowed to grow at its will, as beyond a little th inn ing 
of the branches, if they become too thick, no pruning 
is required, the fruit coming on the ends of the shoots. 
In the warm and more favoured parts of England, 
especially near the sea-coast, and on chalk, the Fig 
flourishes as a tree or bush anywhere in the open, and 
now is the time to plant, as the buds start late, and it 
is safer to lift the trees after winter is over. Nursery¬ 
men supply them in pots, and if the soil is rich, it is 
a good plan to sink these with the plants in, and let 
them root out around, which will check any tendency 
to over strong growth. 
The Peach-house, even after the fruit is set, should 
have air in the morning when the temperature rises to 
55 degs., and be increased as the day proceeds to keep 
the glass below 75 degs., at which degree of heat the 
house may be closed at three o’clock in the afternoon, 
when a good syringing should be given, which will 
assist in keeping the trees clean and healthy. The 
same remarks apply to the vinery, which, if shut up 
early, will remain nice and warm for the night, and 
the syringing will create an atmosphere that will be 
good for the Vines. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Planting Potatos. —Now that April has set in, all 
early kinds of Potatos may with safety be planted, 
the best way of doing which is to draw drills about 
3 ins. deep, when the sets may be laid regularly in 
the bottoms without breaking or injuring the shoots, 
which should have every care, as some sorts will not 
break again if the sprouts are rubbed off. Before 
covering the Potatos in, or previous to drawing the 
drills, it is a good plan to sow some soot over the land, 
as that is one of the best manures for keeping the 
skins of the young tubers clear, and preventing the 
sets from being penetrated and weakened by wire- 
worm. 
Seed Sowing. —Seeds of late Broccoli and Winter 
Greens of all kinds should now be sown, as well as 
a little Cauliflower, Lettuce, Radishes, Turnips, and 
Short-Horn Carrots, to keep up a succession. As yet 
it is full soon for Beet, but a row may be got in for 
first pulling, and the winter supply at the end of the 
month or beginning of May. To have a regular 
succession of Peas, the way to manage is to put in a 
few every fortnight, or a fresh lot as soon as the other 
is through, at which time they will need protection 
from sparrows, as they are fond of the young tender 
tops. The best way to keep off these depredators is 
to strain two or three lines of black cotton just over 
the rows, and leave them there till the peas get on to 
their sticks. 
French Beans may now be got in on any warm 
border, and Scarlet Runners in the open quarters; 
but it is quite as well to sow both in leaf soil or light 
mould under glass, and transplant later on. If there 
are any young Cabbage Lettuces or Cauliflowers that 
have stood the winter on beds, they should be got oat 
at once, and others that are growing be hoed between 
to keep down weeds and let in the air. 
Herbs need overhauling and replanting, in doing 
which Thyme may be divided and Mint separated, 
and the roots put in in fresh soil. Parsley makes a 
nice neat edging, and when grown in that way is very 
easy to pick. By sowing a bed, the plants may be 
pulled when large enough and dibbled in by the sides 
of walks, by doing which it is thought by some to 
come more docible. Thyme also makes a very neat 
edging, and bears clipping, as it breaks freely and 
grows very thick and regular after. 
—- 
THE CHISWICK GARDENS. 
Since the time when we looked upon one of the 
great exhibitions in the palmy days of Chiswick, 
thirty years ago, until now, many vicissitudes have 
overtaken these gardens, and changes have taken 
place, but the continuity of the good work done there 
has remained unbroken. Good, honest, useful, sub¬ 
stantial work has been accomplished, and is being 
accomplished still, and if Chiswick has ceased to be 
fashionable, practical horticulture has not materially 
suffered thereby. Since the days when the Arboretum 
on the east, and the substantial line of ground on the 
south was cut off from the' Gardens, the interest in 
Chiswick has been maintained, and it is, in all pro¬ 
bability, as useful now as it ever was. 
On the opposite page we give a view in these famed 
Gardens, the point of view being west of the great 
Vinery. Standing at the end of the walk leading due 
east from the Sutton Court Road, the visitor passes a 
little west of a large raised stone bed filled with hand¬ 
some specimens of Yucca recurva—a striking object 
when viewed from any point of advantage. On the 
right, as on the left of this stone bed is seen portions 
of one of Mr. Barron’s masterpieces—the rockwork, on 
which, at whatever period of the year it may be, the 
visitor will find something to interest him. In the 
background is seen the east end of the huge A inery, 
with its “ blazing arch of lucid glass, almost dazzling 
as it reflects the mid-day sun falling upon it out of an 
unclouded sky. Beyond there is seen the Arboretum, 
once one of its chief glories, now no longer a portion 
of the Gardens. It is a charming picture, notwith¬ 
standing that the trees are bare of foliage, though 
almost leaping with resistless energy into their spring 
verdure, as the swelling buds indicate. 
The nakedness of the rockwork is hidden by ha\ing 
its crests clothed with Evergreens, such as Irish Yews, 
Thuja, Juniperus, Yucca, Arc. Mossy Saxifrages, 
Aubrietias, prostrate Phloxes, small-leaved Lies, 
Arabis albida, Iberis in variety, and others of a similar 
character clothe the most prominent points. Here and 
there peep out the gay flowers of many a choice vernal 
gem. There is Chionodoxa Lueilia?, Scilla Sibirica, 
