520 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 18th, 1885. 
Til AmAIITOS’ €tA»®£H. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Insects. —One of the greatest difficulties at this 
season in the management of the greenhouse, is to 
keep down insects, which are very troublesome, 
especially the green-fly, an ubiquitous parasite that 
seems to assail every tender shoot on nearly all kinds 
of plants, and if not quickly destroyed soon cripples 
their growth. Although moderate fumigation does 
not hurt the leaves, it is fatal to most flowers, as the 
effects of the smoke causes the petals to fall whole¬ 
sale, and, therefore, plants should be freed from the 
parasites before they come into bloom. This may be 
done by taking them from the house and putting them 
in any close pit or shed, where a very little tobacco- 
smoke will kill the fly ; but to make sure of doing this, 
it is advisable to give them a dose at night and again 
in the morning, after which the plants should be 
syringed to free them from any stragglers or dust they 
may have on them. 
Potting.— As there will be much potting to be done 
after this time, it is necessary to be always prepared 
with plenty of good soil and suitable sized pots, that 
the plants may be shifted on when they need more 
room, in doing which the chief thing to be particular 
about is to give free drainage, without which the balls 
get water-logged and the roots soon thrown out of 
health. This being so, the pots should have one large 
crock, or an oyster-shell, to cover the hole, and over the 
top of whichever is used, more crocks finely broken, and 
on them a little moss or lumps of soil to keep them open. 
For potting most plants, a mixture of equal parts 
peat and loam is the best, but for the commoner 
subjects, such as Balsams, Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, 
and others of that class, loam and leaf-mould, or 
mild rotten manure, answers every purpose, and with 
due attention in watering will grow them thoroughly 
well. 
Plants going out of Bloom, such as Deutzias, and 
all subjects of that description, should be taken every 
care of in order that they may complete the formation 
of the young shoots, and have their foliage maintained 
in a fresh healthy condition, without which they will 
be of little use for flowering next year. To keep the 
greenhouse gay during the summer, Celosias, Salpi- 
glossis, Sehizanthus, Browallia, and double Petunias 
will be found most useful, and all may be raised by 
sowing seeds now in gentle heat, and the plants grown 
in any warm frame. 
PITS AND FRAMES. 
Bedding Plants. —At this season the frames are 
generally crowded with bedding plants, numbers of 
the more hardy of which may now be moved out, as by 
affording them proper protection at night, they will 
stand the weather without injury, and be more fit 
for planting when the time comes, than they will if 
kept coddled under glass, where, unless freely exposed 
to the air, they are sure to keep tender. A good way 
of managing this is to have some stout boards or 
planks and build temporary frames with them, or 
make choice of a warm sunny border under a 
wall, which should be covered with rods, so as to 
support mats or other covering to shelter the plants 
by night, and thus ward off any frost we may get. 
This will set the glass structures at liberty for the 
purpose of growing French Beans, Cucumbers, and 
Melons, or for accommodating any greenhouse plants 
that go out of bloom, or getting up others to come on 
in succession. 
Cu cumbers and Melons. —If these are to be cul¬ 
tivated, hotbeds must be made up, and to render these 
lasting, it is necessary to have fresh tan, or dung and 
leaves, and turn them over together so as to let out 
the fiery gases and sweeten the material, after which 
the beds may be built up and the soil put on ready for 
planting. This should be fresh, and mixed with a 
little rotten dung, and then laid along the centre of 
the bed in a ridge, or placed in heaps one under each 
light; and as soon as it gets warmed through,the plants 
may be turned out, and kept close for a day or two to 
give them a start, but if the heat is violent, a chink of 
air should be left on by tilting the lights, so as to 
reduce or keep down the temperature by night to 
65 degs. or so, and 75 degs. to 80 degs. by day. 
Seed-sowing, &c. —The vacant spaces around the 
heaps, or along side of the ridges, as the case may be, 
will come in admirably for standing any fresh potted 
plants to nurse them on, or for placing pans or pots 
of fresh sown seeds to get them up, as with the 
warmth they will receive germination will be quick 
and certain, when they may be moved to make room 
for others. Besides the many kinds of tender annuals 
that may be raised in the way referred to, and grown 
on for the greenhouse, Tomatos, Ridge Cucumbers, 
and Vegetable Marrows should be got in at once, and 
pushed on ready for planting out towards the end of 
May, by which time they will be safe if protected. 
BEDS AND BORDERS. 
Spuing Flowees. —The beds will now be gay with 
spring flowers, and all that remains to be done is to 
keep them in good order by picking off any dead or 
decaying bloom and leaves and filling up vacant 
spaces that may occur by sowing seeds or planting 
out any half-hardy plants that will assist in making 
them gay during the summer or autumn. Among these 
may be mentioned the shrubby Calceolarias, which 
will stand all the frost we are likely to get now, and of 
annuals there are many, the chief of which have been 
already noticed, but it may be as well to refer to the 
best of them again, as it is time all were in, for if 
deferred to a later period they are almost sure to be 
checked by the heat and drought of the weather, and 
unable to blossom in the free manner they otherwise 
would. 
Showy Annuals. —For making a fine show, the 
Godetias, such as G. Whitneyi, Lady Albemarle, and 
The Bride, should be grown, and these may be sown in 
the places where they are to stand. Chrysanthemum 
coronarium and C. earinatum in their several varieties 
are also very desirable, and so are the different Con¬ 
volvulus minor, the Clarkias and Collinsias, Rocket 
Larkspurs, Sweet Peas, Lupins, Stocks of the Ten- 
week kind, Nemophilas, such as N. insignis grandi- 
flora, and N. maculata, Mignonette, Sehizanthus 
pinnatus, Nasturtiums, of ■which there are many 
varieties, affording a wide range of colour, and beside 
the above named there are numerous 
Half-haedy Annuals that may now be raised in any 
ordinary frame, ready for planting out later on. The 
best among these are the Asters and Zinnias, which 
make a grand display, especially when planted in 
masses in large beds, a purpose for which they are 
well adapted, as they last in flower all through the 
season. Gaillardia picta, G. picta Aurora Borealis, 
and G. Lorenziana are exceedingly showy and durable, 
and the Helichrysums, or Everlastings, are of great 
value for cutting from. Nicotiana affinis is a fine 
thing, and Phlox Drummondi grandiflora is brilliant, 
and makes a beautiful bed. Portulaca does well in 
any hot situation, and is fine for elevated positions, 
such as mounds or rockeries, where the blossoms open 
freely exposed to the sun. Rhodanthe Manglesi is 
also suited for a similar situation, and Salpiglossis 
likes a warm place. The easiest way to raise plants of 
the half-hardy annuals is to make up a slight hotbed 
and cover it with fine soil, pressed firm, and then sow 
the seed in rows 3 ins. or so apart, which will 
afford room for the plants to stand till they are put 
out in the open. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Vegetable Seeds to be Sown. —This will be a 
busy time in the vegetable garden, as all kinds of 
winter Greens, Broccoli, Savoys, Brussels Sprouts, and 
Chou de Burghley should now be sown, Scarlet 
Runners and Beans planted, the last of the Potatos 
got in, crops hoed between and cleaned, Peas 
protected against birds, and staked, that they may 
have support before they blow over and get bent 
stems or damaged by wind. In sowing the seeds 
referred to above, the best way is to have the beds 
together, side by side, that the whole may be netted 
over, as otherwise finches are almost sure to find 
them out and pull up the young plants. Lettuces, 
Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts that were sown 
earlier will soon be large enough to prick out, and as 
soon as they are, should have that attention, as it 
keeps them stocky, and prepares them for planting in 
the open by inducing them to make plenty of roots. 
That they may lift with good balls it is advisable to 
make up a bed of light soil on a hard bottom, and 
dibble them in it, as then they may be transplanted 
without feeling a check. 
Feench Beans may now be sown on a warm sunny 
border by drawing drills 2 ft. apart, and dropping the 
Beans 2 ins. or 3 ins. asunder, which will allow for 
thinning if they all come up, but they seldom do 
at this season. Those who do not mind the trouble 
will find it a good plan to sow in small pots or boxes 
in frames and plant out after, and the same with 
Scarlet Runners, as by so managing they may be got 
quite a fortnight earlier, for they grow very quickly 
when put into the warm ground as soon as night 
frosts are over. To economize room, Broad Beans 
may be dibbled in here and there among the rows of 
Potatos, as their stems will stand out clear and bear 
all the better for having plenty of light. As yet it is 
full soon for the main crop of Beet, but a row should 
be got in for first use, and suecessional sowings of 
Turnips, Horn Carrots, Spinach, and Radishes be 
made, as neither last long before they get old, large, or 
tough. Asparagus beds will now be greatly benefited 
by having a sprinkling of salt, which will kill all 
young weeds and greatly improve the flavour of the 
Asparagus heads, as well as the strength of the 
plants. 
— —a — 
A GOOD NEW CAMELLIA. 
Since Mr. C. M. Hovey, of Boston, Massachusetts, 
brought over his two beautiful new varieties, C. M. 
Hovey, and Mrs. A. M. Hovey, in March, 1879, the 
Floral Committee has had but few new Camellias 
brought before it, and we believe we are correct 
in saying that from that time till March 24th cf 
the present year, it has not awarded a First-Class 
Certificate to a single member of this very beautiful 
and useful genus. On the last-named date Mr. B. S. 
Williams broke the spell by exhibiting a first-rate 
novelty named Commendatore Betti, of which we are 
now enabled to give an illustration. It is a large 
smooth flower, with broad well-rounded petals of great 
substance and of a rich rosy-cerise colour. The 
small plant in a 48-in. pot bore four or five of its noble 
blooms, and Camellia growers all admired it for its fine 
qualities of size, shape, and colour. Mr. Williams 
also showed it the next day at Regent’s Park, and 
secured there also a Floral Certificate, which is the 
equivalent of a First Class at South Kensington. 
POPULAR PLANT GROWING. 
A few days since I gave a lady a plant, she de¬ 
lightedly accepted it, and said, “ How often will it 
want water ?” This was a poser. She might have 
asked me with as much prospect of answering her 
in a satisfactory manner, “ Which came first in the 
order of nature—the owl or the egg ?” “ The owl.” 
“ But how without a pre-existing owl ?” It is a fact 
that many persons who are fond of flowers and like to 
grow them, regard plants much in the light of human 
beings, and think they require a number of stated 
meals per day in the form of water; and that, too, 
quite irrespective of the time of year or nature of the 
weather. And as this kind of amateur grower is a 
very numerous one, and may possibly be reached to 
some extent through the columns of The Gabdenino 
Woeld, let us endeavour to lay down a few simple 
principles for the guidance of such, and in the hope 
they may give them some more intelligible principles 
of action in regard to the management of plants. 
Now all plants require rest at then- peculiar seasons 
to grow and bloom them well; and so it is that when 
greenhouse plants have bloomed in spring, they are 
retained there until they have made their summer 
growths, and then they are placed in a cold frame, 
or in the open ground, to mature their growths and 
rest for a time. Out-door plants have their period of 
rest during the summer in the case of such as flower 
early in spring, or during the autumn and winter if 
they bloom during the summer. Plants should be kept 
clean, free from dust, dirt, mildew, green-fly, and all 
kinds of vermin; and no weeds or growth of moss 
should be allowed to cover the soil. They should 
never be allowed to become too dry or too wet. When 
plants are at rest during the autumn and winter 
months, they require but very little water, and are 
wintered better when too dry than when too wet. In 
spring and summer, when the growth is active, the 
