584 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 16th, 1885. 
The Uameh. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Shade and Free Ventilation are the two essentials 
in the management of the greenhouse at this season, 
the one to break the force of the sun, and the other 
to keep down the temperature, any great rise in which 
soon distresses flowers and brings them off the plants 
quickly, as does also excessive sunlight. The lights 
should therefore be opened early and the air increased 
during the morning, and the shading let down to 
remain for four or five hours in the middle part of 
the day. 
Watering, too, will now demand careful attention, 
as the balls dry rapidly, and to make sure of soaking 
them through, it is advisable to go over the plants a 
second time and fill up the pots, especially those where 
the soil has cracked away at the sides. Peat is very 
subject to this shrinkage, and it is a good plan with 
Azaleas and other hard-wooded subjects that are 
growing in it, to stand them for an hour or two in a 
tub containing sufficient water to cover the pots, and 
this should always be done before giving them a 
shift, for if dry through, then it is almost impossible 
to get them wet after. Loam is not so impervious 
to moisture, and yet, when the balls get very full of 
roots, water is apt to escape without doing good. 
Camellias.— Much has been said and written about 
the proper time for potting these; some advocating 
giving them a shift when they have set their buds, and 
others directly they have done blooming, which I hold 
is by far the best season, as, like most plants, 
Camellias make their growth and roots together, and 
fresh soil for the latter to feed on gives an impetus, and 
enables them to form much stronger shoots than they 
otherwise would. The best soil to pot in is equal parts 
of peat and loam, both of which should be fresh and full 
of fibre and used somewhat rough, as then they are 
more lasting, and the roots can ramify freely and 
water pass quickly through. Although Camellias do 
not like heat after they have set their buds, it does 
good now ; but with it the plants must have shade and 
plenty of moisture, the latter being afforded by 
frequent syringing. 
Pelargoniums, of both the Show and Zonal kinds, 
will now be throwing up bloom, and as the first 
named are so subject to green-fly, they should be 
fumigated before they advance further, for though no 
insects may be seen on them, some are almost sure to 
be there, and the plants cannot be smoked later on 
without spoiling the flowers. To keep the foliage of a 
good colour, and the plants healthy and strong, liquid 
manure will be found a great help, and may be given 
frequently, especially if the plants are at all pinched 
at the roots. The Zonals for summer blooming 
should be stopped by having the points of the shoots 
nipped out, and as soon as they break again, the 
plants may be repotted and then plunged in some 
sunny spot out-of-doors, or kept in a light pit or house 
close up to the glass, the object of the exposure being 
to harden the wood and make it short jointed, in 
which state it is sure to produce fine heads of flowers. 
Begonias of the tuberous-rooted class are invaluable 
for greenhouse decoration, and should be largly grown, 
as they are grand for pots or baskets, the erect kinds 
being suitable for pots, and the drooping for suspending, 
in which way they make a fine show. It is late for 
raising seedlings now, but tubers may be had cheap, 
and cuttings from these, taken off w T hen they are 
about 3 ins. long, strike freely under handlights in 
any cold frame. To induce them to do this, they 
should be inserted singly in small pots in sharp sandy 
soil, and kept just moist till they callus, after which a 
good watering will cause them to emit roots, and then 
growth will be rapid. 
BEDS AND BORDERS. 
Calceolarias and other half-hardy and hardy plants 
should be got out at once, and preparations made for 
planting the more tender towards the end of the month. 
With this view, edgings will have to be put in order 
and Box clipped and cleared up, and gravel walks 
weeded and rolled, after wet, when it will go down 
firm and form a hard surface. 
Grass Verges and Lawns. —Nothing disfigures grass 
verges and lawns so much as Daisies, Dandelion, and 
Plantain, which should be eradicated at once, as by 
getting rid of them now the herbage soon spreads and 
covers the bare patches they leave. To have a good 
bottom, it will be necessary to mow once a week 
regularly from now, as grass grows at a great rate, 
and it is only by cutting it often that it can be kept 
thick below. The roller is a great help in giving texture, 
and should be used frequently, and always before the 
machine, to press down any stones or worm-casts out 
of the way of the knives. 
THE FRUIT GARDEN. 
Peaches, Nectarines, Cherries, and Plums will 
now require close watching to keep them free 
from aphis, which if allowed to remain on the 
trees soon cripple the shoots. To prevent this as 
much as possible, disbudding and stopping should be 
proceeded with, as Plums and Cherries may now be 
pinched back to 'within two or three leaves of the 
base, and this shortening will do much good by 
keeping the spurs close to the branch, besides getting 
rid of most of the green-fly; but those on Peaches 
must be dealt with by dusting them with tobacco- 
powder, or wetting them with dilute Nicotine Soap, 
soon after which the trees should be heavily syringed 
to wash the insecticide off. Under glass there is no 
remedy equal to fumigating, as the smoke is so 
penetrating that it finds its way everywhere, and 
carries death to the aphis. 
The Vinery. —If the vinery has been kept warm, 
as directed, by being closed early, the bunches will now 
be in flower, and till they set the air of the house 
should be dryer than before, but as soon as the berries 
begin to swell, the floors and other surface cannot well 
be too damp, as a moist atmosphere is necessary to 
keep down red-spider and maintain the foliage in 
health. The shoots being at then- present stage more 
hard and woody, they will bear tying down, which 
ought to be done at once to get the leaves well away 
from the glass, and so regulated that they do not inter¬ 
fere with each other. All laterals that show below the 
bunches may be taken clean out, and others stopped 
at one leaf and kept to that all through the season. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Potatos. —The warm weather has brought Potatos 
through with a rush, and weeds have been equally 
quick in making their appearance, which necessitates 
the use of the hoe at once, and this should be drawn 
lightly through the ground so as to prepare for the 
moulding up, which ought to be done immediately 
the tops are high enough, as any delay after that tells 
against the Potatos by disturbing and injuring the 
roots. In cases where the soil has not had much 
manure and is poor, it is a good plan to give a top 
dressing of soot before the hoeing, which will do much 
towards keeping the tubers clear in the skin, and 
greatly add to the crop. If the rows have been 
planted as advised, at 4 ft. apart, plenty of room 
will be left for 
Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, and all the winter 
greens, the whole of which should be got out at once, 
as when planted thus early they stand a much better 
chance of becoming established before dry weather 
sets in, and not only that, but it is the only way of 
getting them fine. 
Celery.— -To have Celery large and good, every 
attention must be given to the plants, which should 
never receive a check from any cause, or they will bolt, 
and to prevent this, the way is to prepare a bed by 
putting some short rotten dung and soil, mixed 
together, on a hard bottom, and prick the plants out 
in that, when, by-and-bye, they will lift with large 
balls, and may be transferred to the trenches prepared 
for them without feeling the change. 
Ridge Cucumbers. —To grow these well in ordinary 
seasons, it is necessary to afford a little bottom-heat, 
which may be done by digging out a wide deep trench, 
and filling it with fresh stable manure or anything that 
will ferment and hold warmth for a time. As soon as 
the bed is made, and the heat generated, it may at 
once be covered with soil, and the plants turned out 
under hand glasses, where they should be kept quite 
close till they get a fair start, when they may have a 
little air by day and be shut up again at night till the 
middle of June, at which time the lights may be taken 
off and the plants be fully exposed. 
Vegetable Marrows, if they are wanted early, 
require similar treatment, but though they are well 
deserving of the same care and attention, few go to the 
trouble, and simply wait till they can be planted out 
in the open. A good place for Marrows is a rubbish 
heap, which generally has some warmth through the 
fermentation going on, and not only that, but the 
richness of the decomposing matter favours the 
plants, and affords just the food they require. 
Onions, Turnips, Spinach, Parsnips, Carrots, and 
such like crops, should be thinned out directly they 
are well up, as then they may be pulled out easily 
without disturbing those left, which have every chance 
after of making rapid progress, and this the hoe will 
aid if run through between the rows so as to slightly 
loosen the soil and let in the air, the beneficial 
influence of which is great on the plants. 
Radishes and Lettuce.— To keep up a supply of 
these, a little seed must be sown once a fortnight or 
so, and to save transplanting the Lettuce, it is a good 
plan to sow in rows where they are to grow, and thin 
out, treated in which way they are not so liable to 
run, and they make much larger and finer hearts than 
any that are checked by removal. 
THE LATE MR. C. TURNER. 
The death of Mr. Charles Turner, of the Royal 
Nursery, Slough, on the morning of Saturday the 
9th inst., will come as a painful announcement to 
many florists and others throughout the United 
Kingdom, and, it might be added, in many parts of 
Europe and America also. For many years past he 
had been a conspicuous figure in the world of Flori¬ 
culture. He was one of its kings, for he may be said 
to have governed the Floral world, and created many of 
its laws; more than that, he largely assisted to fill it 
with subjects, many of them of a very high order of 
merit, for hundreds of new flowers went out from 
Slough, during the time he was the proprietor of 
the Royal Nursery, that were so true and beautiful 
in expression as to make little worlds of their own, 
compelling homage, and bringing constantly into the 
ranks of courtiers many who never went out therefrom 
again. To how many have the beautiful flowers sent 
out from time to time come as a revelation of a new 
order of beauty, inspiring them with a desire to 
become better acquainted with them, to grow them, 
and make them objects of absorbing interest, and 
thus develop one of the pleasantest and most absorbing 
recreations that can refresh the body and soul of 
man? Ah! who can say? But to-day they mourn 
the loss of him to whom they owe so much. 
For something like fifty-four years Charles Turner 
was actively engaged in the profession of a florist. 
He was born a florist; the gift of floral genius was 
in the child, and budded and blossomed into rich 
fruition in the man. He was born at Wilton, near 
Salisbury, “just at that season which we florists love so 
dearly, when all things are bursting into life and 
loveliness, blossom and bloom, on May 3rd, in the year 
1818,” so he died a very few days after completing his 
sixty-seventh year. It was not until within the last 
five or six years that he really looked his age, for, as 
the Rev. Canon Hole has stated, “ the garden life is 
the youngest, freshest life of all, and the heart which 
loves flowers, rightly and reverently, enjoys a perpetual 
spring.” At the time of Charles Turner’s boyhood the 
Pink was one of the most popular of florists’ flowers, 
and the lad took up the culture of the subject, and “ in 
1832 he won his first prize. One fancies,” says Canon 
Hole, “ how some of the older competitors would grin 
derisively at the stripling of fourteen years, as he 
entered the show-room with his box, but it was 
Goliath despising David, and we should liked to have 
seen Master Charley's face as he went home to tell the 
news that day—the proudest and happiest boy in 
England. This early success confirmed for ever his 
floral bias, united him to his first love in bands never 
to be broken, and finally decided his vocation in life. 
From that day of victory he was never so happy as 
when in his garden. The jockey had won his first 
race, and the world was a dreary wilderness except 
when viewed from the saddle. His parents kindly con¬ 
formed to his ardent desire, and, in 1834, when his 
enthusiasm had mounted to “ fever heat,” on his 
