May 2nd, 1885. 
555 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
manure, remove all rubbish, weeds, &c., and plant 
rooted Chrysanthemums by the score or hundred, 
according to their space. Mr. Cannell’s new single 
should be included, and the beauty of it is that as 
respects this flower town and country seem equally to 
suit it. Those who cannot afford to get new rooted 
cuttings from the nursery can get side shoots from the 
old stools in their neighbours’ gardens free. Now is an 
excellent time.— W. J. Murphy, Clonnel. 
Carpet Plants for Rose Beds.— There are 
numbers of hardy and half-hardy plants which form 
very pleasing carpets of green without injury to 
those plants for which they form a ground-work. 
It would have been easier to have given a reply to 
the query of your correspondent, “ E. M. W.,” p. 535, 
if it had been made clear as to the size of the Rose 
beds, and whether there would be occasion for treading 
on these carpets at pruning time. In the absence of 
such information, however, I will name a few of the 
most useful subjects, and which, at the same time, are 
quick growers. 
First, then, we have Sedum hispanieumvar. glaucum, 
than which we have no other plant which is so easily 
and readily multiplied. A few plants of it may be 
pulled into very small bits and dibbled over the 
surface 3 ins. or 4 ins. apart and the chances are 
that they will soon meet. It will thrive anywhere. 
Herniaria glabra is an excellent carpet plant, deep 
green in colour, and very hardy. Thymus lanuginosus 
forms a dense covering with its woolly leaves. Mentha 
Requieni is very neat and of a quick spreading habit, 
as also is the Gibraltar Mint, Mentha Pulegium 
gibraltaricum. The two last do not object to being 
trodden upon, and the last - named is certainly 
benefited by it. One point against it, however, is that 
it becomes patchy in bad winters, and sometimes, like 
the herb Penny Royal, is killed outright. The fore¬ 
going are all good, and their flowers in most cases 
being non-conspicuous they come and go and are 
hardly noticed. 
Then we have Veronica repens, which is smothered 
in spring with white flowers, and Ionopsidium acaule, 
a pleasing plant in flower, and readily obtained from 
seeds. Leptinella scariosa is a neat plant lying flat on 
the ground, and a free grower. Any of the foregoing 
might be used provided a permanent carpet is required, 
but if it is desired to change it annually, so as to 
mulch the Roses, then your correspondent could not 
do better than sow thinly with Mignonette, or plant 
Violas, Myosotis, or similar plants ; divers other 
things might be suggested, still, I think, sufficient has 
been said at present.— E. Jenkins. 
-- 
Polyanthus FTarciss, White Pearl. —Let a 
note be made of this fine pure white variety. It has 
a stout, well-formed perianth, and a cup that opens 
with a tint of delicate primrose, and then bleaches 
to white, or almost white. It is of a somewhat dwarf 
habit, and throws bold trusses. We have so many 
varieties that are white with gold and orange cups, 
that one that is almost white is decidedly acceptable. 
Queen of the Netherlands, Gloriosa, Her Majesty, 
Bazelman major, and Soliel d’Or, are fine sorts also. 
—Quo. 
Epacris purpurascens.— In collections of these 
very showy plants it is not often that we now come 
across this fine old species, but Mr. Bullen has a fine 
bush of it in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, which 
has lately been bearing a grand display of its long 
spikes of white flowers. It is still one of the very 
best, and a plant in every way worthy of being widely 
cultivated. 
-- t - - 
Heteromeles arbutifolia..—This may be called 
an evergreen Hawthorn, and was known to the old 
botanists as Cratasgus arbutifolia—the last name from 
the leaves resembling the Strawberry tree, or Arbutus 
Unedo of English gardens. It has also been called 
Photinia arbutifolia. The name now in use by 
botanists is Heteromeles arbutifolia. The native 
name of the California Indians is Tollon. On a 
journey from Mariposa to Calaveras the fragrance 
of the white flowers reminded the writer of the sweet 
Hawthorn hedges of the Old World.— Gardeners' 
Monthly. 
The Kitchen Gardener’s Calendar. —Plant¬ 
ing : Now that the long-looked for genial change 
in the weather has taken place, good breadths of 
Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, and Lettuces 
should be planted forthwith. Plants of Parsley 
resulting from seeds sown in a box and placed in 
heat, as recommended at p. 395, should also be trans¬ 
planted in rows 15 ins. apart and about 7 ins. from 
plant to plant in the rows, and be shaded from sun¬ 
shine with mats supported by sticks for a few days 
until the roots have taken to the soil, when, of 
course, it can be dispensed with. 
Seed Sowing. —Make another good sowing of Peas 
of some of the most approved varieties for gathering 
from early in August. Broad and French Beans 
should also be sown to supplement the gatherings 
which previous sowings will yield in due time. 
Sowings of Spinach and Turnips should also be 
made, and previous sowings be thinned out to 9 ins. 
from plant to plant in the rows. 
Fobcing Department.— Cucumbers, like many other 
things, are easily grown by those who understand 
their culture and possess suitable accommodation 
for their production. They may also be creditably 
grown by those who possess the accommodation, but 
lack the experience, by their reading attentively and 
acting upon the instructions given from time to time 
in your columns. Where there is only one house or 
pit devoted to the growth of Cucumbers, the same 
plants can, where an adequate supply of hot-water 
pipes is provided for maintaining the needful tempera¬ 
ture, be kept in a fruitful condition throughout the 
year by following a judicious course of treatment in 
the way of light cropping, and the removing at short 
intervals of old shoots and leaves to make way for 
young ones, which, by thinning and stopping, should 
never be allowed to impede the development of large 
healthy leaves and short-jointed consolidated wood. 
In order to secure the latter, a free circulation of 
fresh air, during favourable weather, is, in addition 
to the shoots having sufficient light and room, 
absolutely necessary. And in order to maintain the 
supply of fruits after the plants have been producing 
fruit for a couple of months, a top-dressing of three 
parts light loam, and one of horse-droppings or short 
dung, should be laid on the roots, the old shoots 
removed and replaced with young growths, which 
treatment will have an invigorating influence upon 
the plants, which, by being kept well supplied with 
liquid manure at the roots, and the foliage well 
washed with clean water morning and afternoon at 
closing-time with the syringe, will bear as freely and 
as well as if they had not been previously cropped. 
All the young fruit but one should be removed from 
the individual shoots as soon as they are set. The 
crop, however, should consist of fruits in various 
stages of growth, so as to prevent a blank from 
occurring in the supply, and as soon as the fruits 
have attained to table size—under rather than over¬ 
grown, and of a dark green colour—they should be 
cut, and not allowed to remain needlessly exhausting 
the plants, until a shade of yellow takes the place 
of the former colour, and consequently the fruit, 
instead of being crisp, becomes tough. When cut, 
the fruit should be stood on their ends in a vessel 
containing half-an-inch of clean water, in a cool 
room, until required for use. The above remarks are 
equally applicable to plants growing in frames.— li. 
IV. Ward. 
Stopping Scarlet Runner Beans. — I feel a 
disposition to join issue with Mr. H. W. Ward in his 
recommendations in The Gardening World, April 
18th, with respect to stopping Scarlet Runner Beans. 
Certainly circumstances and conditions of localities 
vary, but my experience goes to prove that as heavy a 
crop can be obtained in this district with 5-ft. sticks as 
with 8-ft., and my topped Beans, with last year’s dry 
summer, continued to bear much longer and finer in 
quality than those which were allowed to run their 
full height. Many tons of these beans are annually 
grown by market gardeners in the Yale of Evesham 
and at Lichfield, for the supply of the Midland 
markets, without any sticks at all: the rows are sown 
about 2 ft. 6 ins. apart, and kept topped back. The 
result must prove satisfactory, or the practice would 
not be so extensively carried out from, year to year 
and that, too, in districts where sticks are easily to be 
obtained.— J. Knight, Bilston. 
I have learnt so much from the sound practical 
teaching of your excellent correspondent, Mr. Ward, 
that I feel somewhat loth to question the advice he 
gave last week as to growing Scarlet Runners on 8-ft. 
sticks, and not stopping the plants till they reach the 
top. Where there is plenty of room, where such 
sticks can be readily obtained at a low cost, and 
where time can be spared for gathering Beans with 
the aid of a step-ladder, no doubt Mr. Ward’s system 
has advantages, or he would, I am sure, be the last to 
advocate it; but where all the conditions are the 
reverse of those stated, then I think the plan I have 
adopted for some years is the better one of the two. 
My garden ground is limited, and I can only afford 
space for two rows, the first of which will be sown in a 
week’s time, and the second one at the end of May 
or in the first week of June. I sow the seeds in two 
rows in a wide drill, generally about 8 ins. or 9 ins. 
apart, and only use stakes 4 ft. high. As soon as the 
plants reach the top of the stakes, they are stopped at 
once, and the supply I get as a rule is something 
astonishing, to say nothing of the pleasure I derive 
from the beauty of the plants when in flower. From 
my second row I generally manage to pick Beans 
much later than my neighbours, by keeping a sharp 
look out for autumn frosts, and syringing the plants 
with cold water before the sun comes on the scene, 
to assist in the work of destruction by causing a too 
rapid thaw. This is a “wrinkle,” and an old one, 
too, but may not be known to some of your readers.— 
Schoolmaster. 
Potato Manures.—I am testing Jensen’s fish 
manure for Potatos this year, but not in pure form. 
It is a mixture of fish and phosphate, and I think may 
prove in this combination a really good manure for 
the tubers. Hitherto having tested several well 
recommended Potato manures, I have found the very 
best in Hill’s Concentrated; a very phospliatic com¬ 
pound, in which ammonia was not largely present, 
that has always proved more productive of tubers 
than of haulms, and in that respect has differed so 
materially from some other strong ammonial manures 
which have given strong dark-leaved tops and less 
root produce. I cannot now compare the relative cost 
of Hill’s manure with Jensen’s fish compound. There 
will be time enough for that when the results are 
seen for this year. 
I have a trial extending over four kinds of Potatos, 
none very robust growers, and in soil that is rather 
poor than otherwise, and certainly free from any 
animal manure. With each sort of Potato I have 
one row of Hill’s manure and one of Jensen’s, the 
quantity being in each case equal, also the sets in the 
rows and general size or weight equal. Also I have 
with each sort one row without manure, just to see 
the actual value of the manures as found in the 
increase of produce. When lifted the produce in each 
case will be weighed separately, and the result in 
simple figures will be more eloquent than any words, 
of approval or otherwise, I or any one else may pen. 
The Potatos were planted in shallow drills as the 
ground was dug, and the dressing strewn in with the 
sets, in the proportion of a 48-sized flower-potful 
(not heaped) to a row 22 ft. in length, so that I do 
not think I can be charged with using the material in 
excess. For the production of Potatos only, I have a 
high opinion of any good artificial manure that is 
compounded chiefly of phosphates.— A. D., Bedfont. 
The White Dutch Runner Bean. —Having 
grown this runner Bean for three years side by side 
■with other varieties of Scarlet Runner, I am disposed 
to give it the preference. The seeds and blossoms are 
white, otherwise when growing no difference can be 
discerned in it from the other kinds. I find, however, 
that its blossoms set better than the others, and the 
crop is therefore heavier. Last year, when Carter’s 
Champion and Painted Lady were dropping their 
blossoms from the drought, the White Dutch set in 
clusters, and I find my experience borne out by other 
of my friends who have grown it the last three years. 
— J. Knight, Bilston. 
