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THE GARDENING WORLD, 
May 30th, 1885. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Free Ventilation, plenty of water to the plants, and 
a moderately moist atmosphere are the requisites here, 
which, with slight shade during the heat of the day, 
will keep the flowers fresh and in full beauty for a long 
time, but if the plants get dry they will quickly cast 
off their blooms. Soft-wooded subjects, such as Pelar¬ 
goniums, Begonias, Fuchsias, and others of that class, 
will be much benefited by frequent applications of 
liquid manure, especially if they are at all pot-bound 
or cramped at the roots. Young growing stuff that 
happen to be in this condition, and that are wanted 
to come in later, should be shifted on at once, and 
stood or plunged out-of-doors, as most plants cultivated 
for greenhouse decoration do best in the open after 
this, where, exposed to the full influence of sun and 
air, they make sturdy shoots, that blossom freely 
when the plants are brought back under glass. 
C allas and Spiraeas ought at once to be planted out 
in a position where they are handy for water, as, being 
half aquatic, they require large supplies, and only 
do really well when kept wet at the roots. 
Ferns.— The same may be said of these, but the 
drainage must be good, as, though they need much 
moisture while making their growth, it is necessary 
for the water to pass freely away. This being so, all 
plants that are shifted on into other pots, or planted 
out, should be well drained, and now that they are 
making their young fronds so fast, the old shabby 
ones may be removed, as they are no longer of any 
use to the crowns. Although Ferns need a certain 
amount of shade, they often get too much, and espe¬ 
cially is this so with the sorts needed for cutting, which 
should be kept near the glass, and have plenty of light, 
■when, instead of the fronds shrivelling up, as thin, 
flimsy ones do, they stand in water and last fresh for 
days. 
Violets. —To have these good for pots or frames 
no time must be lost in getting out the plants, the 
best place for them being a shady border, where the 
soil should be made rich by digging in a heavy dress¬ 
ing of rotten manure, when the plants may be pulled 
apart and the strongest runners or crowns planted 
in rows 9 ins. between, and if then kept watered 
during the summer they will be fine and strong by the 
autumn. 
Chrysanthemums are deserving of every attention, 
and should be shifted on as they require it, that they 
may have no check, as they never do so well after. 
The soil most suitable to grow the plants is good 
fibry loam, mixed with thoroughly rotten dung, in 
the proportion of one-eighth of the latter. As soon 
as the plants are re-potted they ought to be plunged 
in some open sunny spot, as they like full exposure 
and plenty of air. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
Bedding-out. —At last we have fine warm weather, 
and as the season is getting late, bedding plants should 
be got out with all despatch, taking those of the more 
hardy kind first, and the tender things to bring up the 
finish. Among these latter none are more effective 
and showy than Salpiglossis, Asters, and Zinnias, 
which may be raised from seed even yet, as they 
germinate quickly, grow rapidly, and soon come into 
flower. Castor-oil plants and the variegated Maize 
(Zea variegata) are very telling in the centres of beds 
or to stand out boldly in borders, and both of these 
may be had strong and large enough for planting out 
in a fortnight if the seed be sown in heat and the 
seedlings nursed on in a warm frame for the time. 
For Pelargoniums the ground cannot well be too poor 
and hard, as under these conditions they flower much 
better, and in cases where the soil is rich it is a good 
plan to restrict their root, run and starve them a bit 
by sinking them in their pots, and plant them out, 
when, instead of producing little or nothing but leaf, 
they will become crowded with bloom. As variegated 
sorts are grown more for the sake of their foliage, 
the treatment for them must be just the reverse, and 
it may be remarked that all ornamental-leaved plants 
require plenty of feeding, and the same with most of 
the herbaceous subjects, such as Phloxes, Pyrethrums, 
Pfeonies, &c., which, if the weather sets in dry. 
should have a good soaking with liquid manure, 
Calceolarias and other moisture-loving plants should 
be mulched by covering the ground among them with 
cocoa-nut fibre or other non-conducting material, 
which will help to keep them in health and strength 
and assist greatly in prolonging their beauty. 
Lawns. —To have these in good order it will be 
necessary to run the machine over to cut the grass 
at least once a week, and to take the bents the lawn- 
mower should be driven in a different direction each 
time, as then it meets them or takes them sideways, 
and instead of being rolled down they are cut off and 
a fine even sward left. Daisies and weeds, that so 
spoil the look of turf in a garden, ought to be spudded 
out or destroyed as they continue to show themselves, 
the easiest way to kill them being to touch their 
crowns with a stick dipped in sulphuric acid, which 
burns the plants up, and the same with weeds on 
gravel in walks, to get rid of which the acid may be 
considerably diluted and sprinkled on through the 
fine rose of a pot, but it need hardly be said that it 
requires care in using and handling it, or harm may be 
done to one’s hands or clothes if the strong acid gets 
on them. 
THE FRUIT GARDEN. 
Disbudding.—Insects : In spite of the long con¬ 
tinuance of cold, and the many sharp frosts we have 
had, nearly all kinds of fruit have set freely, and there 
is the certainty now of an unusual abundance, 
especially as regards Apples and Pears, which are so 
thick that to get anything like fine specimens many 
will have to be taken off, but this is a work that will 
do later when it can be seen which are of the best 
shape, and are likely to take the lead in the swelling. 
The thing to look to now is the disbudding, shortening 
back, and keeping of the trees clean, the former being 
necessary for Peaches and Nectarines, and the shorten¬ 
ing back for most of the others, while the freeing 
from insects is important for all. Fortunately, the 
heavy rains have been of great assistance in washing 
off aphis and maggot or caterpillar ; but for all this, 
trees liable to their attacks must be watched, and if 
any are seen, a syringing should at once be given 
with dilute Nicotine soap, or a dusting with tobacco- 
powder administered, either of which, with a washing 
after, will be the means of clearing them off. 
What encourages aphis more than anything else is 
leaving the shoots to run, instead of which the whole 
of those standing out from the wall or that are not 
wanted for filling up vacant spaces should be stopped 
back by nipping them off to within two or three 
leaves of their base. If this were done early, as it 
should be, there would be none of those long spurs 
so frequently seen now standing out from the main 
branches and exposing the blossoms to the inclemency 
of the weather, as the stopping keeps them close in 
to the wall. 
Strawberries.—Mulching : Not only have the 
rains been fine for all fruit trees, but they have been 
equally beneficial for Strawberries, which wanted wet 
to enable them to push up their blooms, which they 
are now doing in grand style, and the beds should be 
littered down at once to keep the moisture in the 
ground, as in light soils it evaporates quickly, and 
then the fruit cannot swell. For mulching, there is 
nothing better than short straw, which is sweet and 
clean, and does not rot or impregnate the Strawberries 
with any bad flavour, like hay, long grass, or rubbish 
of that kind, which some people use. To protect the 
roots of fresh-planted fruit trees, or to place among 
Raspberries or round pyramidal or bush Pears or 
Apples, half-rotten manure answers best, as it not 
only lies closer, but the juices in it are carried down, 
and these are a great help to the trees in feeding and 
swelling their fruit. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
General Work. —The present will be a busy time 
in the vegetable garden, as weeds grow apace, and 
there will be much thinning out of plants, seed 
sowing, and planting to be done, for the latter part 
of which work every advantage should be taken of the 
weather to get it carried out while the earth is moist 
from the soaking rain we have just had and the 
atmosphere is favourable, as no amount of watering 
and attention will make conditions equal to these, 
for though young plants may be kept moist at the 
roots, the arid state of the air often dries the tender 
leaves up. The best way to manage, especially in 
light soils, is to draw drills and dibble the plants out 
in them, placing the Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and 
Cauliflower 2 ft. apart, and if the lines are between 
rows of Potatos, as they ought to have been arranged 
for, they will then have plenty of room. 
Earthing Potatos. —The first thing, however, 
before putting out the winter and summer things 
referred to is to earth up the Potatos, an operation 
that should be no longer delayed, as after rain the 
roots quickly spread about, and if these get disturbed 
or injured the mischief tells seriously on the crop by 
lessening the production of tubers. It has been a 
difficult matter to do much in the way of thinning 
up to the present, but now that the ground has had 
a softening through the effect of the heavy showers, 
Onions, Carrots, Parsnips, Beet, and all such like 
may be pulled out without breaking or disturbing 
those to be left, which being so, attention should be 
given to them at once that the rows may be regulated 
by drawing out all the plants not wanted to stand, 
which will give the others a chance to grow instead 
of being robbed and drawn as they otherwise would. 
Celery, if pricked out on shallow beds made up 
principally with rotten dung and soil, as previously 
advised, ought now to be large enough for planting 
out, and may therefore be got into the trenches at 
once, but care should be taken to lift the plants with 
good balls, that they may be moved without feeling a 
check. Although it is necessary to put Celery into 
trenches for the sake of moulding-up, they are 
generally made too deep and ditch-like, by which 
sinking the plants are placed so low in the ground 
that they have only the bad dead soil to feed on, and 
under these conditions it is impossible for them to do 
any good. The best way to manage, if the trenches 
are to be side by side, is to mark them out 3 ft. apart, 
9 ins. or 1 ft. wide, and only dig them 6 ins. deep, 
when the rotten manure should be put in and well 
mixed with the earth below, and the plants then 
planted about 8 ins. apart. This should be done with 
a trowel, and as soon as they are in, the next thing 
is to give a heavy watering to settle the soil 
about them, after which they will soon start to make 
rapid growth. The ground between the rows will 
come in capitally for late summer and autumn Lettuce, 
which from the great depth they get to root in make 
fine hearts, and bear dry weather well. To save 
transplanting, it is a good plan to sow the seed, and 
thin out, leaving the plants where they are to stand, 
as then they seldom bolt, but send their tap-roots 
down to find the moisture they want. 
Peas. —To have a supply of these during the latter 
part of the season, special preparation must be made 
for them by digging out and manuring the bottom of 
trenches, after the manner of those for Celery, when 
they should be nearly filled up again and the seed 
sown, and the same for the last lot of Scarlet Runners, 
which it is time to get in now, as with the good treat¬ 
ment referred to they will bear freely till destroyed by 
the frost. The best Pea for late work, and indeed all 
through after this, is the Ne Plus Ultra, which is not 
only a heavy cropper, but is large, fine in colour, and 
of exquisite flavour. 
Broad Beans.— The last batch of these may now 
be planted, as it is useless putting any in later, on 
account of the dry weather and fly that prevent the 
setting of the blossoms, and a final sowing of Dwarf 
French Beans should also be made. 
Fritlllabia meleagris. —Among the beautiful 
wild flowers of the Thames Valley, the common 
snake’s-head is eagerly sought after during the 
“ merrie month,” and this season it has bloomed 
most profusely in the meadows bordering on the Isis 
and Thames above and below Oxford. This species 
appears to luxuriate at Itfiey, Sandford, and Ensham; 
and the meadow enclosed by Addison’s Walk, at Mag¬ 
dalen College, and the low-lying grass land skirting 
the University Parks, Oxford, bordering the Cherwell 
stream, each year produce large quantities of flowers. 
From the ruthless manner in which the flower stalks 
are pulled, it seems a wonder that the bulbous roots 
survive. While so common in these parts it is 
regarded as somewhat rare in some parts of England 
in a wild state.— W. Greenaway , Oxford, in Gardeners' 
Magazine. 
